What $40 million in Tech Hub funding will mean for future of Western New York

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Back in 1977, there was an infamous billboard in the City of Buffalo posted by concerned steelworkers at Bethlehem Steel that read, "Will the last worker out of Western New York please turn out the light?" At the time, it signified the closing of Buffalo as an industrial hub in the nation, especially in the steel and auto industries.

Fast forward nearly 50 years later, the light that shines on the City of Buffalo and across Upstate New York is "shining brighter than ever before" with the area set to become part of the New York semiconductor superhighway along with the cities of Rochester and Syracuse.

It was announced on Tuesday that a major $40 million in federal funding was granted to the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region thanks to a special Tech Hub designation for the region that was created by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in his CHIPS & Science Law. It makes the region the one and only Tech Hub in the nation dealing with semiconductors.

"We all know that Buffalo built America. We all know that we lost manufacturing years ago. This award is to make sure that Buffalo and Upstate New York builds America's future, and we're so pleased and proud of that," said Sen. Schumer on Tuesday at Northland Workforce Training Center.

Schumer estimates by the end of the decade, around 25% of semiconductor chips produced in the United States will be made within the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region along Interstate 90.

The funding awarded to the NY Smart I-Corridor Tech Hub will go towards training the next generation of workers, and get them to fill jobs in the chip industry. It will also help startups, and new startups that want to set up shop in the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region. In addition, it will help existing companies in Western New York as they grow, and will also create new companies.

"We are rebuilding Upstate New York one microchip at a time. Tech Hubs took years of work to land, but now with the federal government investing big, we are right on the road to becoming New York and America's semiconductor superhighway," Schumer said.

This transformation of the region into a national center for semiconductor manufacturing, while bolstering by a robust supply chain and workforce, should help build the economy of the future along the NY Smart I-Corridor Tech Hub.

"It's a global economy taking shape right here in Upstate, and we owe it to our leadership in Washington. And we owe it to the people that are on the ground, the workforce that are making it happen, labor and business working together with our government leaders to make this a reality," said Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26) on Tuesday. "This investment is going to recreate that new economy for generations to come, and it's all because of our strategic location in the nation and in the world. Within a day's drive of a third of the population of North America right here in Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse."

"This is going to be transformational for the economy of Buffalo and Upstate. I can't say enough about what Sen. Schumer has done to breathe this life into Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse. It is an amazing accomplishment," added Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. "As Mayor of the City of Buffalo, I stand ready to assist the companies that will come here to create jobs and opportunity for our region."

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says this investment is an example of the comeback of the new Buffalo and new Erie County.

"What we once were known for, steel, we're not known for steel anymore. But in Lackawanna, SoPark makes computer boards and now they're going to benefit from this. So a company in Lackawanna, where everyone used to think of the steel industry, is now going to be benefiting from this semiconductor superhighway. It's a sea change," said Poloncarz in an interview with WBEN.

While it may be a few years out before we start seeing companies setting up shop and really setting its roots along the I-90 corridor, Poloncarz explains how the funding is going to make an impact sooner on the region.

"We have to train people, we have to educate people. The University at Buffalo will be doing that, SUNY Erie will be doing that. Right now, we're in SUNY Erie's mechatronics hub. We're going to be training people using the money that's received from the federal government, and then when the jobs come, it's going to have a huge impact," he said.

"Everybody likes to think of the here-and-now, but this isn't one of those projects that you've got to think long-term, and when I say long-term, I'm not talking two or three years, I'm talking 5-to-10 years. In five years, Micron will be open in Syracuse, you'll see tremendous spin off at that point. It's going to take some time. This is my last term as county executive, I'm hoping that we see the turnaround of the new semiconductor superhighway jobs during my tenure. But if it doesn't happen until a year or two afterwards, that's still fine. The most important thing is happening."

So with talks of revitalizing the local economy with the help of this funding and the Tech Hub designation for Western New York, what may be the vision for the region within the next 5-to-10 years?

"The wealth will grow, the salaries will grow, the population will grow. It'll just be increasing. It'll be on an upward slope, and the golden years of Buffalo are back," Schumer said.

Poloncarz further notes while the economy is strong and the unemployment rate is low in Erie County, the one thing that's needed is more people for jobs.

"We need to be able to get more people here to train, and that's what this is going to do. It's going to bring more people here," Poloncarz said. "The people who are looking may live in Nashville, they may live in Columbus, Ohio, they may live in Boise, Idaho. They're gonna say, 'These jobs are in Buffalo, these jobs are in Rochester and Syracuse. I'm going to move here.' While the economy is strong, it's going to be better and it's diversified.

"We used to be known for steel and auto. We're not just known for steel and auto. We still have an auto industry, which is important. We don't have much steel, but we still have the grain industry that we used to be relied on. We have banking, we have technology, we have healthcare, and now we're going to be one of these Tech Hub areas. So by having a diversified economy, it means if one area goes bad, it doesn't necessarily negatively impact the entire economy because we have all these other areas."