Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces $40 Million Awarded Across the State Through Fast NY Program to Develop Shovel-Ready Sites

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that $39.6 million has been awarded for seven locations under the Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York (FAST NY) grant program. First announced in February 2022, the program is designed to prepare and develop sites across the state to jumpstart New York’s shovel-readiness and increase its attractiveness to large employers and high-tech manufacturing companies. The program, administered by Empire State Development, will help diversify New York State’s economy while propelling new investments for businesses, communities, and job creation.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, everyone. Good morning. If you build it, they will come. And that is the premise behind why we're here today in Marcy. First of all, it's great to be back. We've been here many times. I was so proud to be here as a fairly new governor. Now I'm getting to almost two years, so I’m feeling it. But also, to be here to make that extraordinary announcement about Wolfspeed.

A $1 billion investment, over 600 jobs, that does not happen every single day. So as proof that we're going to do even more, today, we are going to plant the seeds to bring new life to an open dirt field, just a few hundred yards up the hill. So when I do see an open field, I can't help but think of Field of Dreams and the voice of God from the cornfield who said, with great authority, “If you build it, they will come.” One of the greatest lines of all time. But that is exactly what this announcement is all about. If we build and prepare and get the land ready, the jobs, the businesses, the opportunities will come. And what is so exciting is that I'm joined by incredible individuals who've worked so hard to make this happen.

I want to, first of all, thank – you're going to be hearing from Steve DiMeo. I'll be introducing you momentarily. But certainly, what you've done, your tenacity with Mohawk EDGE making sure that the State knows your needs of this region and you speak with great authority. So I want to thank him. Let's give a round of applause to Steve DiMeo, Mohawk Valley EDGE.

I want to thank SUNY Poly for welcoming us. We have Dr. Andrew Russell, the Officer in Charge, and I'm very happy to have your leadership here as well at this outstanding institution that we're so proud of. We also have our great partners in state government. Senator Joe Griffo, who agrees with me 100 percent of the time, every time. It’s wonderful to see you, Senator, and thank you for your leadership in this region. Great friend of mine is Assemblymember Marianne Buttenschon. And I want to thank her for, first of all, introducing me to her adorable daughter – granddaughter, who's now seven years old. But also, you've been tireless in your passion to make sure that this region gets what it deserves. And you've been heard. I want you to be sure you've been heard.

We have Assemblymember Brian Miller and Assemblymember [Robert] Smullen. I thank them for joining us here as well. Our Town Supervisor, who I did see last time, Supervisor. I was in town government for 14 years, so I always have to acknowledge and show high levels of respect to the supervisors, the people who are in the trenches. But Marcy's a great community, and I thank you for your leadership, Brian Scala.

And a great friend of mine, Jackie Izzo, the Rome mayor. A lot of great things have been happening in Rome. Jackie, where are you Jackie? There you are. What a great community that is. It just continues to get better and better all the time.

And of course, we have the President of the Council here at SUNY Poly, RoAnnDestito. RoAnn, thank you for all you've done here. We also have Larry Gilroy, our Mohawk Valley, REDC co-chair. And you'll be also hearing from - I love the words Wolfspeed - Lisa Fritz. And you'll be hearing what their plans are as well.

So, what we have to do here is plan ahead. You can't just hear that a big company wants to go somewhere in the country and then try to decide to recruit them when you don't have the land and the infrastructure shovel-ready. So, we needed a space that would allow us to be able to land the next big one. And when we talk about how we do that, we've had great success. We did this with Micron. Micron could have gone anywhere in the country. In fact, they were planning on going somewhere else in the country. But when they saw a shovel-ready site in the Town of Clay, not that far from here, that made it so much easier that they would not have to go through all the regulatory burdens and questions after many years - is this finally going to be approved or turned down?

And so, we have to give businesses the clear path, the knowledge that if they come here, it will work out and they will not have any undue delays. So that's why we landed Micron. AMD just opened offices in Fishkill and Rochester. Again, all part of us cultivating that high tech industry here in Upstate New York.

And that continues today as we lay the groundwork for a space that will attract the next big company and hire graduates from this very institution because we produce the best, the smartest, and that is why we are so attractive to companies coming here. And also, we want the businesses that'll help power our economy Upstate for decades to come.

And so, in my time as Lieutenant Governor, I crisscrossed the state trying to convince companies to move here, and I know that what they're always looking for was something, some assurances. Employers, as I said, want to know that the permits are in place, the infrastructure's right, and work can begin almost immediately because time is money. And that is exactly what we're doing here.

