
Tech, manufacturing and more are making inroads in this growth-focused region
Building on unique regional assets, the Mohawk Valley offers a competitive business climate with its exceptional quality of life and strategic location, in cities including Utica and Rome and six counties at the geographic center of upstate New York – Otsego, Oneida, Schoharie, Montgomery, Fulton and Herkimer. Businesses will find a landscape of opportunity, with a wealth of academic and research institutions — including the Masonic Medical Research Institute and Marcy Nanocenter on the SUNY Polytechnic Institute campus near Utica — and major industry clusters that drive innovation and success.
Key Industries in the Mohawk Valley
Distribution
Homeland and Cybersecurity
Tech and Electronics
Materials Processing

Thriving industry clusters are building around distribution, materials processing, industrial machinery and services, agriculture, financial services, information and technology and semiconductors. Hiring and construction are underway for Wolfspeed's $1 billion 200mm silicon carbide wafer (SiC) fabrication facility, the Mohawk Valley Fab. Other major employers include MetLife, Bank of New York Mellon, ECR International Inc., Remington Arms Co., the nationally acclaimed Brewery Ommegang, Briggs & Stratton, Indium Corporation, and distribution centers for Walmart, Target, Family Dollar, Tractor Supply, Orgill and Dollar General. Direct access to markets in Canada, Pennsylvania, New York City and Buffalo allows businesses to expand their reach, while proximity to north-south interstate highways simplifies logistics.

Cybersecurity has become a keystone industry base here, with firms such as AFRL, PAR Technology, BAE Systems, ITT Industries, Black Rivers Systems, Assured Information Security, and Booz Allen-Hamilton all in the region. Utica College has the expertise to create the first cyber-nano test range in the nation for use in the private sector — cybersecurity professionals in the Mohawk Valley, and throughout New York State, will be able to test computer systems to gauge their reactions to security threats.

Griffiss International Airport is one of seven national sites testing the commercial use of unmanned aerial systems, an effort led by NUAIR (Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance).
Mohawk Valley By The Numbers

2.5%
new net income tax for small businesses — the lowest rate since 1917 — down from 6.5%

$2.18B
spent by visitors in 2019

1 of 40
colleges honored — Mohawk Valley C.C. was recognized by the NSA and Department of Homeland Security for cyber defense excellence
Age Distribution (2023)
Population (2023)
Labor Force Status (2023)
Education Attainment (2023)
Data source: ZoomProspector (Applied Geographic Solutions)
Doing Business in the Mohawk Valley
Tax-Based Incentives
Operational Support
Growth Support
Innovation Development Support
Regional Office
The Mohawk Valley regional office works hand-in-hand with new and existing businesses to help identify economic development programs to support business growth and expansion—for building new facilities, relocating a business, expanding operations and workforce and entering new and global markets.