AFTER SECURING CENTERSTATE CEO'S SPOT ON SHORTLIST FOR UP TO $100M AWARD FROM NATION'S FIRST-EVER BBB CHALLENGE COMPETITION, SCHUMER SENDS PERSONAL INVITE TO COMMERCE DEPT. LEADERSHIP TO VISIT CENTRAL NY & SEE FIRST-HAND HOW THE REGION IS PRIMED TO POWER AND REVIVE U.S. TECH AND MANUFACTURING LEADERSHIP, ESPECIALLY IN THE CHIP INDUSTRY

Statement

After his direct advocacy successfully secured CenterState's Smart Systems Cluster project's spot in the American Rescue Plan's Build Back Better Regional Challenge, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today continued this momentum and personally invited Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves to see first-hand the region's prime sites for semiconductor manufacturing and emerging tech hubs. Schumer said the chip shortage impacting global supply chains makes the project uniquely positioned to meet the goals of the BBB Challenge and that Central New York is primed to power and revive the U.S. chip industry.

"Central New York and the Mohawk Valley have all the right ingredients to be a major national tech and semiconductor hub. Now, it's time for the Commerce Department to see first-hand why the region's state of the art research facilities and shovel ready sites like White Pine and Marcy Nanocenter are primed to help secure our domestic chip supply chains, attract major employers, and become the foundation for U.S. global tech leadership," said Senator Schumer. "That is why I personally invited Secretary Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Graves to Central New York and the Mohawk Valley to witness just how uniquely suited CenterState's Smart Systems Cluster proposal is to receive further federal investment and drive not only the Upstate economy into the future, but the entire nation's."

Senator Schumer has a long history of fighting to advance semiconductor manufacturing and R&D in Upstate New York. After years of staunch advocacy to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing Schumer successfully passed his U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) in the Senate last year. Schumer is now actively working with President Biden and Speaker Pelosi for the House to move USICA to final passage into law.

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