Schumer, McNulty Bring Secretary Of The Army To Watervliet Arsenal - Urge Secretary To Turnover Property To Local Development Corp., So That Site May Continue To Expand Into Hub For Hi-Tech Growth Across The Cap Region

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Schumer, McNulty Bring Secretary Of The Army To Watervliet Arsenal - Urge Secretary To Turnover Property To Local Development Corp., So That Site May Continue To Expand Into Hub For Hi-Tech Growth Across The Cap Region

Today Secretary Geren Joined Schumer and McNulty in Touring Arsenal to See First-Hand Multimillion Dollar Plan to Bring Private Companies and Jobs to the Site

New Hi-Tech Giants have Already Set up Operations at the Arsenal, But Master Plan Could Bring an Estimated 1,500 New Jobs and Integrate Facilities with University of Albany's Nano Tech and Region's Hi-Tech Corridor

Earlier this Year, Schumer, McNulty Met With Secretary Geren in Washington and Secured Agreement the he would Visit Campus

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Congressman Mike McNulty brought the Secretary of the Army Pete Geren to the Watervliet Arsenal so he could see first-hand the multimillion dollar plan to transform it into a hi-tech hub for the Capital Region. Earlier this year, Schumer and McNulty pressed Secretary Geren to approve a plan to transform the Arsenal into a high-tech campus run by the Arsenal Business and Technology Partnership, and secured an agreement from him to visit the campus.

The military needs to approve a plan that would spend $64 million to transform the Watervliet Arsenal into a hi-tech campus that could bring an estimated 1,500 new jobs to the Capital Region. The proposed plan will not affect the arsenal's core mission of manufacturing our nation's cannon, but rather will allow for the development of vacant and unused campus space into cutting-edge tech facilities.

"It's terrific that Secretary Geren personally visited the Arsenal campus so he can see firsthand how transforming it into a hi-tech hub can generate good-paying, cutting-edge jobs in the Capital Region," said Senator Schumer. "It's good for the local economy and it will enable the core cannon mission to be leaner and meaner."

In 2001, the Army contracted with the Arsenal Business & Technology Partnership (AP), a local not for profit development corporation created local elected officials in cooperation with the Arsenal, to attract new companies to the Arsenal. Since the agreement, the AP has already attracted more than 20 companies to the site, including international high tech giants such as M+W Zander, Vistec Lithography, and Hartchrom US. Local start-ups, Solid Sealing Technologies and Extreme Molding LLC, have exploded from 2 to more than 50 employees.

In 2005 a BRAC Commission recommended that the military provide millions to consolidate the Arsenal facilities and build new high-tech labs. The plan has the potential to bring 1,500 jobs to the region and will hand over approximately 100 acres of the 144 acre site to local authorities for continued private development. The plan strengthens the case for keeping the cannon mission and nearly 800 Army civilian jobs at Watervliet, and greatly expands the dramatic private high tech development underway there.

Despite the recommendation, the plan still needs to be approved.

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