Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After years of relentless advocacy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Monday the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region has won the prestigious federal "Tech Hub" designation, in which he created in the CHIPS and Science Act, putting Upstate New York further on the road to becoming America’s Semiconductor Superhighway.
"This was one of the most competitive awards in the country," said Sen. Schumer during Monday's announcement at Buffalo Manufacturing Works along Northland Avenue. "Over 400 communities applied, or groups of communities applied, but only 31 were given the designation. It's a once-in-a-generation title. Starting tomorrow, new tech companies that are looking for a place to locate are going to start looking right here in Western New York, because we've been designated a federal Tech Hub. It's going to have huge benefits, there's no greater national spotlight."
Schumer pulled out all the stops to bolster the tri-city region to beat out hundreds of other applications in the nationwide competition. The proposal called the "NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub" will build on the historic investments Schumer delivered that have spurred a boom in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation across Upstate New York.
With Monday’s announcement as one of the 31 regions across the U.S. designated as a "Tech Hub", it allows Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse to compete for potentially billions in federal funding to transform Upstate New York as a global hub for workforce training, innovation, and manufacturing of semiconductor technology.
"We resolved in the CHIPS and Science Act that we didn't want to just see San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and New York City get all these new tech jobs. For the good of America, they should be spread around. And there were so many places that were being ignored, but most of all here in Western New York and Upstate New Yorkers, because we had everything," Schumer explained. "We had a great labor force, as exemplified by what you're seeing right behind me, top notch. We had cheap water from Niagara Falls. We had great electricity, low cost electricity, reliable. We had rich shovel ready sites, and we had the Majority Leader of the United States Senate. You put it all together, and we should be one of the places that tech companies want to locate."
Schumer originally proposed the Tech Hubs program years ago as part of the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act, with Upstate New York in mind to help bring critical industries back from overseas in communities that have great potential to lead in new technologies. He finally was able to create the Regional Tech Hubs competition in his CHIPS and Science Bill.
The Western New York native has been a tireless advocate for the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region proposal, making the case that Upstate New York is best suited to help drive forward the nation’s semiconductor and broader microelectronics industries.
"Tech Hubs are designation meant to show where the federal government believes the next Silicon Valley could be for our industries, for our future. And out of everywhere in the country, Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse is about the best place. I know there were 30, but we're the best," Schumer said. "And I can tell you when they did the rankings, we weren't No. 30, we were much higher up."
The NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub proposal will now be able to compete for the next phase of the Tech Hubs Program that will invest between $50 and $75 million in each of 5-to-10 designated Hubs. Schumer secured an initial infusion of $500 million in last year’s spending bill to jumpstart the Tech Hubs competition, from which Phase 2 awards will be made.
The CHIPS and Science Bill included a $10 billion authorization for the Tech Hubs program – meaning that designated Tech Hubs will be able to compete for significantly more investment based off future funding levels.
Schumer says with this designation, the NY SMART I-Corridor will bring together the combined assets of Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse to help the region become a globally-recognized semiconductor manufacturing hub in the next decade, with innovation focused on improving the quality and quantity of semiconductor manufacturing and, along with it, amplifying the region’s microelectronics and microchip supply chain ecosystem.
The Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse consortium includes over 80 members from across the public sector, industry, higher-ed, economic and workforce development, and labor. This includes over 22 industry groups and firms, 20 economic development organizations, eight labor and workforce training organizations, and 10 institutions of higher learning.
This application development process was led by three designated conveners, one from each region: The John R. Oishei Foundation in Buffalo, ROC2025 in Rochester, and CenterState CEO in Syracuse.
Specifically, the NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub proposal seeks to propel the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse corridor by attracting new suppliers to the region, including onshoring companies from overseas, advancing research and development programs for the semiconductor industry, training the next generation of Upstate New York’s manufacturing workforce, and specifically helping ensure that underserved populations are connected to the tens-of-thousands of good-paying jobs expected to be created in this growing industry in the region.
"It so pained all of us when we saw across Upstate New York, and certainly here across Western New York, when the jobs left," Schumer said. "When American Axel or Bethlehem Steel left here, when Carrier left Syracuse, when Kodak shrunk in Rochester, and the kids who loved being raised here and went to good high schools and good colleges would go to the airport and wave goodbye, because there weren't the jobs here. That was part of the saddest part of being a Western New Yorker, which we're so proud of. Now the kids are coming back, and they know there are jobs here, good paying jobs, and the beautiful life of Western New York can, of course, be supported by good paying jobs. That's happening, and now that we are going to become the Semiconductor Superhighway of America, it's going to happen 10 times over."