Video, B-Roll, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Tours Albany Nanotech Complex with Senator Schumer and Delivers Remarks

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul toured the Albany NanoTech Complex with Senator Schumer and delivered remarks.

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

B-ROLL 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 here.

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

Well, Senator Schumer, one thing I'll commit for sure, you keep sending that federal money, we'll find ways to spend it. So, thank you very much. Thank you. It is great to be back here, although I think we just did a press event at SUNY Albany a couple of days ago to talk about our dramatically improving COVID infection numbers, which I will tell you, those of you who are accustomed to see me spouting out numbers every single day for many months now that are our statewide positives are going down.

That's a very good dynamic and we're still under 10%. Different variants in different parts of state, but ultimately heading toward that place that we've all been waiting for so long, which is a much more manageable infection rate. And hospitalizations are down as well. So that's your daily COVID report, but great to be here and also to see our partners in government.

And I'll mention Senator Schumer in a couple of minutes, because I am so in awe of how he's championed this industry and because of his tremendous influence in Washington as our Majority Leader and never, ever take that for granted. I served as a staffer for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, I served as a staffer for a congressman, I served as a member of Congress. And to have that kind of influence in your own state, it is incalculable to realize what that can do for the people that the Senator represents. I want to thank him for his leadership, but also to have the Assistant Secretary of Commerce come here.

I don't mind calling the Secretary of Commerce as well, we have a little bit in common as a former female governor of a neighboring state. I think I've got her on speed dial. So I plan on using my influence there as well, but to have Don Graves join us here, thank you, Mr. Secretary, for showing up. For all of us, it's about showing up, being there to see personally how incredibly important this is, not just for this region, but for the U S economy.

And that's the argument we're going to drive home. And Doug Grose, the Chairman of New York CREATES your excitement is palpable. I mean, to see what you see, not just what we're doing now, but you see into the future. And it is individuals like you, who are going to say why we are well positioned to receive this national semiconductor technology center, because there is no other place that competes with us because of what you built here and all of the other individuals, like Paul Kelly, our COO.

And also let me get to some elected officials who I see often. I see them more than I see my own family these days. That's our County Executive Dan McCoy. Thank you for all you do for us, Dan, and the leadership you've shown, particularly during this pandemic, when times are getting really tough, you were out there making sure the right decisions were made for this county.

Same to be said for a great Mayor, Kathy Sheehan. So thank you, Mayor Sheehan for being out there, literally in the trenches with us as we came through this, but also never losing sight of making sure that this community, your community, receives the support and funding it needs from our state budget, so your voice was heard as well.

Also, Pat Fahy, I'll be seeing you many more times as we gather in our capital, session just began and so I'll be diverted more to Albany than I have been in the last few months. So look forward to seeing you at many of our events as well.

Also, the reason this is so successful is that we truly have a premier institution of higher education known as SUNY. And because of that, because of the concentration of incredible talent here, our universities and the professors and the leaders they have, is why we are on the map for companies to come to, because they see, we educate these young people. They now have a job, let's scoop them up and hire them. That is the synergy that's been created here. So I do want to thank Debra Stanley for stepping into a situation which was challenging, but you have risen to the occasion as our interim chancellor. And I want to thank you for saying yes, and for being there as we chart the new path forward with re-imagining the entire SUNY institution. So thank you. We're going to be spending a lot more time together, as well as our existing leaders here at SUNY Albany.

We have, Havidan Rodriguez, we just saw a couple of days ago. I'm wearing your purple. Okay. Got that? Okay. There you go. Don't take any other offense. I'm also meeting the Cardinal today and he likes purple. So it kind of works. Also Tod Laursen, so important to this whole ability to attract companies to this region to innovate is the leadership we have at SUNY. I want to thank you for what you do there, Tod Laursen, as well as the companies where you're so - this is why it's all happening here. I mean, the people we mentioned are not just names, they're the part of the whole ecosystem we're talking about as to why this community is best positioned above anywhere in the nation to receive what Senator Schumer imagined could help lead us into this future.And I announced also, as I declared my State of the State and my budget just a week ago, that we are going to position New York State to be the most business friendly, but also worker friendly state in the nation. And how do you do that?

