Governor Hochul: "This is the generation that may be the first that's really feeling the effects of climate; we're also the last one that can do anything about it. And we will seize that moment and be defined by that."
Hochul: "Businesses have rediscovered New York as a place of innovation and energy and creative people second to none. They want to be here, especially in places like Ulster County. The charm, the beauty of this area is spectacular. Spectacular. It's priceless."
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced Zinc8 Energy Solutions, USA, a leader in the long-duration energy storage industry, will relocate its $68 million manufacturing facility and U.S. headquarters to Kingston, Ulster County at the former Tech City, IBM Ulster campus, now known as iPark 87 business park. Zinc8 Energy Solutions develops innovative battery technology that uses zinc and air as fuel. Zinc8 has committed to creating up to 500 jobs, complementing New York State's national leadership in growing the green economy, spearheading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and prioritization of combating climate change. The company's location to Ulster County supports Governor Hochul's newly announced framework for the State to achieve a nation-leading six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030.
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 and thank you County Executive. We were talking about being the only women in the room when you go to your meetings of New York State County Executives and there's 62 counties, but you are in a league of your own. So, I appreciate what you go through in that position, but also your leadership and your boldness in embracing these goals long before they were popular. This has been your lifelong passion. So, for you to be in a position now where you can act on that in a local way that lifts up the community that you love so much is really powerful. So, let's give another round of applause to our County Executive Jen Metzger.
And, to Joe Cotter, the resident visionary, you know, who really saw with Lynne Ward and others, a belief in transforming land properties that others had given up on that people thought were just too complicated, too huge to undertake and buildings that had once teamed with 6,000 workers coming here day in and day out and creating the American dream for so many families and all of a sudden it's gone and you never gave up. You believed, just like people all across the state are starting to think about underutilized properties, abandoned properties, and how they can actually be not just a story of the past and a kind of a cruel reminder of the glory days, but also a reminder with vision and private sector partners teaming up with all of us so that we can really make a difference.
And I want to thank Joe Cotter and your team for believing in this site, and I think about 30 years of nothing going on here. You think about - babies were born back then; those babies have their own babies. I mean, this goes on a long time, but now, children born today will look at this site going forward and say, yes, that's where my parents worked. That's where my family started. And this is really bringing new life, a rebirth to this. So, thank you to everybody who believes in this project. And also, I want to thank Ron MacDonald. He's not a New Yorker, but I can make him an honorary one. You just have - I just have to tell you which sports teams to root for. Okay? Okay. Okay. And thank you for - not, I mean, New York's had a little rough weekend, Giants fans and Jets and everybody else, and the Bills, but, as we always say, there's always next year. Okay? There's always next year.
But, you know, coming down from Cape Breton, elected leader, Member of Parliament, and, you know, transforming his passion for public service in a way that really is serving the public that we represent and bringing jobs and opportunities. And when we get attention from someone like you and your company, which is just going to flourish here, when you take advantage of the talent and the workforce that we're going to offer you, the educational opportunities from the team you'll be hiring - it's going to be extraordinary. But you could have gone anywhere, Ron. You could have gone anywhere. We know that. So, we take nothing for granted. We welcome you with gratitude, partnership, friendship, and wishing you the very best as you continue to expand, and we'll be there to help you every step of the way.
I also want to mention our Regional Economic Development Council. They're incredible. Dr. Kristine Young, one of our co-chairs, Darrell P. Wheeler, can't be here I understand. But these two are the leaders of our Regional Economic Development, members who were mentioned here today. This is the catalyst for change. I was Lieutenant Governor for a few years, and one of my responsibilities was to go to all these meetings throughout the state. And I know what you do, and I know how important it is that you, you bring to us the local vision. You know, I'm not going to sit in Albany, pretend I have the answers of what a community wants. I wouldn't have appreciated that when I spent many years in local government. But thank you for being the voices on the ground that bring the ideas forward to help us fund everything that's going to assist these regions.
So, to the REDC members, I'm grateful. I look forward to reenergizing what you do, empowering you even more because I want to make sure we're taking you advantage of your talents properly. Justin Driscoll, our Acting President and CEO of the NYPA. Whenever we have money to do something in the energy space, it's transformative. Usually, New York State Power Authority's behind it. So, thank you. Always be nice to Justin. He's got a lot - kind of a quiet and unassuming guy, but you know, you really want to get to know Justin. And to all of our elected leaders who've joined us here today, I'm grateful. And again, Senator Schumer does get a shoutout. What he did in Washington, nationwide allows us to harness that as part of our ability to attract businesses, whether it's that or even the CHIPS Initiative that he passed, that we actually were the only state to have our own Green CHIPS, which is the reason Micron is coming to the State of New York.
So that's the synergy between what they do at the federal level, and we jump up very quickly and seize the opportunity here in New York. We also can create, literally in that case, 50,000 jobs, so we are so excited about those opportunities. So, I'm excited to be here. I spent a lot of time in Ulster County last year. We will not talk about the week, the ice storms that brought me here. I swear to God, five consecutive weekends - I don't think I'm exaggerating, but luckily my head of emergency services lives out this way. Of course, she had no power either. But we've been through a lot together.
I see Mayor Noble here too. We walked the streets, we tried to get the power back on and all this, but we know what we're doing. We are very knowledgeable in how to do this. And also, I had a chance to work closely with a Member of Congress, Pat Ryan, and we're very proud of what he's doing now. So, it is about bringing people together, solving problems, whether it's the effects of climate change, this extreme weather that we've been experiencing.
