SCHUMER, AT SCHUYLER COUNTY BUSINESS PARK, REVEALS NEW ONSHORE ACT – BIPARTISAN BILL TO CREATE CRITICAL NEW FEDERAL INVESTMENT TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO UPSTATE NY’S INDUSTRIAL SITES, STRENGTHEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRAIN WORKFORCE TO BRING CRITICAL SUPPLY CHAINS & GOOD-PAYING JOBS BACK FROM OVERSEAS TO PLACES LIKE THE SOUTHERN TIER
With Upstate NY Seeing Historic New Investment From Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act – Senator Says Now Is The Time For The Feds To Double Down To Bring Jobs Back From Overseas, With The Southern Tier Primed To Lead The Way
Bipartisan ONSHORE Act Will Give Municipalities Fed Assistance Needed For Workforce Development, Infrastructure, And Site Readiness For Complexes Like The Schuyler County Business Park, Wayland Business Park, And Former Chemung Foundry Site in Elmira To Land New Tenants Including Critical Supply Chain Companies
Schumer: It Is Time To Bring Good-Paying Manufacturing Jobs Back From Overseas To The Southern Tier!
Standing at the Schuyler County Business Park, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today revealed new federal legislation, the bipartisan ONSHORE Act, that would create a new federal investment program to breathe new life into industrial sites across Upstate New York and bring good-paying manufacturing jobs back from overseas to places like the Southern Tier. Schumer said that this new bipartisan bill will provide much-needed federal support to help bolster site-readiness and workforce development efforts that America needs to onshore critical industries, including semiconductor and clean energy technology supply chains, being spurred from the CHIPS & Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act. Schumer explained that sites like the Schuyler County Business Park are primed to take advantage of this new program proposed in the ONSHORE ACT, and said that with this boost in federal investment, Schuyler County and the Southern Tier can lead the resurgence of American manufacturing in high-tech sectors.
“The bipartisan ONSHORE Act is a vital piece of legislation that, when combined with the historic investment for domestic manufacturing I passed into law in the CHIPS & Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, will help bring manufacturing back from overseas to Upstate New York, and in the process create thousands of good-paying jobs for New Yorkers. By developing shovel ready sites for new factories at places like Schuyler County Business Park in the Southern Tier, we are tapping New York’s manufacturing legacy from the last century to ensure New York powers the revival of American manufacturing and critical industries like chips and clean energy are Made in America, including right here in Upstate New York,” said Senator Schumer. “The ONSHORE Act will build on the historic new investments and manufacturing boom that Upstate NY is already seeing from the bills I pushed through into law last Congress, and I will fight tooth and nail to lead the ONSHORE Act to passage in my role as Majority Leader to continue to deliver federal investment in manufacturing across Upstate NY.”
“From semiconductors to batteries, new manufacturing investments are being made in communities across Upstate New York because of the leadership of Senator Schumer. Now, the bipartisan ONSHORE Act presents an opportunity to bring supply chain companies to places like the Schuyler County Business Park. By providing much-needed federal support for site-readiness and workforce development efforts, the ONSHORE Act will help rural communities be more competitive, encourage manufacturers to establish new facilities locally, and create high-quality jobs needed to build a thriving and sustainable economy,” said Judy McKinney Cherry, Executive Director of the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development.
“As Steuben County responds to current, and prepares for future, business development opportunities, site readiness and workforce development are key areas in which additional federal support is urgently needed. We thank Senator Schumer for championing efforts to bring companies in highly competitive industries to communities across the Southern Tier and Upstate New York. We look forward to the opportunity to utilize resources provided by the ONSHORE Act to develop a clean energy technology industrial park that will help attract new manufacturing investment and create good-paying jobs in Steuben County,” said Jamie Johnson, Executive Director of the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency.
“The ONSHORE Act championed by Senator Schumer will help the Southern Finger Lakes Region by proactively providing federal support for much-needed site-readiness and workforce development. Ultimately, this initiative will assist in our ability to recruit new business into the region, specifically supply chain industries for clean energy and other manufacturing. Locating competitive businesses at the forefront of clean tech will further reinforce our identity as a manufacturing hub and provide quality jobs and resources to the region,” said Kamala Keeley, President of Three Rivers Development Corporation.
Schumer explained that strengthening domestic manufacturing is critical for economic and national security. Following the passage of Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, companies from across industries have shown a renewed interest in bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. and rebuilding their supply chains in America, presenting a significant opportunity to revive manufacturing in Upstate New York. However, one of the primary factors that affects where a new manufacturing facility is built is site-readiness, or whether a site has the basic infrastructure and workforce to enable a company to quickly construct a facility and hire enough qualified workers to begin operations. Schumer explained that investment in the readiness of industrial locations across New York will further position the state to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and build resilient and robust supply chains right here at home.
Schumer said the bipartisan Opportunities for Non-developed Sites to Have Opportunities to be Rehabilitated for Economic Development (ONSHORE) Act would provide much-needed federal support to prepare sites for new manufacturing investment. Specifically, the new federal legislation would provide $100 million per year for 5 years in dedicated funding for a Critical Supply Chain Site Development Grant Program within the Economic Development Administration (EDA). Through this program, EDA would provide assistance for site and utility readiness, workforce development, distribution, and logistics, to prepare strategic mega sites and regionally impactful sites across places like Upstate NY for new industrial investment. The Southern Tier would be able to tap these resources to prepare strategic sites, like the Schuyler County Business Park and others, to be market-ready and able to rapidly scale new domestic manufacturing facilities, better positioning the U.S. to compete against international competitors like China and the European Union.
Schumer said the Southern Tier is uniquely positioned for this kind of federal investment, given the region's legacy manufacturing sites and workforce, as well as the region’s universities, and current manufacturing base that make it a prime location to onshore critical industries. For example, the Schuyler County Business Park has nearly 50 acres of developable land across three parcels as well as an existing production facility with approximately 14,000 square feet of available, unfinished space ready for manufacturers to customize to fit their needs. In neighboring Tompkins County, Menlo Micro recently announced they would invest over $50 million to build their first domestic microelectronics fabrication (“fab”) facility, creating over 100 new good-paying jobs. Schumer said there are countless other examples across Upstate New York that underscore how site development can lead to major investment, such as the successful attraction of new manufacturing investment to Western New York’s STAMP, including Edwards Vacuum’s over $300 million, 600 job investment and Plug’s green hydrogen production facility, the largest in North America. As further evidence of the importance of commercial site readiness, after years of preparation at the White Pine Commerce Park, Micron announced an historic $100 billion investment to build a cutting-edge memory fab in Central New York, the largest planned industrial investment in U.S. history.
Schumer has been the leading champion of bringing manufacturing back to America and Upstate New York in particular. In addition to the major new federal incentives to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America, Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act, which he created and led to passage as Majority Leader, established the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional “Innovation Engines” Competition, a new program intended to ensure the U.S. remains globally competitive in key technology areas. Schumer recently announced that Binghamton University has advanced to the next round of consideration, competing for up to $160 million in federal investment to power their nation-leading efforts in battery technology that were jumpstarted after Schumer secured $63.7 million in federal investment last year. Schumer said that the Innovation Engines program, just like the ONSHORE Act, is about bringing industry back to America, creating good-paying jobs, and preserving America’s competitive advantage in critical technologies. Binghamton University’s New Energy New York Storage Engine (NENYSE) proposal would establish a tech-based innovation hub to strengthen the battery industry across Upstate York State, including by attracting private investment and clean energy technology supply chain companies to the Southern Tier.
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