Upstate NY's three biggest cities win national Tech Hub competition. What does it mean?

Upstate New York’s three biggest cities have been chosen together as one of the nation’s dozen Tech Hubs, a designation that comes with $40 million in federal funding to support tech giant Micron’s $100 billion bet on the region.

The entry from Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, represented by a consortium called the "NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub," beat out 19 others for a chance to create a semiconductor superhighway along I-90 and shed the region’s long held reputation for hemorrhaging jobs.

What does a 'Tech Hub' mean for Upstate NY?

Over the next decade, a region within 350 miles of the hub is poised to produce a quarter of all microchips — an essential source of power for cars and electronics — made in the U.S. as the nation tries to unseat China as the biggest player in the semiconductor industry.

Thousands of jobs have been promised at Micron’s manufacturing plant in the Syracuse suburb of Clay as well as at the start-ups and existing businesses that will form the industry’s supply chain.

There will be jobs for electricians, construction workers, laborers, industrial engineers and software developers.  And the deep reservoir of talent being developed at the region’s universities , considered among the finest in the nation, will be encouraged to stick around after graduation to go to work in the industry.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, the majority leader, championed the region’s entry with the White House and will appear at Monroe Community College in Rochester Tuesday to mark the watershed event.

“Places like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse built America, but we lost most of that industrial past and I wanted it to come back,” Schumer said. “So now the federal government is taking the reins to say our future will be built in upstate New York, not China.”

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How stiff was the Tech Hub competition?

The $40 million total is less than the $75 million advertised as the potential payout for each winning region in a national competition that attracted 400 entries. But instead of five finalists from a list winnowed down to 31, 12 survived the final cut, including the Upstate Corridor.

The state will kick in another $8 million in Empire State Development funds, officials said Tuesday after the award was announced.

“This award will help to bring the next generation of semiconductor research, manufacturing, and workforce training upstate and unlock even more funding — on top of our other state investments — to attract chipmaking businesses and jobs,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

Some $504 million in federal funding has been allocated for the program’s first year through the CHIPS and Science Law.

The Biden Administration announced the winners Tuesday.

In an interview, Schumer said he urged leadership from the three cities to submit a single, unified entry rather than one from each that could end up canceling out one or another.

“I worked this sort of like a game of chess,” Schumer said. “I had to get everyone to join together. Originally, Buffalo wanted to be its own tech hub, Rochester wanted to be its own tech hub. I said ‘no, no, no. If we’re all together we’re going to have much more strength than we would otherwise.’ “

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Where will Tech Hub workers be trained?

Monroe Community College will spearhead a workforce training initiative, working with other community colleges to expand internship and apprentice opportunities with a focus on attracting workers from underserved communities.

The University of Buffalo will lead the effort to scale up manufacturing partnerships to make it easier for local firms to gain a foothold in the industry.

Competition: Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse receive Tech Hub designation. What does that mean?

And Syracuse University will work with government, industry and academia to aid start-ups and other businesses as they bring their ideas to market.

In 2022, Micron announced plans to build a massive manufacturing plant that will generate thousands of jobs.

And in November, TTM Technologies said it would build a $130 million high-tech manufacturing facility in Onondaga County to produce circuit boards.

Schumer said he convinced Washington decision makers New York had a ready workforce as well as plenty of power and water to support a burgeoning industry.

“And maybe in addition we had the majority leader, right?” Schumer said. “I don’t know. Maybe. I think that had a lot to do with it. I called the White House and the Commerce Secretary week after week after week to tell them upstate New York’s the best place for America’s chips.”

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Upstate NY's three biggest cities win national Tech Hub competition. What does it mean?