Lackawanna, N.Y. (WBEN) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer is once again looking to pass legislation that seeks to secure funding to bring manufacturing, industry facilities and jobs back to America and New York State.
Senator Schumer stood at at Renaissance Commerce Park, the former Bethlehem Steel Site in Lackawanna, on Monday highlighting the new ONSHORE Act, which, in this case, stands for the opportunity for non-developed sites to have opportunities to be rehabilitated for economic development.
LISTEN LIVE TO WBEN:
"What it does solve is the chicken and egg problem that municipalities and companies have faced for years," explained Sen. Schumer. "When it comes to locating critical industries, like semiconductors, supply chains and advanced manufacturing, the bill creates the first-of-its-kind, $100 million a year federal grant program within EDA, our Economic Development Agency to make sites shovel-ready for companies to move and boost workforce development."
The senator explains that this will help compliment the growth that has been spurred from legislation that he helped put forward, such as the CHIPS & Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
"I have passed historic legislation that is starting to locate good high-end jobs in Upstate New York, we're seeing a manufacturing boom. We're becoming one of the centers of high-end manufacturing and chip fab [fabrication] in the country with many different groups. They're coming back, these companies. When I call a CEO and say, 'Are you going to locate in upstate New York? We've got water, we've got power, we've got a great workforce and we've got the majority leader who can help you get federal grants.' They say, 'Do you have a shovel-ready site?'"
Schumer explains that Western New York can leverage their manufacturing work history and the investments already arriving in factories and plants in Upstate New York, such as a $319 million Edwards Vacuum plant and a multi-billion dollar Micron Technology semiconductor plant, to capitalize on companies who want to build in America.
"Because of these Acts, the companies are coming back. We need ready sites, and the ONSHORE Act helps get it done. This bipartisan bill is how we solve the problem to quickly begin construction and get those jobs going."