Projects Would Position Region to Lead in Advanced Manufacturing, Creating Thousands of New Jobs, Supporting Hundreds of Emerging Tech Manufacturing Companies, and Driving the Upstate NY Economy into the Future 

A longtime advocate of innovation and promoting tech manufacturing in Upstate New York, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer is urging the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to select the Western New York and Rochester regions as an awardee through the American Rescue Plan’s <a href="https://eda.gov/arpa/build-back-better/">Build Back Better Regional Challenge</a>. In letters and a personal call this week to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Schumer explained that the Western New York and Rochester regions are primed to bring together existing assets and expertise to support the robust growing manufacturing sector, advance research & development, bolster workforce training, and help attract new companies to the region, highlighting the Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster.  

“The Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster proposal would revolutionize the manufacturing sector from Rochester to Buffalo and throughout Upstate New York, creating thousands of jobs, and making the region a global technology hub,” said Senator Schumer. “Upstate New York is on the front lines of high tech manufacturing with world renowned companies, prestigious research institutions, and a top notch workforce, making it a prime candidate for federal investment and to boost U.S. competitiveness in critical manufacturing. That is why I advocated directly with Commerce Secretary Raimondo to advocate for the selection of the region’s projects in the Build Back Better Challenge to support the critical expansion of domestic tech manufacturing in Rochester, Western New York, and throughout Upstate.”

Schumer said the Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster project brings together major regional stakeholders, leading research institutions, community colleges, unions, and industrial partners to support new tech manufacturing, launch startups,  expand research & development, and train workers for jobs in the emerging tech industries. Partners in the project include University of Rochester (lead), University at Buffalo, Syracuse University, Binghamton University, RIT, Cornell University, Monroe Community College, CenterState CEO, Alfred University, LeMoyne, M&T Bank and more. In addition, the project has a focus on expanding opportunities for traditionally marginalized workers, with a significant portion of the hiring in proposed projects coming from underserved populations and at least 40% of the economic impact servicing new Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) businesses.

Optoelectronics (OE) is the technology that uses both electronics and light to create products such as fiber optics, batteries, drones and sensors and more.  More than 200 small and midsized OE companies are now located in this region of New York and are a vital domestic supply chain for our nation’s energy and security industries.  However, without federal support like this Build Back Better investment, there is a high risk that U.S. OE manufacturing will migrate overseas and undermine U.S. national and economic security.  Growth of the Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster will ensure that critical optoelectronic products needed for industries, such as security and energy, can be manufactured domestically. The cluster will also create a resilient economy and workforce by specifically recruiting and training now unemployed or underemployed at-risk workers for these new jobs that will provide good wages and a career path.  This region includes some of the nation’s most impoverished areas so by reaching outside established employment pools to include marginalized and disenfranchised populations in this industry the cluster will create a win-win by securing employment for those disproportionately affected by the pandemic and economically at risk while providing a qualified workforce for the hundreds of local businesses now facing staffing shortages.

The $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge, funded by the American Rescue Plan, is designed to assist communities nationwide, with accelerating economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and building local economies that will be resilient to economic disruptions. The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is being implemented as a two phase program In Phase 1, the EDA will provide ~$500,000 technical assistance grants. Those selected as Phase 1 awardees will be considered “finalists” and the grants will be used by the finalists to prepare more detailed applications for Phase 2 transformational projects that benefit their respective geographic regions and are aligned around a holistic approach to building and scaling a strategic industries. In Phase 2, the EDA will award 20-30 regional coalitions $25 million to $75 million, and up to $100 million, for selected projects to grow new regional industry clusters or scale existing ones through planning, infrastructure, innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development, access to capital, and more.

The full news release is available <a href="https://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-urges-feds-to-select-upstate-new-york-optoelectronics-cluster-in-1-billion-build-back-better-regional-challenge-projects-would-position-region-to-lead-in-advanced-manufacturing-creating-thousands-of-new-jobs-supporting-hundreds-of-emerging-tech-manufacturing-companies-and-driving-the-upstate-ny-economy-into-the-future_">online</a>.

