Schumer announces $40 million in Tech Hub funding for Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was making his way across the New York State Thruway on Tuesday, making a stop in Buffalo to announce the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region being the first of only 12 Tech Hub award winners in the nation, bringing a major $40 million in federal funding to the region from the CHIPS & Science Law.

Schumer calls this is one of the most prestigious and highly competitive designations in the country, with only 12 other communities across the nation receiving federal funds. More than 400 communities in the United States applied for this designation, while only 31 were given a Tech Hub designation and a chance for additional federal funding as part of this initiative.

"We had all seen all the jobs leave, and we knew we had to come back not with something that was just a little BandAid, but something that would be at the center of the national and world economy," said Schumer during Tuesday's announcement. "Science and semiconductor chips and research was going to lead us that way. We had great institutions doing it, but we wanted to get it done. And we wanted to make sure that not all these new tech jobs went to New York City, San Francisco and Boston."

This federal investment is set to supercharge Upstate New York to build out its workforce training initiatives, strengthen existing manufacturing and innovation, and help attract new supply chains from the billions in private and federal semiconductor investment has helped bring to the region.

It will also help ensure the industry that is critical to the nation's future is now not just made in America, but made in Upstate New York.

Now with this designation in place for the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region, Schumer says companies from across the world will look to come and locate in Western New York. He adds there is no greater spotlight than being a national Tech Hub, and global companies want to take the chance to set up shop locally.

"We just had Edwards Vacuum, they keep the clean rooms clean. They're the No. 1 vacuum company in the world, but they're headquartered in England. They are opening up their American headquarters at STAMP [Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park] in Genesee County, in-between Buffalo and Rochester. They're going to start with 600 new jobs, and it's going to grow-and-grow-and-grow. And that story can be repeated over-and-over again," Schumer noted.

In addition, Schumer feels this Tech Hub designation will not only help keep locals working in Buffalo, it will also welcome others from around the country to make the move to Western New York.

"I had seen the pain, I felt it, in Western New York families saying goodbye to their 25-year-old kids at the airport, because they wanted to stay here, they loved Buffalo, they loved Western New York, but they couldn't find a job here. That's not happening now. Instead of parents in Buffalo waving goodbye to their kids, parents in other cities are waving goodbye to their kids as they come to Buffalo. What a change. That's a great thing, and I feel so good about that," Schumer said.

The $40 million in Tech Hubs funding will go towards specific component projects that aim to solve the growth challenges the region would otherwise face over the coming decade, and ensure that growth is translated to all members of the community.

Specifically, the components project efforts will be led by the University at Buffalo (UB), as well as Monroe Community College in Rochester and Syracuse University, all of which will be coordinating across the region to bolster workforce training initiatives, help elevate local supply chain companies, and create a collaborative ecosystem for semiconductor R&D commercialization.

The original Tech Hub designation for the NY Smart I-Corridor region was announced this past October.