Tech Garden Expansion Rendering in Downtown Syracuse

A Season of Innovation in New York State

New York’s foliage isn’t the only thing getting attention this fall.  Our economy is just as vibrant, with plans for a $1 billion, 600-job silicon-carbide wafer fabrication facility, the completion of a 50-mile drone corridor, developing the state’s cybersecurity sector and support for advance cancer research, autumn has been a season of innovation in New York State. These are just a few of the many ways New York is the state of the future:

  • Hiring is underway and construction plans are on schedule for Cree Inc.’s $1 billion 200mm silicon carbide wafer (SiC) fabrication facility, the Mohawk Valley Fab. In September, Governor Cuomo announced a public-private partnership with Cree, a global leader in silicon carbide (SiC) technology, for creation of the state-of-the-art facility. The facility will produce power electronics chips to meet the needs of industry, and with anticipated demand from the electric vehicle market. The company has committed to create more than 600 full-time jobs. Cree is currently leasing space on the SUNY Polytechnic Institute campus in Albany using equipment purchased as part of the New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium (PEMC) – in October, Cree and the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering and Science (NY CREATES) successfully completed the first silicon carbide test wafers at the Albany campus. The Cree partnership includes workforce development across the SUNY system to prepare New Yorkers for 21st century jobs.
  • It's official: New York State is home to the nation’s first 50-mile drone corridor, stretching from Central New York to the Mohawk Valley. Governor Cuomo announced the corridor’s completion earlier this month. The corridor is the country’s most advanced and will allow companies to test UAS-related products and unmanned traffic management (UTM) technologies for uses in a wide range of industries from forest management to film. The Nov. 12 drone announcement coincided with news of an expansion of CenterState CEO’s Tech Garden, home to new startups, to the UAS-focused GENIUS NY business accelerator competition and anchor of the Syracuse City Center Innovation hub.
  • New York State continues to build a tech talent pipeline for its key industries, including a growing homeland and cybersecurity sector. On Nov. 12, the Governor announced the opening of the Cybersecurity Innovation and Research Center at Hofstra University. The $1.35 million center, with $200,000 in state support, features top tech and simulation software allowing students to react to realistic cyberattacks. The Hofstra center is the latest in a series of cybersecurity-focused programs and initiatives recently announced across the state.
  • Last month marked the opening of the Center for Therapeutics Research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, one of the country’s top research institutions and home to groundbreaking discoveries for more than a century. The facility, which opened on Oct. 30 and is supported by a $25 million state grant, will research advanced therapies for genetic diseases, with a focus on cancer research and is expected to draw the world’s leading scientists to advance that research, adding to the strength of Long Island’s thriving biotech industry. 
  • In October, the New York State Innovation Summit in Rochester brought together companies and entrepreneurs to showcase and discover the new technologies that are supporting innovation and driving business growth in New York State. ESD’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and FuzeHub, a statewide nonprofit that helps manufacturers become more competitive, hosted the Oct. 7-8 event, which coincides with the NYSTAR annual meeting. Attendees learned about growing their businesses in New York State, about the capabilities defining the next generation of technology and manufacturing and about the state’s critical innovation assets and expertise. Also on the agenda: a NYSTAR video highlighting those assets.