Repost Message will copy the article into draft mode and enable you to edit/change dates and information.
Do not change the dates of this posting because it will affect the original.

MCC Daily Tribune

Schumer Urges Feds to Select Upstate NY Optoelectronics Cluster in $1B Build Back Better Regional Challenge

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer's office issued the following news release on Thursday, Dec. 9:

Projects Would Position Region to Lead in Advanced Manufacturing, Creating Thousands of New Jobs, Supporting Hundreds of Emerging Tech Manufacturing Companies, and Driving the Upstate NY Economy into the Future

A longtime advocate of innovation and promoting tech manufacturing in Upstate New York, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer is urging the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to select the Western New York and Rochester regions as an awardee through the American Rescue Plan’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge. In letters and a personal call this week to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Schumer explained that the Western New York and Rochester regions are primed to bring together existing assets and expertise to support the robust growing manufacturing sector, advance research & development, bolster workforce training, and help attract new companies to the region, highlighting the Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster.

“The Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster proposal would revolutionize the manufacturing sector from Rochester to Buffalo and throughout Upstate New York, creating thousands of jobs, and making the region a global technology hub,” said Senator Schumer. “Upstate New York is on the front lines of high tech manufacturing with world renowned companies, prestigious research institutions, and a top notch workforce, making it a prime candidate for federal investment and to boost U.S. competitiveness in critical manufacturing. That is why I advocated directly with Commerce Secretary Raimondo to advocate for the selection of the region’s projects in the Build Back Better Challenge to support the critical expansion of domestic tech manufacturing in Rochester, Western New York, and throughout Upstate.”

Schumer said the Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster project brings together major regional stakeholders, leading research institutions, community colleges, unions, and industrial partners to support new tech manufacturing, launch startups, expand research & development, and train workers for jobs in the emerging tech industries. Partners in the project include University of Rochester (lead), University at Buffalo, Syracuse University, Binghamton University, RIT, Cornell University, Monroe Community College, CenterState CEO, Alfred University, LeMoyne, M&T Bank and more. In addition, the project has a focus on expanding opportunities for traditionally marginalized workers, with a significant portion of the hiring in proposed projects coming from underserved populations and at least 40% of the economic impact servicing new Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) businesses.

Optoelectronics (OE) is the technology that uses both electronics and light to create products such as fiber optics, batteries, drones and sensors and more. More than 200 small and midsized OE companies are now located in this region of New York and are a vital domestic supply chain for our nation’s energy and security industries. However, without federal support like this Build Back Better investment, there is a high risk that U.S. OE manufacturing will migrate overseas and undermine U.S. national and economic security. Growth of the Upstate New York Optoelectronics Cluster will ensure that critical optoelectronic products needed for industries, such as security and energy, can be manufactured domestically. The cluster will also create a resilient economy and workforce by specifically recruiting and training now unemployed or underemployed at-risk workers for these new jobs that will provide good wages and a career path. This region includes some of the nation’s most impoverished areas so by reaching outside established employment pools to include marginalized and disenfranchised populations in this industry the cluster will create a win-win by securing employment for those disproportionately affected by the pandemic and economically at risk while providing a qualified workforce for the hundreds of local businesses now facing staffing shortages.

The $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge, funded by the American Rescue Plan, is designed to assist communities nationwide, with accelerating economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and building local economies that will be resilient to economic disruptions. The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is being implemented as a two phase program In Phase 1, the EDA will provide ~$500,000 technical assistance grants. Those selected as Phase 1 awardees will be considered “finalists” and the grants will be used by the finalists to prepare more detailed applications for Phase 2 transformational projects that benefit their respective geographic regions and are aligned around a holistic approach to building and scaling a strategic industries. In Phase 2, the EDA will award 20-30 regional coalitions $25 million to $75 million, and up to $100 million, for selected projects to grow new regional industry clusters or scale existing ones through planning, infrastructure, innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development, access to capital, and more.

The full news release is available online.

Hency Yuen-Eng
Government and Community Relations
12/14/2021