We think about this area as well. I talk about how we want to position ourselves for the jobs of the future and create generational wealth based on people who stay here, not leave as it has happened for so long. This area was the heart of the textile industry. It also had, at one time, one of the wealthiest per capitas in America. The city nearby was one of the wealthiest. And we obviously lost that by mid-century, last century, de-industrialization had a big impact. It wasn't just here, it was not just the Mohawk Valley, it happened everywhere as textile mills went overseas, went down south. It was a hard hit for our region, but also for our psychology – how you feel about a region.

And when the jobs disappeared, many times hope disappeared. And this is something that I know all too well coming from Buffalo. That was the story of my childhood. And it strips you of your pride and your purpose, and it's hard to recover from that. People do stop believing and they start thinking, “I’ll raise my kids here, but they're going to leave anyhow, and I'll have to leave.” And it just – it's hard.

And so, seared in the knowledge of what this area has been through for decades, I said, “We're never going back there. Never ever going backwards.” And so, it starts about bringing the elite companies that will follow when the land is ready, but also, again, making sure we have a pipeline of qualified employees. And that's what's so important, leveraging what we have here. I talk to companies from all over the country all the time. They point out to me how extraordinary our educational institutions are here in Upstate New York. Don't take that for granted. Don't take that for granted at all. We are the envy of many parts of this country. And you talk about our high quality of life here, more affordable way to live, he fact that no one has long commutes stuck in traffic.

When I'm Buffalo, if anyone drives more than 20 minutes to work, they say, “I'm not going. It's 20 minutes? Too far. Why would I go 20 minutes?” So, that's our mentality. But we also have low-cost power. We have plentiful water and resources. We have charm, we have beauty, we have great attractions to the north and the Adirondacks and the rivers and the Erie Canal. My God, we have it all here. And let's never lose sight of that. We have to be our greatest champions and not have a defeatist attitude that I saw as part of the mentality of the region I grew up in.

We had to brush that off because I believe confidence breeds confidence. When we're recruiting businesses, when they see that we've got that swagger now it's like, “Oh, you want to come here? You want to join Wolfspeed? Did I tell you Wolfspeed was here already? Did I tell you Micron is going down the road? Did I tell you about these other businesses that we're building on? All these great high-tech industries?”

Embrace the swagger of Upstate New York because you have reason to boast, to be proud. And the people who stayed here through the tough times – many came from other countries, their grandparents, great-grandparents, and they settled here because of the good jobs. And I'm so excited to know that the children of today and their children will be able to stay here because of the jobs. That is going to make a huge difference, and this is why people want to be here.

So today, talking about not just being skill ready and a community ready, we have to be shovel-ready. I'm proud to announce $40 million in Fast New York. Fast New York means we're going to get everything ready. Seven new sites will be funded to get them ready around the state.

Someday, they will house the emerging industries of the future. And I'm talking about renewables, life sciences, agribusinesses, as well as high-tech. But the moment you've been waiting for is how much are you getting? Or else, why am I here today? You’re like, “What is she talking about?” Of that $40 million for the entire state, we're allocating $14 million for Mohawk Valley EDGE to further develop the Marcy Nanocenter site. So, congratulations. Congratulations.

We believe that this will plant the seeds for a semiconductor supply chain campus, literally right here. I think this is the immediate opportunity, just a few hundred yards from where we're standing. It means that the excavation, the moving of the earth, the infrastructure, it doesn't have to wait any longer. $14 million means it can start right now. I am very impatient. I want to start seeing the businesses show up here soon. I want to use my scissors and shovel constantly in this place, and that's what we're launching here today.

So that's what we're doing. We're going to be continuing attracting those businesses here. You heard it here first, that we're going to be doing this all over the country, and I want to untangle that supply chain. We heard about why Detroit was having trouble getting cars in the hands of consumers right after the pandemic. It wasn't the pandemic, it was that the ships going in the vehicles were inaccessible because you're making them overseas.

I no longer want to be reliant, ever, on a foreign based supply chain because that can paralyze us. And there's geopolitical factors when we rely on a certain country, and we have different relationships, they can cut us off. We have to build that resiliency, that independence right here in America, right here in the State of New York. And that's how we cut our dependence. That's how we lead the world.

So today, the groundwork is being made. And we start, and we're going to continue strengthening the roots right in that field. And yes, this area will be known as the Field of Dreams. And because of that, I'm going to invite up Steve DiMeo and you're going to tell me how this is going to become the field of dreams. You're going to tell us your vision, Steve. Ladies and gentlemen, let me present our next speaker, a tireless advocate for this community, EDGE President, Steve DiMeo.