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SCHUMER, ON THE HEELS OF DELIVERING OVER $63 MILLION TO BINGHAMTON TO MAKE UPSTATE NY A NATIONAL BATTERY RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURING HUB, DOUBLES DOWN ON HIS ADVOCACY BY PERSONALLY INVITING BIDEN ADMINSTRATION TOP BRASS TO COME TO SOUTHERN TIER TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES EVERYTHING NEW YORK HAS TO OFFER; SCHUMER REVEALS HOW HIS JUST-PASSED BILLS CAN DELIVER MAJOR FED $$$ TO ACCELERATE PROJECT, BOOST WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND SUPERCHARGE UPSTATE NY AS BATTERY HUB

Schumer Fought Non-Stop For Over A Year, Calling Commerce Secretary Multiple Times For Binghamton University’s New Energy NY Proposal To Transform The Southern Tier Economy And Successfully Deliver Major Fed Funding To Jumpstart BU’s Cutting-Edge Battery Research And Manufacturing Proposal 

Now Schumer Wants Feds To Strike While The Iron Is Hot, And Personally See Southern Tier Potential; Senator Says Fed Programs He Created Will Be Major Piece Of The Puzzle As Upstate Battery Hub Begins To Charge Up

Schumer To EDA: With EDA Award Now Secured, Feds Should Continue Hands-on Work With Binghamton University, Broome County And Upstate NY To Power Forward America’s Battery Future  

After his relentless advocacy for the Southern Tier successfully secured Binghamton University’s New Energy New York over $63 million through the American Rescue Plan’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today doubled down on his commitment to making the Southern Tier and Upstate New York a global battery hub. Schumer personally invited Economic Development Administration top brass to visit the Southern Tier and see firsthand the potential Binghamton, Broome County, and all of Upstate New York have as leaders in helping to reestablish America as an innovation and manufacturing hub for batteries. Schumer also revealed how recently-passed legislation he authored, like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, can play a major role in accelerating the growth and workforce training for Binghamton and Upstate NY’s emerging battery cluster, and broke down how these investment can support this once-in-a-generation clean energy industrial revolution for the region.

“Binghamton and the Southern Tier have a national spotlight and a once-in-a-generation investment to become the future of battery research and manufacturing for America. When I wrote my CHIPS and Science Bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the American Rescue Plan, it is job creating, economy jolting projects like Binghamton’s New Energy New York that I had at the front of my mind. That is why I included federal investments to bolster workforce training programs and historic increases in research for the National Science Foundation to give workers and students in the Southern Tier the skills they need to build the future right here in Upstate New York,” said Senator Schumer. “Now I want the Biden Administration to come see firsthand everything Broome County and the workers of the Southern Tier have to offer! With the Regional Challenge award now secured, that is just the start, and I want to continue to work with the EDA and other federal agencies to continue to invest in Binghamton to be the home of the future and I will keep fighting tooth and nail to make sure Southern Tier workers, innovators, and communities have the resources and support they need to lead the nation in battery manufacturing.”

Schumer said that Upstate New York, and the Southern Tier specifically, with the federal investment from the BBB Regional Challenge now on its way, is in a unique position to help rebuild America’s leadership in the battery industry that will help define the next century. Schumer said batteries are integral to everyday life, helping to power mobile phones, laptops, smart watches, and electric vehicles, but unfortunately, much of the manufacturing of this critical technology has been offshored, leaving the country vulnerable to supply chain disruptions that can raise costs for working families and jeopardize U.S. jobs and national security. With the unprecedented federal investment in supply chains, workforce training, and battery research and manufacturing that Schumer just helped create through his CHIPS And Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the senator said the feds must strike while the iron is hot and should see firsthand the manufacturing potential of the Southern Tier for further federal investment. Schumer said the historic increase in federal funding and new programs he created will be able to bolster the Southern Tier’s scientific and technical workforce to ensure the success of the New Energy New York project, and he is committed to delivering more federal dollars to make it happen.

Some of these the key highlights of these programs includes:

CHIPS And Science Act

  • Increased investment for National Science Foundation (NSF) Research and Development Programs, including through a new technology directorate as proposed in Schumer’s original bipartisan Endless Frontier Act, and STEM education and training programs. The New Energy New York battery coalitions top partner schools like Binghamton University and RIT will be able to tap the increased investment for the NSF. Community colleges, like SUNY Broome and SUNY Corning are also be able to utilize new investment for workforce training, including technology manufacturing programs.
  • $13 billion to build the STEM workforce. Authorizes funding for STEM education, including scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships to create workers in critical fields, including to establishing an artificial intelligence scholarship-for-service program, a national network for microelectronics education, and cybersecurity workforce development programs. 
  • $2 billion to strengthen small manufacturers. Triples funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership, to support small- and medium-sized manufacturers with cybersecurity, workforce training, and supply chain resiliency.
  • New investment to combat Supply Chain Disruption. Leverages the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to creates a National Supply Chain Database, to assist the businesses with supplier scouting and minimizing supply chain disruptions.
  • Over $800 million to grow Manufacturing USA. Supports the creation of new competitively-awarded manufacturing research institutes with expanded capacity for education and workforce development.