Yes, I'm from Buffalo. In November, we had a historic, record setting, never to be repeated seven feet of snow, and 30 days later, we were hit with the storm of not just this century, but the last century as well. You cannot compare with the fact that we had broke all records - wind velocity, days, we had gale force winds, it was extraordinary. And I was at an event over the weekend to commemorate the 44, 46 lives that were lost, but also the heroes. So, those are the effects, whether it's the flooding in this region, hurricanes hitting - I had two hurricanes my first week on the job as Governor last year in New York City, not in Florida, New York City.
So, this is the effects. This is what we have to continue focusing on as we bring jobs and opportunities, but also ultimately, we're going to be held responsible to future generations on what we did in this time. And if we don't embrace this and do bold things that are required, we're going to be leaving this planet in a much sorrier place than we found it, just like the planet we inherited.
When Ron may talk about where he grew up, in a coal mining area and power, and just so everybody you know, no one cared about the environment. No one cared about the environment. They just wanted those jobs. And that's where I grew up, you know - Lake Erie. The shore's beautiful, one of the greatest freshwater lakes in the world, and by night, you could see everything glowing as the molten lava looking substance was being discharged from Bethlehem Steel in the skies. I thought as a child, they were supposed to be orange because that was the color of the smoke coming out of the smokestack. So, I'm an environmentalist because of that.
You're an environmentalist because of which you were raised, and Ron, you'll tell your story. Jen knows the same story. So, this here today brings this all together in a powerful way that says, "No, this is the generation that may be the first that's really feeling the effects of climate; we're also the last one that can do anything about it."
And we will seize that moment and be defined by that. So, this project on the site of a former industrial site - we do good things here on former industrial sites. Sojourner Truth Park, which was, you know, one of my wonderful visits here. You know, that was 500 acres of a former industrial site that people had given up on along the Hudson River. My god, it's so gorgeous. So, we're doing the same thing right here. You know, taking a former site, investing in it, bringing the resources here and making sure that we are just embracing this phenomenal opportunity.
So, this project, and I'm proud to announce that Zinc8, a cutting-edge battery energy storage - it's all about the storage. I mean, who would've thought it's like, "Oh, generate power." But I realize and have realized for a long time, it's about you need to be able to tap into that energy when other sources are not there for you. And that's what smart communities do. And so, you're going to be relocating your U.S. headquarters and manufacturing facility right here in Ulster County. Making them iPark 87's anchor tenant. Anchor tenant here, 237,000 square feet of warehouse and outdoor space, $67 million of investment. Let me repeat that. $68 million - I don't want to see anything on the table there, Ron. $68 million of investment over five years to build out this site, and this is going to be something that I'm really excited about.
Five hundred new good-paying, clean energy jobs. So, we are able to help with the Empire State Development Tax Credits, Excelsior Tax Credit - $9 million. And this part of this plan is to make this have a 600-unit net carbon zero footprint residential community. And those of you who are paying attention to - Joe, did know you're putting residential here too? All of a sudden, he perked up. I was like, "Did you know that's part of the plan, Joe?" Because we have to build more housing. I mean, full stop. This was the signature part of my State of the State address a couple weeks ago. It'll be a major part of our budget unveiled on Wednesday, still working on that.
Why it's so important? Because unlike when I was growing up, and we were exporting our greatest asset, our human capital, to other states, and businesses were fleeing elsewhere - whether it was Bethlehem Steel or IBM. Housing prices were cheap because they were empty houses. We have the exact opposite problem now because people want to be here. Businesses have rediscovered New York as a place of innovation and energy and creative people second to none. They want to be here, especially in places like Ulster County. The charm, the beauty of this area is spectacular. Spectacular. It's priceless.
But if we don't create the housing, all levels of housing, then where are they going to go? How is Ron going to find homes for 500 new people and their families? So that's what's on us, and it's not going to be easy. It's alright. I didn't sign up for the easy work. I would've stayed some other job. But it's a challenge we have to embrace. And to my local partners in government, I spent 14 years on a town board. I was liaison to the planning board, the zoning board, the traffic safety board. I know what goes into projects. I know how easy it is to say no. I also know the importance of saying yes. So that's what I'm calling on my local partners of all parties who understand that if we don't grow our communities, then people like Ron will go somewhere else where they have.
And that's what we're going to do here today. Invest in this property, this project, the environmental innovation behind this, which is so important for protecting our climate, but also giving people beautiful homes. And that's why projects like these, you're going to see them all over the State of New York. If we can pull together, overcome all the hesitation and the "We don't want that—" just, let's just suck it up, and move forward. That's the urgency which I approach all these issues with.
So, I'll let Ron talk about what you're going to be doing with Zinc 8. It's extraordinary. It's part of our overall climate initiative that Jen was involved with when she was a member of the Senate. Our Cap-and-Invest Program bringing polluters to have to pay into funds and we can help ease the cost of transition for our residents, that's really important to us, we're going to keep making sure that we are nation-leading. It's something we don't just use as a slogan, it's something we have to actually have the policies that work behind it, because when you say you are nation-leading, that means there's a lot of other states watching what you do and you have to be successful. Because otherwise we'll set the movement backwards. We have to show it can be done, that our citizens understand the urgency, that we don't create an unnecessary burden on our citizens and our small businesses. So, the transition has to be understood, has to be clear, and we have to have resources to make sure that we can assist in any additional cost, because, ultimately, the cost of transitioning is cheaper in your monthly bills. You will get to that point. It's just hard to get there at first, and we're committed to helping with that.
So, with that, we're going to continue where we are. Being bold, sometimes audacious, and fearless. We'll be fearless in our approach to all these, and, having leaders like Ron, who believe in us, who believe in the potential of this region, is really gratifying as the Governor, but also just reaffirms what the people of this community know, that there's no place like Ulster. With that, let me bring up Ron MacDonald, the CEO of Zinc8 Energy Solutions to describe what we're doing here today. Ron.