Two high-tech companies in Syracuse are expanding with the help of New York state. Officials say it’s a reflection of a broader trend of economic development in upstate New York.
Terakeet, an internet marketing firm, and TCG Ascension Gaming, which runs an online marketplace for collectable trading cards, will add almost 250 employees to their rosters in coming months. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the numbers Thursday at the former Hotel Syracuse, which is reopening in a month as a Marriott property. All proof, the governor says, of a rebounding economy.
"Hotel Syracuse reborn, new advanced manufacturing high tech companies locating in downtown Syracuse, who 10 years ago would have been on the first plane to Austin Texas or South Carolina, relocating here, because they see the future that is Onondaga County,” said Cuomo.
New York’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative, plus Excelsior job credits, are providing an almost $4 million boost for these companies, according to Howard Zemsky, head of the state’s Economic Development Corporation. He says these are the kinds of firms that the state is targeting, because they are pulling young people back to the places they grew up.
“We’re always thinking about what we can do kind of holistically to create the environment not only the jobs, but also the environment that will retain and attract what we call in Buffalo as boomerangs. Invite them back. They boomerang back to Buffalo, we want them to boomerang back to Syracuse,” said Zemsky.