Inflation Reduction Act

  • Up to $60 billion in Production Tax Credits to accelerate U.S. manufacturing of clean energy products and supply chains including batteries and critical minerals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel.
  • Up to $10 billion in Advanced Energy Project Tax Credits to build and expand clean tech manufacturing facilities like battery production facilities.
  • New consumer Electric Vehicle Tax Credits, that is helping to spur both demand for domestically made batteries because of the made in America requirements, and private sector investment to build out these supple chains domestically, taking back production from overseas and bolstering the need for research projects like New Energy New York.
  • Inclusion of the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit to provide incentives for the domestic manufacturing of key components of solar, onshore and offshore wind, inverters, batteries, and critical minerals.
  • $3 billion for the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program at the Department of Energy to leverage billions in funds to manufacture clean vehicles in the US. This is a part of the total $11.7 billion appropriated to the Department’s Loan Program Office.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act

  • $3.1 billion for Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants to ensure that the United States has a strong and reliable manufacturing capability to support the American battery supply chain.
  • $3 billion for Battery Materials Processing Grants to bolster the battery materials processing industry and expand our nation’s battery manufacturing and processing capacity.

For over a year, Schumer personally advocated to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo for the selection of the Southern Tier as a finalist in the Build Back Better Region Challenge, pushing their proposal multiple times and routinely highlighting the importance of the project to bringing battery manufacturing back to America. Schumer then personally visited the Southern Tier to double down on his advocacy after successfully securing Binghamton as one of 60 Phase 1 finalists nationally to compete for this final Phase 2 award. Schumer, Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger, and Dr. Stan Whittingham, the 2019 winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on the development of lithium ion batteries, all joined forces and penned a joint op-ed on the importance of bolstering battery technology for America’s future to further promote the cause. The $1 billion EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge Program which was created by the American Rescue Plan, which Schumer authored, and received 529 Phase 1 applications from across the nation. Binghamton University received one of the largest awards at over $63 million and the project is predicted to create thousands of new good-paying jobs over the next 10 years, with the potential to support or sustain thousands of additional indirect jobs within related supply chain development. The 13-member project coalition includes Binghamton University, NY-BEST, SUNY Broome, SUNY Corning Community College, Rochester Institute of Technology, and NYSTAR, among other key organizations such as IncubatorWorks, Clean Fight New York, and county and state government entities.

Schumer’s efforts to make New York a leader in the future of battery research and manufacturing is already seeing results across the state. The Southern Tier is already home to hundreds of manufacturers, many of which have significant interests or are well positioned to participate in the battery supply chain, including Imperium 3 New York (iM3NY), a lithium-ion cell manufacturer that recently commenced commercial production in Endicott, NY as North America’s only pure home-grown battery gigafactory and is well-positioned to take advantage of federal investment. Earlier this year following his direct appeal, Zinc8, a leader in cutting-edge battery and energy storage technology, officially signed a letter of intent to make Ulster County their first major manufacturing hub as the company looks towards commercialization, which will bring up to 500 good-paying clean energy jobs to New York, with the company directly citing the Inflation Reduction Act and Schumer’s support and advocacy as deciding factors in the company’s decision to invest in New York. Just this past week, Schumer visited Li-Cycle in Rochester, a cutting-edge battery recycler, which is opening a new North American Hub that is slated to bring over 200 good-paying jobs and that will have even further growth opportunities from the federal investment included in the bills Schumer passed.

A copy of Schumer’s invitation to the Economic Development Administration appears below:

Dear Assistant Secretary Castillo:

I first want to thank you and the Economic Development Administration (EDA), under the leadership of President Biden and Secretary Raimondo, for your tremendous commitment and efforts to move the country forward in the wake of the pandemic, including bringing manufacturing back to America to strengthen our domestic supply chains in key industries like semiconductors and clean energy and rebuild local economies across the country. These efforts will position the United States to remain competitive and ensure economic prosperity for generations to come. The recently announced Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) awards underscore your commitment to achieving these goals for the country. I was proud to craft the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which included the $3 billion EDA investment that made the BBBRC possible, along with leading to passage the CHIPS and Science Act and most recently the Inflation Reduction Act, all of which includes historic investment in rebuilding American manufacturing, and I look forward to working with you, Secretary Raimondo, and the entire Administration on the implementation of these important legislative milestones.

I write to you today in regards to the recently announced Build Back Better Regional Challenge awards. I was proud to successfully push for the selection of Binghamton University’s New Energy New York proposal as one of 21 final awardees, receiving one of the highest awards at $63.7 million. Under the leadership of Noble Laureate Professor Stan Whittingham, the inventor of the lithium ion battery, the proposal will establish a national hub for battery research and manufacturing in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions of Upstate New York. This major initiative, combined with the single largest federal investment into clean energy, including batteries, through the Inflation Reduction Act presents a significant opportunity for this region of New York State to become a new global battery hub, with the potential to bring battery manufacturing back to America, create thousands of good-paying jobs in Upstate New York, and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy.

As the Southern Tier looks ahead to implementing New Energy New York following the BBBRC award, I invite you and your team to personally visit the region to see first-hand the work taking root and to engage with a diverse coalition of local leaders, university stakeholders, and the industry partners that have coalesced around this once in a generation opportunity. The New Energy New York proposal has the potential to not only rebuild the region’s economy, a priority for the ARP investment that made the BBBRC possible, but also to further fuel the country’s manufacturing resurgence as a leading hub for U.S.-based battery development. From the inception of this trail blazing research center to the inaugural manufacturing launch of North America’s only pure homegrown battery, a clean energy technology ecosystem is taking shape in the Southern Tier. A personal visit will offer an opportunity to learn more about how the investment EDA has made will provide the foundation to advance cutting-edge research, attract innovative companies, secure a critical supply chain, and most significantly give new life to a rural industrial region that could create thousands of new jobs. This is only the beginning of a bright future for the region, and I know you will share in the optimism I have for the impact of the New Energy New York project on the regional economy and the direction of the nation’s clean energy future.

Sincerely,

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