June 22, 2022
Albany, NY

Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Groundbreaking for Regeneron's $1.8 Billion Expansion in Westchester County

New York's Largest Biotech Company Continues to Grow in the Mid-Hudson Region, Bringing at Least 1,000 New Jobs over Five Years

Governor Hochul: "I cannot ever overstate what a 1.8 billion investment creating an additional thousand jobs means to us at this time in our state's history you planted the flag here again, for another generation of creating life-saving medicines, and medicines that are going to give people a quality of life that they've been denied, no fault of their own, but because they've been struck down with a disease. That is so important."

Hochul: "I know a little bit about this, because my family lived the American Dream when my grandpa left great poverty in Ireland and was able to leave working as a migrant farm worker when he found a job manufacturing steel in Lackawanna, New York That's what lifted my family up. So, I'm a believer in manufacturing and particularly the legacy industries that we lost to foreign competition, and to other states."

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the groundbreaking for Regeneron's previously announced $1.8 billion research, preclinical manufacturing and support facilities at the company's Westchester County campus in Tarrytown. The company, a biotechnology leader that invents and manufactures life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases, committed to creating at least 1,000 new full-time, high-skill jobs in the Mid-Hudson Region over the next five years. To encourage Regeneron's continued expansion in New York State, Empire State Development is supporting the project with up to $100 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits, consistent with the company's hiring goals. Regeneron considered several potential sites in the tri-state area before deciding to expand in the Mid-Hudson region.

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 will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

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

Thank you. Oh, Leonard, thank you so much for making me feel so welcome and so proud to have Regeneron, not just born here, the inspiration of an individual who is going to be forever associated with the emergence of the bio and life sciences industry in the state of New York. A young person who's just had enough vision, an idea, but also not just born here, but you came through your infancy, in your teenage years and now full maturity is a company that is thriving and continues to grow here in our State of New York.

This is enormous for us. I cannot ever overstate what a 1.8 billion investment creating an additional thousand jobs means to us at this time in our state's history. So to Leonard Schleifer, thank you.

Thank you. You and George, you reference back our founding fathers. You talk about Hamilton, but people will look back at our time and they're going to ask that question. What did New York do in the aftermath of a devastating global pandemic? The epicenter of which at one time was Westchester and then spread to New York City and spread across the state.

How did they come back? What did they do? What is the secret of their success? And it's because of companies like Regeneron, we'll be able to point back to and say, they just kept going. They didn't check out. They didn't stay home. They didn't zoom into life. They showed up every day and because of their keen intellect and innovation, the smartest researchers on the planet, they developed a lifesaving drug and I am so proud of that as well because today there are thousands of people still walking this earth because of the work that was done here by you and your boys. That is powerful. That's what I'm talking about.

And as I mentioned the pandemic, I have to think about an individual that I was in regular contact with during the worst days, but someone who showed what real leadership looks like. Our County Executive, George Latimer, you got us through some truly tough, tough times. And we have amazing partners in government.

Believe me, I hear all about Westchester all the time from the Majority Leader, who has never forgotten where she came from. She might be a powerful voice across the state, but she never ever forgets her home turf right here in Westchester county, an amazing person I call my friend. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins right here in person.

And I know our partners, our Senators and Assemblymembers were all recognized. Please stand up and take a bow again. You guys are extraordinary leaders, every one of you. Thank you. Thank you for what you've done. Getting us through the budget, getting us to end of session. And I thank you for your friendship as well.

Hope Knight, who is there at my side, making some critically important decisions, as again, as we emerge from this dark time. I want you to stand up, let everyone see who you are, Hope Knight, the leader of Empire State Development for the State of New York. I just want to say it again. Thank God for Regeneron. Thank you for having faith in our state through some good times and some bad. You could have gone to other states, there were other options available, I guarantee every state in the nation was trying to lure you away, I know that. And you planted the flag here again, for another generation of creating life-saving medicines, and medicines that are going to give people a quality of life that they've been denied, no fault of their own, but because they've been struck down with a disease. That is so important.

But the thousands of people with good-paying jobs that bring their family pride and lift their families out of their circumstances. That's what manufacturing is all about. And I know a little bit about this, because my family lived the American Dream when my grandpa left great poverty in Ireland and was able to leave working as a migrant farm worker when he found a job manufacturing steel in Lackawanna, New York.

When he got that union card, made steel, some of the steel which still graces the buildings that we see in our landscape today, and my dad worked there as well. That's what lifted my family up. So, I'm a believer in manufacturing and particularly the legacy industries that we lost to foreign competition, and to other states.

We are committed to bringing them back, but also the emergence of the life sciences and biosciences industries, in addition to the $100 million we're investing in this project — obviously it's a few less zeros than yours, but we're proud to support you — all tied to job creation. You create the jobs, you get the tax credit, that's how it works.

But also, the $520 million we're investing in the industry overall. That is our commitment, to lead the nation forward and say, we want to continue to attract the best and the brightest - the scientists, the researchers, the hardworking men and women who will help lift us up. Not just here at this company, but in so doing, your success is a message of success and hope to the rest of the nation that this company has come back strong and is building and investing in the future.

That sends a message to businesses saying, where do I want to go? Where do I want to invest? Well, look at what Regeneron just did — they could have gone anywhere, they stayed in New York. That is a story that I'm going to talk about as I'm trying to recruit others to come here or to expand here.

The future is happening right now, I can feel it. The energy that's created with all the people here so proud of the name Regeneron. So, as the Governor, I hope to be back for the ribbon cutting. No guarantees, a lot of things are out of my control in life. Maybe you could speed it up a little bit?

But again, that first investment of $250,000 into a company that now is the largest employer with 10,000 people, my friends, we will never look back again and talk about the good old days of manufacturing in New York, because those days are here and we are going to supercharge it with what's going on here today.

You witnessed history. You witnessed the first day of the future of New York. Thank you. Thank you for believing in us.

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