Well you invest in workers. And that is why we're putting forth $350 million dollars in worker development, workforce initiatives. And why is that so important? That's what gives us the edge over other states that do not make those commitments, because we believe that we can give everyone, particularly women - I want to see more women in the field of technology. And I'll just give you a sidebar on that one.

My father started, as the Senator mentioned, this is a great state known for its manufacturing, that whole culture of working hard and the pride of work that we had all along the Erie Canal from here to Buffalo and elsewhere. My dad worked at a steel plant and the signs were that the steel plant - the steel industry was not doing as well. And he jumped ship when he was 30 years old and already had five kids. People said, what are you doing? This is the most stable job we have here, why would you leave?

Well, he joined a few other young guys who had just left IBM to start a small technology company. So as a ten-year-old, I'd go with him to work on a Saturday morning and there were punch cards. Anybody old enough to remember data punch cards? I had the big job of sliding them into a computer that was the size of this room. So I've been fascinated by technology and technological evolution and seeing it happen right here, just to me is a personal point of pride as well.

So we need to train the workers, but not just to be the technologists, we need welders. We need people in construction because they're going to be building where you see parking lots right now. Under our joint vision, you're going to see new buildings going up and we want to do it as quickly as we can because shovel-ready is the operative word. You will draw people who don't have to worry about, are they going to get the site review and the transportation plans and the IS? Give them a site that's ready for them to leap into.

And that's why the Senator and I have had so many conversations with Syracuse and Genesee County and other places where we were just selling - we were salespeople, selling our state to other companies from around the globe as being the best place - that way we can offer the sites, we can offer the people, and we have the innovation.

So, this is the formula for success that we're leaning hard into, which is why there's no better place than you are to do this. So I want to thank the Senator for this, the US Competition Innovation Act, which is a little bit of a mouthful, but I think it's brilliant.

I absolutely think it's brilliant, and you are in a great position working with our other partners to get this over the finish line into the end zone, which actually we're not going to talk about sports right now. A little tough topic this morning. So I shouldn't have even said that, but I'll get over it. But you share our belief that the semiconductor industry needs to be here. And the rest of the world needs to recognize New York as the place where this is happening because semiconductors are the brains of the computers. They're the ones that tell a car how to go, where to go, devices that make our everyday lives easier from phones to 5G technology.

It's all about the semiconductors and we are in a war. We are in a global war with other countries, China, Taiwan, Korea, and others who want to own the dominance of this industry. We're not letting that happen. This is where that industry should be blossoming and emerging, people should be looking to us and nowhere else, because there are so many opportunities, as well as protecting the intellectual property that goes into these innovations, highly valuable. And New York and the US are the places that should continue. And there was a time when we were the leaders. Our dominance in this field shrunk from 37% down to 12% today, 1990, 37% of the market right here. 12% today. We have a lot of room for growth. That's what that says to me, a lot of room for growth right here. So we will compete, we will continue to attract the workforce, the investment of $4.6 billion, that's already here. We want to keep amplifying that.

So we want those centers of excellence to start right here. We're ready. We have SUNY. We're ready to go, and I'm not waiting. And I'm looking forward to my very core, to be able to say, when this center comes to New York, because of the leadership of the man sitting in the front row, and all of us who are ready for this opportunity. Watch out, world, the semiconductor industry is New York's industry. You heard it here first. Let's make that happen. Thank you very much.

Now I have the privilege of introducing our special guest here today, someone who's not new to government. Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves had worked under the Obama-Biden administration before. So you knew the boss already, and he had a chance to see your commitment to helping lift up our economy, especially the work you did after the last recession, that was transformative, and the work that had to be done to be able to bolster up an economy that was frayed and fractured. And I want to thank you for what you did there, but also what you did for the City of Detroit. You were part of the comeback of the City of Detroit, which is why we know you have the skills and the background and the experience to be able to help lead us in this post-pandemic world and so your position is critically important to us. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a warm New York welcome to Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves.