Schumer announces Syracuse is part of regional ‘Tech Hub’ designation for semiconductor funding
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Sen. Chuck Schumer announced that the Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester region has won a national competition to become one of 31 designated “Tech Hubs” for semiconductor manufacturing in a press conference in downtown Syracuse Monday.
The designation allows the region to receive federal funding for building a semiconductor workforce and supply chains in upstate New York, according to Schumer’s press release. The competition came after Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act in August 2022, which dedicated $52.7 billion in federal incentives for semiconductor manufacturers to expand in the United States.
Schumer started the Tech Hub Program as part of the CHIPS and Science Act in an effort to bring overseas tech jobs back to local communities, the release wrote.
“I created this program with Upstate NY in mind, and now three of our own cities that helped build America, have not only won the exclusive federal Tech Hub designation for semiconductors, but also won a once in a generation opportunity to write a new chapter for Upstate NY building our nation’s future,” Schumer said in the release.
The Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse group includes over 80 member organizations from the public, private and education sectors, including Syracuse University, according to the release. The three cities will form a national tech hub that specializes in semiconductor manufacturing and research. The region will be eligible for up to a $10 billion share in federal aid to invest in new technologies.
The Syracuse branch of the application was led by CenterState CEO. It will coordinate work on improving the region’s semiconductor manufacturing, supply chain assets and scientific and partner coalitions, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The national tech hub designation comes as Micron, the fourth-largest producer of semiconductors in the world, is set to construct a semiconductor manufacturing site just north of Syracuse in Clay. The company plans to invest up to $100 billion in the region over 20 years.
Schumer said bringing together the three cities with the resources would create an “unstoppable engine” to help upstate New York become a global center for semiconductors.
“With this Tech Hubs Designation highlighting the region as one of only a few in the country primed to be the next Silicon Valley in critical technology, combined with federal funding now flooding this triple threat region, America’s semiconductor manufacturing industry truly couldn’t be in better hands,” he said.
