Gov. Kathy Hochul visited Syracuse Monday to highlight economic investments affecting the central New York community as laid out in her recent budget.
Hochul highlighted Micron's $100 billion investment in central New York — saying if New York is the capital of the semiconductor industry then the Syracuse community is the epicenter of that world.
"Syracuse is geographically the heart of New York," Hochul said. "That is the heartbeat of our state and what happens here can be an incubator for what we do elsewhere."
Manish Bhatia, executive vice president for global operations at Micron, said the company plans to be more than just an employer but a partner and a good corporate citizen.
"I'm confident that we made a great choice to lay down our roots right here in central New York," Bhatia said. "We're planting the seeds today that will one day blossom into an industry that will transform the region."
Other announcements included doubling the investment in the gun-involved violence elimination program from $18 million to $36 million — Onondaga County received $1.3 million of that last year. The governor aims to have 800,000 new homes built over the next decade — saying she wants to grow housing in upstate by 1% over the next three years. Another announcement: $10 million for the New 15th Ward public housing project in Syracuse — a multiyear project which aims to reconnect a community split by I-81.
"We're going to be adding an additional million dollars to a program called Syracuse Build Pathways to Apprenticeship Program," the governor said. "This would be serving 115 building trade apprenticeships from I-81 to Micron construction and so much more."
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said Hochul's budget is in line with priorities of the Syracuse community: focusing on public safety, housing, workforce development and education.
"We have a wonderful team, but every team needs a good quarterback, a great quarterback," Walsh said. "Governor, thank you for being our Josh Allen, our great quarterback for this community."
