New York is Committed to Nanotechnology

by Jenna Kavanaugh, Marketing Director

Over the last several years, New York State has made significant investments in the semiconductor industry, propelling itself as the preeminent location for industry specific research, commercialization and collaboration attracting more than $20 billion in investments.

New York Academic / R&D and Industry Asset Maps

The Albany region, led by the Center for Economic Growth (CEG)  has made a name in the industry with the NY Loves Nanotechnology brand and New York’s first Nanotech Manufacturing Mega-Site at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County.  This site is home to GlobalFoundries’ fab operation.

This year at the leading convention for the micro-electronics supply chain, SEMICON West July 9-13, 2013, upstate economic development partners Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (BNE), CEG, Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE), Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), Mohawk Valley Edge, NYSESDC and National Grid are collaborating to represent NY Loves Nanotechnology and showcase our Tech Corridor. In addition to Luther Forest, the team will highlight the Marcy Nanocenter at SUNYIT near Utica, NY and Western NY Science Technology, Advance Manufacturing Park (WNY STAMP) near Batavia, NY. Representatives from NY’s AAU member universities with collaborations and focuses in this industry will be present.

To better prepare for the event BNE, GRE, and GCEDC visited RIT this week to learn more about the chip fab process. Dr. Michael Jackson gave us a brief history and overview of microeletronic engineering, walked us through the process and provided a hands-on tour of their MircoE cleanroom. Not only did we get better insight into the supply chain and workforce, we learned just how small is “small” and discussed other products that can be made with microelectronic processing.

Ready for the Clean Room at RIT

At BNE, we are particularly excited about representing WNY STAMP at Semicon West and marketing this site with our partners at GCEDC and GRE in the future. This 1250⁺ acre site in the Western New York / Finger Lakes region is developed as the next generation sites to support large scale semicon and nanotechnology based R&D and manufacturing employment. Semicon firms looking to site the next generation of 450mm Chip Fab projects, with industry projections pointing to significant growth and billions of dollars in investment in the coming years, prefer large green-field “mega-sites” in excess of 1,000 acres like the STAMP site.  These mega-sites need to offer access to large capacity, low cost utility and transportation infrastructure and proximity and access to university centers for R&D collaboration as well as a sizable workforce to support employment and production needs as well as a state/region with a supportive investment climate.  This site has it all.

Private and public sector investments have spurred tremendous growth in the eastern portions of the state where spectacular employment growth in Nanotechnology has created 12,000 new jobs statewide. We believe there is more to come – this is the future of advanced manufacturing.

Wetlands & Site Development

Lesta Ammons, a biologist from the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Buffalo Branch, spoke at this month’s breakfast meeting of the WNY chapter of the New York State Commercial Association of Realtors (NYSCAR). The topic of wetlands is a critical concern for commercial real estate and site development. While the issues of wetlands can pose challenges to site development, being properly educated and prepared can help mitigate any development delays.

– What are wetlands and why are they important?

Shovel Ready Sites

In recent years, the term “Shovel Ready” has been used more and more to describe sites available for development. But what does this expression really mean? To those people marketing or purchasing sites, it means that they have confidence that a site is ready for development and that there are no surprises that would hinder its development In other words, that future projects are poised for quick approvals and the issuance of building permits at the earliest possible time.

In New York State, properties can obtain Shovel Ready designation through the State sponsored“Build Now New York Program”.This program is a process run through Empire State Development (ESD) that ensures a proper meaning to “Shovel Ready” and provides a State certification for properties that meet this standard.

Recently, BNE Business Development Manager, Lorrie Abounader participated with Niagara County, Wendel, National Grid, the Town of Cambria, and three property owners in getting NYS Shovel Ready Designation for a ±150 acre site on Lockport Road in the Town of Cambria. The Shovel Ready Program helped to identify and remove the impediments that kept the site from being selected for major development projects in the past.

