Decades ago, the Western New York politician Joel Giambra described the Buffalo Niagara International Airport as a “runway of tears,” given the exodus of young people fleeing upstate New York for jobs elsewhere.
Read more Should the state Legislature meet year-round? Maybe. Will it? Don’t hold your breath.
Today, upstate is building a runway of prosperity.
Micron is anchoring an economic cornerstone with its $100 billion new semiconductor plant outside of Syracuse that is expected to create more than 40,000 direct and indirect jobs. But that’s not all. There is a new federally designated technology corridor connecting Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, and tech projects in Albany will bookend the Micron complex. Binghamton has become a center for battery storage, resurrecting the days when IBM and Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company dominated the city’s economy. The cruise industry is coming to Buffalo and a transformative project to expand the city’s light rail to the suburbs is advancing. In the North Country, leaders have saved Plattsburgh’s bus industry and want to show Canada that we are good neighbors.
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City & State’s Upstate Power 100 puts a spotlight on the key players behind these projects – and other movers and shakers in New York’s distinctive upstate regions.
Read more Federal employees say they’ll quit if they have to move to New Jersey