Governor Hochul Announces Corning Incorporated's $139 Million Investment to Grow Operations in Monroe County

 Expansion of Operations to Create More Than 270 New Jobs in the Village of Fairport and Town of Gates, Addressing Growing Demand in the Semiconductor Market

$5 Million New York State Investment Complements "Finger Lakes Forward" - The Region's Comprehensive Strategy to Revitalize Communities and Grow the Economy

Governor Hochul: "I'm really proud that we are now the epicenter of technology jobs. We will soon pass Silicon Valley in terms of jobs. We passed Boston a couple of years ago, so that is our future. And so, why not embrace not just the people who are part of our workforce, the innovators, the brilliant people that take us to the next level, but also the opportunities to create something that needs to be created here domestically. We can no longer be held captive to foreign supply chains that are disrupted."

Hochul: "We're going to look back on this day. Over 270 jobs, that's great. $139 million of investment, that's fantastic. 5 billion from this state anytime. You're welcome. But you're going to look back at this day and say, this is when everything changed. When we made that commitment, and we work with our federal government, work with our Senator, we deliver here in the State."

I want to just say a couple of things and I did want to talk about a little bit of the history of Corning because it is a powerful story. It is a story again, that really reminds us of the greatness of the state. And what you did in developing technologies. Who didn't cook with Pyrex when they were growing up? Pyrex is part of our household, and you go way back to the 1880s and Thomas Edison's light bulb. That's part of your story, it's part of our story because you did that here. In the 1960s, you were manufacturing 100 percent of all the glass that went into televisions.

That's the first time, I remember being a little kid, yes, I'm that old, we got that first television set. Little did I know that the glass came from Corning, right here in the State of New York. So you've always been there. The Hubble space telescope, from LCD screens. You've always been at the forefront. And now, I think about what the opportunities are, but I also want to pause a second, just think about when I went to see you at Sullivan Park during the pandemic. And when you told me that basically every vial that treated people's COVID, the vaccines that stopped COVID, were created here in New York, my heart swell with pride to know that our workers, our team from New York State were literally saving lives during the pandemic. So you stepped up, you helped save lives, creating billions of doses of vaccines. And I want to thank you for all the work you've done there.

And so, this is a great story. And the Senator and I speak often about the whole semiconductor industry. Nobody has laid claim to this industry in this country yet. We are here to lay down the marker and say, "It is happening here." And I love the reference to Silicon Valley, "That is so yesteryear. So last decade." And you think about the jobs that are coming to our state, not just upstate, but New York City as well. The migration of tech workers from Silicon Valley is phenomenal. I could not have foreseen this. It was always about, "Getting educated," our great schools, our engineering schools upstate, we're known for our great educational system. "Where are you going next?" "Oh, Silicon Valley. That's where the action is." No longer. Sorry, Governor out there, it's over. It's over because people want to be here. They want to be connected with other smart people and they want that quality of life. So I'm really proud that we are now the epicenter of technology jobs. We will soon pass Silicon Valley in terms of jobs. We passed Boston a couple of years ago, so that is our future.

And so, why not embrace not just the people who are part of our workforce, the innovators, the brilliant people that take us to the next level, but also the opportunities to create something that needs to be created here domestically. We can no longer be held captive to foreign supply chains that are disrupted. Whether it's geopolitical affairs, invasions of Russia to Ukraine or what that has done to the wheat supply around the world. We can no longer be vulnerable. I don't want to have to go to China next time there's a pandemic and beg for ventilators and masks. Everything should be manufactured here because we know how to do it, and we do it best.

And that is why the semiconductor industry needs to blossom here in the State of New York, and the work that the Senator is doing. It is a much heavier lift than it should be because everybody should say, "We agree. It's a national security issue for us. It's an economic issue. It'll position us and free us from the supply chains from abroad."

I don't understand why everybody just isn't signing on this second and getting it done. And I'm going to help you Senator, but you have been leading the forefront. Here in the State of New York, we understand also we can put money on the table and show a real commitment. And literally in our last session, the final days, we announced $10 billion for green chips.

What does that mean? We want to position ourselves to be able to help the industries who are growing here but also will come here and help them say yes, understand, this is the place it's happening. This is the place. I've declared this. I've also declared New York, the epicenter of the offshore wind capital of the world.

When I declare something, it happens. Okay. Just want you to know that that's the power of the Governor. I've only had it for a few months, but now we are the epicenter of the semiconductor industry and the work that we're doing in Albany and the work that we've done is just extraordinary. So, the supply chain, which you're doing here is feeding that, so no one has to go abroad.

We can get the manufacturing done. We have some great possibilities of working on it, but I can tell someone coming here, you don't have to go somewhere else and spend the cost of shipping. You just drive down to Fairport or you go up to Canada, the parts are right here and that's why I'm so excited.

We're going to look back on this day. Over 270 jobs, that's great. $139 million of investment, that's fantastic. 5 billion from this state anytime. You're welcome. But you're going to look back at this day and say, this is when everything changed. When we made that commitment, and we work with our federal government, work with our Senator, we deliver here in the State, working with the federal parties, but also, it's industry. You are the key part of all this. We can talk about these goals. We can want this to happen, but if you don't show up here and create the jobs and manufacture something that I completely could not understand, even though the smartest people were trying to explain to me, it is brilliance.

Brilliance is on display here when you're manufacturing, these parts that are just so we're just so proud of this. And I want you to know that as your governor, I want you to be here for generations and generations to come and in other 170 years, I will not be here, I predict, but I want you to continue celebrating that Corning is to New York part of our identity. It's a key part of our identity, and I am proud of that as your governor.