(WNY News Now) – Governor Kathy Hochul announced yesterday that New York State has been designated the location for the nation’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) facility at the NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex.
Governor Kathy Hochul celebrated the designation of NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex as the location of the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator, an NSTC facility. This announcement marks an anticipated significant investment in EUV research and development under the Biden-Harris Administration’s CHIPS and Science Act. This prestigious designation unlocks $825 million in federal funding and makes New York State the first state in the nation to land one of three NSTC facilities.
Like Majority Leader Schumer, I am speechless about what today means. I truly am. Because at the beginning of my administration, I set forth a vision to reclaim and exceed the manufacturing era that had been associated with this part of our state for 200 years.
And we’ve spoken about the Erie Canal and what a phenomenal engineering feat that is — still the envy and the awe of the rest of the world. And you always wonder, are we always looking backwards, though? How do we ever top that moment? And I also grew up at a time when people saw all those industries that grew only because of the Erie Canal: Ports of Albany, New York City over to Buffalo, and all the communities throughout that had their own niche. They created something, they manufactured. Whether it was gloves, whether it was textiles, whether it was the steel and the automotive plants in my hometown of Buffalo, we never knew how we could regain what we had lost when all those jobs and manufacturing and the pride that was associated with that time, when it all dissipated during my youth.
Because we talk about, as the Senator does, bringing back jobs to Upstate, this is personal to me. This is my family’s story. And to be Governor at a time when, because of extraordinary partnerships starting with President Biden and Kamala Harris — you have to have someone in the White House who understands the power of that office to use it to harness public good, but also create jobs — and have at this moment in time our own Chuck Schumer as the most powerful person in the United States Senate who has his hand on the levers of power and influence as well.
That dynamic, and put together a Governor who still has the scars of what it was like to lose those jobs and now I’m so passionate about bringing them back, this is, as we’ve talked about before, our moment to regain that story. That story of New York and our exceptionalism.
That’s what today is all about. This is why I am so proud to be here. And it’s not just about the good paying jobs — and there are extraordinarily going to be good paying jobs, people are going to come here — but it’s the spin off effect. It’s everything: the little coffee shops in downtown Albany, the restaurants, the hotels, the housing. There’s a whole economic impact when you create something like this whole I-90 corridor, the I-90 Innovation Corridor. And I’m going to declare today the day that we stop saying, “We’re going to be the next Silicon Valley.” Okay? People are going to be saying, “We want to be the next I-90 Innovation Corridor in the State of New York.” I’m declaring that right now. Because we are leading the nation, but also leading the world as a global leader in manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing.
And I do want to just give enormous credit to so many people. Dave Anderson, what you’ve created with NY Creates is visionary, and this is going to be part of your legacy long beyond your time here. And all the people who are part of this team that we’ve attracted from all over the world because they know this is the place to be — nowhere else. Thank you. Thank you for helping this vision be realized.
Also, to our local elected officials, thank you. We have our local elected officials who have been recognized, my partners in government, and I also want to thank my team. Hope Knight, thank you for being at the helm of Empire State Development when these multi-billion-dollar projects come to us and others would say, “Ah, too expensive, I’m not sure we can get it through.” We fortunately have your support. But also people like Pat Fahy and John McDonald who are fighting for us in our State Legislature, I want to thank them as well. County Executive McCoy, Mayor Sheehan, thank you both. I know you’re enormously proud of this as well and I’m so excited to be here as we see this rebirth of Albany and this great county. Also, Kevin Eunice, who has been shepherding the Micron project.
A day doesn’t go by where I don’t think about what Micron has done for us and our national identity. And I brag about these projects nonstop. When I’m in New York City speaking before a large business forum, they know I’m going to say, “Did I tell you we have the largest private sector investment in American history going on right Upstate?” They’ll hear about Micron, and they’ll know about the 50,000 jobs and the $100 billion of investment. And it builds on the legacy of companies like GlobalFoundries. Thank you for investing in us and continuing to expand.
You’ve heard from the Majority Leader how significant this is for our stature, it’s for our national security, it’s our identity, but also for those who grew up like I did. And life in New York meant — as he referenced — saying goodbye. I had five siblings, big Irish-Catholic family, every one of them wanted a job in Western New York in the 80s, and there were no jobs. Unemployment was 17 percent. This is a life changing experience for people who have that knowledge of what it could have been, what it could have stayed but for a belief that we can harness a whole new power: semiconductors, innovation, artificial intelligence, and what we’re doing with this facility.
And to have the recognition after starting in 2017, Chuck Schumer saw a vision for this region to build on what was already done here, and say, “Why not have the nation focus this energy, this research, this talent, all right here in our state’s capital?” And that is what today is all about.
Do not underestimate the power of this announcement. This is transformational. We’ll look back on this day years from now and all the research and the young people who want to get their hands on owning a piece and innovating a piece of the future. They’ll be coming to Albany and to our state for this opportunity. They’ll be coming to Albany and to our state for this opportunity. $825 million dollars, that is amazing.
Thank you, Chuck Schumer, for believing in us. Thank you for never giving up the fight, never giving up the fight for this as well. So we’ve gone from rusty factories to beautiful clean rooms, a place where people’s possibilities are just absolutely unlimited, and I’m so proud to be here because those days of my hopeless childhood — the boarded up downtown, people leaving home — are way behind us.
And, I’m going to continue leaning hard into advanced manufacturing and the innovation economy, because this is where John King is going to make sure that every single student who is born as a New Yorker, has a shot at getting a world class education. That sets us apart when you have John King leading our SUNY system.
I want to give you another round of applause, John, because you are innovating how we deliver education — the SUNY and CUNY systems. I’m going to wrap up with that, because I just want a big bite of that candy bar. But I’m so proud. I’m really proud. We’ve talked about this a long time, and you had to do what you had to do in Washington.
I remember visiting everybody from the President to his Chief of Staff to Secretary Raimondo countless times. Secretary Raimondo, you’re a former woman Governor of another state. I need this for my state, you understand? I was hitting it all, and she says, “I know, I just got off the phone with Chuck Schumer again. The two of you, the two of you just won’t leave me alone.” But that’s what perseverance is all about. It’s how we are hardwired to operate, to deliver. And that’s how we get it done.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this, and I want to give a special thank you to everyone, everyone involved in this. And they say teamwork makes the dream work. We have an incredible team fighting for us in our nation’s capital.
We have our Congressman Paul Tonko, who I served with in Congress. I know he’s been a great champion of bringing the money back here as well. But we also have a Senator who’s from Upstate, who represented this area. She knows what this means to this local economy and the people that she grew up with as well. This is deeply personal for our great Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, who helped make this happen and always, always, always delivers and has our back.
Let me give a round of applause to our great Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand.