We are so excited that Upstate New York has been selected to receive $40 million in federal funding under its Tech Hub designation from the U.S. Economic Development Administration! Our region’s bid – which covers Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse – focuses on the semiconductor industry, including its supply chain and workforce development.
By 2030, 25% of U.S. made semiconductor chips will be made within this Upstate NY mega region. That will be the highest concentration of any place in the country.
So, why Upstate New York and Buffalo Niagara for these globally significant semiconductor and supplemental supply chain opportunities?
And more broadly, why Buffalo Niagara for advanced manufacturing expansions?
Strategic Location and Market Access
Buffalo Niagara is in the center of an internationally significant community and regional marketplace. The region’s strategic location is on the Canadian border among the Great Lakes System along the Niagara River. The region boasts seven international points of entry accessible via road, rail, and water.
It is also incredibly easy to move between the Upstate New York corridor, from Buffalo to Rochester to Syracuse. Though geographically sprawled across Upstate New York, the corridor boasts quick drive times between each of the anchor cities thanks to low traffic and high connectivity.
Workforce
Buffalo Niagara boasts a strong workforce thanks to our network of 20 colleges and universities and dozens of workforce training initiatives focused on equipping folks with the skills of tomorrow’s economy. The Northland Workforce Training Center (NWTC) is the crown jewel of our workforce development ecosystem – and a model organization across the country. NWTC prepares students for roles in advanced manufacturing, with programs from both SUNY Erie and Alfred State College.
The Tech Hub initiative will work to even more strongly connect the broader region’s higher education institutions, making jobs and talent accessible and transient between the entirety of the corridor. Our area universities have long been generating the talent leveraged by the semiconductor industry, and the NY SMART I-Corridor is a way for us to grow more landing spots for this talent within our footprint.
It also offers the opportunity to leverage Western New York’s talent attraction initiative Be in Buffalo – a program of Invest Buffalo Niagara – to bring our highly educated and innovative expat Buffalonians back home with roles in this industry.
Power
Buffalo Niagara boasts reliable, clean, low-cost hydro power (Thanks, Niagara Falls!). Upstate New York has the cleanest electric power profile in the U.S., according to eGRID data. This power source provides unique resource to enable semiconductor fabs to lower carbon footprints, and do so at affordable costs.
Legacy of Manufacturing
Buffalo Niagara has enjoyed a long history of manufacturing success. Our legacy manufacturers like Moog, Materion, Edwards, and Voss have laid a solid foundation upon which we’re innovating and building the future of advanced manufacturing in Buffalo Niagara. Today, manufacturing is the third-largest employer sector in the Buffalo Niagara economy.
The Tech Hub plan also has massive supply chain implications for our current manufacturers. The coalition is ensuring that our local small and medium sized manufacturers who have stayed here in Western and Upstate New York and remained loyal to our regions get a piece of this pie. And the Tech Hub coalition will ensure that happens by helping these local companies realize supply chain opportunities, sell into the production chain, and broadly benefit from this momentum we are all creating.
Invest Buffalo Niagara’s Economic Gardening program provides local second-stage companies with free tailored assistance and sophisticated data tools. Participating companies gain valuable insights through market research, competitor intelligence, GIS mapping, and analysis in various business areas. By committing 8 –12 hours to the process — leveraging national consultants’ expertise — CEOs can make data-backed decisions to accelerate growth, innovation, and revenues.
How We Help
Invest Buffalo Niagara has helped nearly 150 manufacturing companies expand or relocate to WNY, joining a cluster of over 1,600 employers including AMDOR, Bridgestone, Plug Power, MedBio, and New Flyer. We can help you grow in Buffalo Niagara too! Explore our resources, then contact us to assist with your project. Our economic development professionals can provide site location assistance, labor market and demographics analysis, market research, facilitate state and local incentive applications, and much more — all confidentially.
What’s Next?
The Tech Hub application and this award are yet another win stacked on the foundation built via Invest Buffalo Niagara’s Industrial Real Estate Development Strategy and Labor Market Assessment. The findings from both those reports continue to inform regional strategy and affect our future at large.
With this announcement, the future of American semiconductor manufacturing will now dot the I-90, from Buffalo to Rochester to Syracuse. We at Invest Buffalo Niagara owe big congratulations and thank you to the steering committee, convening leader organizations, and the dozens of partners that made this announcement possible.
The work associated with this designation will be taken on by dozens of partners across Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse over the next several years. But the assets that Upstate New York and Buffalo Niagara possess to have earned this designation are true today and ready to be leveraged by growing companies immediately.
Learn more about business in Buffalo Niagara!