Each Shovel Ready Designation process can be different, but this experience brought to light some of the great benefits of the NYS Shovel Ready Program. These benefits are:

Communication:
The process requires coordination with State, Local and Federal Agencies, that is facilitated by ESD. This communication process can lead to “pre-approvals” or expedited approvals in the future.

Technical Information:Identification of infrastructure capabilities and capacities, environmental conditions and property issues, and the resolution of any related problems.

Municipal Processes: Ensuring that the property is zoned correctly, site plan issues are identified, community support is evaluated, and the SEQR process is completed.

Certification:  The process results in a certification as “Shovel Ready” by NYS, which allows the site to be more easily marketed by economic development organizations. It saves time in identifying a true match of the site to the developer’s requirements, with reliable/certified information residing in one spot.

In the end, your site becomes well known to those who need to market it and approve it, and the “Shovel Ready” certification means it will be able to move forward in an expedited manner. This can be your advantage in getting your property chosen for development by the appropriate customer. As a potential customer or developer, you will be assured by this certification that the issues that can stop or slow down development have been properly addressed. This is a win-win-win situation for the property owner, the developer, and ultimately the community and region which receives the economic benefits of the project.

Andrew C. Reilly, P.E., AICP

areilly@wendelcompanies.com

Wendel

Shovel Ready: The overused & misunderstood term in economic development

It is clear Shovel Ready sites have and will continue to win projects for the Buffalo Niagara region. A full list of these locations can be found by clicking this link.

In 2008, President Barack Obama gave “Shovel Ready” traction when referencing projects eligible for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. While the origin of the term is vague, (this article from the Washington Post does some good research), in New York State it’s clear what “Shovel Ready” means and to BNE, the designation is one of our most powerful tools to market commercial real estate (CRE).

Operating under New York State’s department of economic development, Empire State Development Corp., the “Shovel Ready” program is the premier designation referring to the scope of due diligence a site  has proactively undertaken. As explained on the Shovel Ready website, “Having an economic development site certified as a “Shovel Ready Site” means that the local developer has worked proactively with the State to address all major permitting issues, prior to a business expressing interest in the location. This advance work creates a site where construction can begin rapidly, once a prospective business decides to develop a facility there.”

It was Shovel Ready sites, or those in the process of application, that immediately appealed to Yahoo! during their site location analysis. When we visit with corporate real estate agents and site selection advisors, they stress the importance of sites of this caliber. In December, three site location consultants presented to BNE economic development partners. One of the presenters, Michelle Comerford, managing director at Austin Consulting, focused on the appeal of these sites to her clients. She summarized the advantages of these sites as project speed, cost savings, minimized risks, and reliability.

Typically, when BNE is managing a significantly sized project evaluating real estate for a new build, the first round of questions boil down to a few basic needs:

1) Have the environmental studies been performed?

2) What permitting issues could arise at this location?

3) Does the utility infrastructure meet project requirements?

At its most basic level, Shovel Ready designation answers all of these questions. Even issues of costs and incentives will not arise until after these questions are answered because if there is no adequate location, why pursue the economics? Above all else, being NYS Shovel Ready Certified minimizes risks. Depending on the process stakeholders follow to achieve Shovel Ready status, a site even has the potential to be immune from procedural litigation as well.

What confusion surrounds this term? Within CRE, it often describes a location that a stakeholder feels requires minimal site preparation. If all that was required to achieve Shovel Ready designation was land clear of structures and vegetation, it would not be useful to BNE. The Shovel Ready application page, features a Self Evaluation Checklist to give you a sense of how comprehensive the due diligence process is for certification.

If you are a developer or land owner considering this process, you should know that BNE aggressively promotes these options to our target industries and BNE will be promoting Shovel Ready sites on our commercial real estate pages as well as our site selection web platform, http://www.buffaloniagaracls.com.

If you have any further questions regarding the program feel free to contact me or refer to ESD’s Shovel Ready website.

– Christopher Finn

Research Manager

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise