Cuomo hails new bid to remove taint of ‘Buffalo Billion’ failure

ALBANY— Following a failed economic development project that wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, an empty upstate-based field will finally gain a tenant state officials announced Monday.

Over a six-year period, $1 billion will be poured into the Marcy Nanocenter, a spot on the SUNY Polytechnic Institute campus located near Utica, N.Y., by Cree, Inc., a LED light manufacturer from North Carolina.

It’s a second chance for the site — presently a fallow field that overlooks Utica — after Austrian chip manufacturer AMS AG backed out of a lease in 2016, abandoning $600 million in state funding.

That project had been overseen by SUNY Poly’s founder, Alain Kaloyeros, who was convicted in a bid-rigging scandal in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tainted “Buffalo Billion” program meant to generate economic development in upstate.

The corruption case brought down several upstate developers as well as Cuomo’s former aide Joe Percoco, who was convicted of accepting bribes from the construction honchos. 

“When AMS left us at the altar two years ago, it hurt, and there was a lot of work that went into it and a lot of hope. And we swallowed hard — we said we were going to keep going,” Cuomo said, acknowledging the defeat during the press conference in Utica Monday.

Cuomo had to phone in to the event due to an aircraft malfunction. “We invested $110 million in this site – the point of not if but when we believed we would get it done, we stuck together, we pulled ourselves up,” he said. 

“What do you do when you get knocked on your rear end? You get back up and fight twice as hard, and that is exactly what we did.”

Cree promises to build a silicon carbide wafter fabrication facility, bringing over 600 high-tech jobs netting $75,000 average salaries within eight years.

The state will fork over $500 million in capital grants in return, contingent on performance and successful job creation.

The state predicts the partnership will generate upwards of $4.3 billion in statewide economic development over the next 20 years, as well as provide internships and research opportunities for SUNY students. 

It’s expected to be completed by 2022.

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