BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region will be designated as a federal Tech Hub, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced Monday.
The designation is part of the CHIPS & Science Act that Congress passed last year. Schumer said the “NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub” is aimed to spur the production of semiconductors in Upstate New York.
“This 3 region Tech Hub will hit the gas on NY’s booming chips industry by attracting new companies, training our workforce for tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and bringing manufacturing in this critical industry back from overseas to right here in Upstate NY,” Schumer said in a statement.
The federal government says the program will invest and transform regions like western and central New York into globally competitive innovation centers for the semiconductor and microelectronic industry.
Schumer said the designation will allow the region to compete for potentially billions of dollars in federal funds through the next phases of the federal Tech Hubs program.
“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,” Schumer said.
Justin McMullen is a Western New York native who joined the News 4 team in 2023. You can read more of his work here.