Tech hub funding decisions expected soon

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

The U.S. Economic Development Administration, which is part of the Commerce Department and oversees the tech hub competition, is eyeing late June or early July to announce the winners.

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

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

The 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 be awarded money.

The NY SMART bid centers on creating a “semiconductor corridor” from Buffalo to Rochester. The federal government has pushed to ramp up 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-making complex. New York State has other chip-making operations, and near Columbus, Ohio, Intel is investing $20 billion into two chip-making facilities.

Put all of that manufacturing capability together, Gallagher said, and research shows that by 2033, 1 in 4 semiconductor chips made in United States will be produced within 350 miles of the NY SMART corridor.

“We will produce not only 25% of all the chips in this country, this will be the largest single area for production in the United States,” she said. “That is with or without additional support from the federal government.”

Gallagher said she sees great opportunity for manufacturers already supplying the semiconductor industry to grow, and for other manufacturers to pivot and start supplying the industry.

“We’ve got an incredible foundation of existing manufacturers that can take advantage of what is happening with the federal government,” she said.

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

Gallagher said the tech hub designation alone – even before the funding awards – has drawn attention. In June, representatives of 20 Taiwanese companies that are part of the supply chain for Micron Technology plan to visit Western New York because of its tech hub status.

“We are seeing some real opportunity here,” she said.

Gallagher made a lobbying trip to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and said she found strong bipartisan support for the NY SMART tech hub bid. One of the most prominent supporters of the NY SMART bid has been U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader who championed the legislation that created the tech hub program.

While the three-region bid awaits word on funding, Gallagher said the joint effort has opened up new possibilities.

“We think this level of collaboration between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse right now just happens to be around semiconductors,” she said. “We think this is really a new way we can do economic development for our region, overall, to take the assets and strengths of that entire corridor and put them to work for Western New York and Central New York.”