Buffalo is one of the big winners in the Biden administration in a $25 million bid that pitted Western New York against hundreds of other American cities, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday.
And there was stiff competition: A field of more than 500 applicants was narrowed to 60 finalists in December, and Buffalo was announced Wednesday as one of 21 cities to receive grants ranging from $25 million to $100 million.
“This bodes well for Buffalo in terms of jobs and technology,” Schumer said. “The combination of what M&T Bank has done as a technology hub with 1,000 employees and the fact that we’re close to Toronto, which is Canada’s technology hub, will be very beneficial to the area. That’s one of the reasons we were able to get the grant.”
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For the Buffalo Niagara region, the program provides an opportunity to leapfrog the region’s low-tech sector, build on an existing M&T innovation center like Seneca One, and give it a shot in the arm in efforts to boost innovation, workforce development. and infrastructure.
The money “should be available soon,” Schumer said, adding that the award will help the region train more than 1,600 workers in manufacturing and technology skills, building a diverse workforce, especially providing opportunities for East Buffalo residents. .
The funds will develop the Northland corridor, renovate two industrial buildings, create a clean energy microgrid to power the campus and support manufacturing training programs at Buffalo Manufacturing Works, he said.
“Of course, after the shooting of the president, when he and I flew to Buffalo, I took a stab at it,” Schumer said. I hope there are real ladders in their community.
Western New York could receive up to $100 million in federal funding to train workers and otherwise prepare to become a national center for high-tech manufacturing.
In a proposal to the US Economic Development Administration, part of the US Department of Commerce, the five-county Western New York Regional Economic Development Council laid out its vision for a Western New York advanced manufacturing cluster.
According to a five-page summary posted online, advanced manufacturing today represents 10% of the state’s economy, employing 61,360 workers in 1,600 companies who will pay an average salary of $85,500 in 2020. Threatened by jobs that are hard to fill, an aging workforce, retirements and low racial diversity.
Using a technology center grant to train workers in East Buffalo can help ease those hiring challenges.
“The proposed projects will create high-income jobs, grow the economy, generate wealth, promote economic equity and inclusion, and support innovation and entrepreneurship,” the coalition said in its proposal.
Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat, said the support reflects well on the Buffalo Northland Workforce Training Center, which provides job training funded by the program.
“I think this demonstrates the Department of Commerce’s confidence in the Northland Workforce Training Center to continue preparing Western New Yorkers for the jobs that are in demand in our state and across the country,” Higgins said.
Local institutions that supported the council’s proposal for a federally funded advanced manufacturing cluster included the University at Buffalo, Invest Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo Manufacturing Works, Northland Workforce Training Center, Western New York Goodwill and the Buffalo City Development Corporation.
The Build Back Better challenge is part of the $1.9 trillion U.S. rescue plan passed by Congress in spring 2021 to help the country recover from the economic devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal of the challenge was to distribute $1 billion to 20 to 30 communities nationwide to rebuild their economies and make them more resilient in future economic crises.
“I thank Sen. Schumer for his leadership on economic development and his focus on this critical project,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “Thanks to funding from America’s Rescue Plan and the Advanced Manufacturing Coalition of Western New York, this project will revitalize manufacturing, create jobs and build a diverse workforce for Buffalo and the surrounding area.”
Schumer said Tuesday that he used his time with the president that day to convince Biden that the Commerce Department would select Buffalo as one of the cities to receive up to $100 million under the administration’s “Build Better Challenge.” Buffalo is a finalist for that award.
Schumer said he has pushed hard for Buffalo to be named a tech hub, with efforts to lobby Raimondo and visit the Northland Workforce Training Center this spring to talk about what winning the award would do for the city.
He believes the Tech Hub Award will help revitalize East Buffalo, training in-demand workers in high-end manufacturing.
“It will help pave the way for us to become a technology hub,” he said.
John Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com Follow him on Twitter @JohnHarris.
