Financing decisions for the technology center are expected soon

“All the heavy lifting is done. The application is filed. We’re just waiting to hear what we hope will be very good news in the next few weeks,” said Dottie Gallagher, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration, part of the Commerce Department and oversees the technology cluster competition, is looking at late June or early July to announce the winners.

If the federal money comes through, New York State has pledged to add $10 million, which would bring the total value of the effort to $64 million.

The tech hub competition was launched to promote innovation in areas outside of homes such as Silicon Valley. Out of around 400 applications, 31 regions were designated as technology hubs last year. This included the NY SMART I-Corridor entry submitted by Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.

All 31 tech hubs are eligible for tens of millions of dollars in federal funding, but only five to 10 of those applicants are expected to receive any money.

NY SMART’s application focuses on creating a “semiconductor corridor” from Buffalo to Rochester. The federal government has pushed to accelerate domestic semiconductor manufacturing for national security and supply chain reasons.

In the Syracuse area, Micron Technology plans to invest up to $100 billion in a chip manufacturing complex. New York State has other chip manufacturing facilities, and near Columbus, Ohio, Intel is investing $20 billion in two chip manufacturing facilities.

Put all that manufacturing capacity together, Gallagher said, and research shows that by 2033, one in four semiconductor chips made in the United States will be produced within 350 miles of the NY SMART corridor.

“Not only will we produce 25 percent of all the chips in this country, but it will be the largest production area in the United States,” she said. “That’s with or without additional support from the federal government.”

Gallagher said she sees a big growth opportunity for manufacturers that already supply the semiconductor industry, and for other manufacturers to pivot and begin supplying the industry.

“We have an incredible base of existing manufacturers that can take advantage of what’s happening with the federal government,” she said.

One of the proposals in the NY SMART application calls for the creation of an $8 million Supply Chain Activation Network, led by the University at Buffalo. SCAN would aim to develop the supply chain network for the semiconductor industry. In Genesee County, Edwards Vacuum has started work on a $319 million plant to produce dry pumps used by the industry.

Gallagher said the tech hub designation alone — even before funding was awarded — attracted attention. In June, representatives from 20 Taiwanese companies in Micron Technology’s supply chain plan to visit Western New York because of its status as a technology hub.

“We see a real opportunity here,” she said.

Gallagher took a lobbying trip to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and said she found strong bipartisan support for the NY SMART Technology Center bid. One of the most prominent supporters of NY SMART’s bid was U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader who championed the legislation that created the tech hub program.

While the three regions’ bid awaits funding information, Gallagher said the joint effort has opened up new possibilities.

“We think this level of collaboration between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse is in semiconductors right now,” she said. “We think this is really a new way to economically develop our region as a whole, taking the assets and strengths of this entire corridor and putting them to work for the West and the Central New York.”