WNY STAMP

Press release:

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has written to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, requesting his continued support in the form of a $9 million investment in the STAMP project for each of the next two years to bring the project to Shovel-Ready-Lite status.

“Support is now needed in the form of a funding commitment to complete the process needed to bring this site to Shovel-Ready-Lite status. Over the next several years, this is anticipated to require funding of $20 million. The 2011-12 SFY Budget has already committed $2 million to this project,” Senator Ranzenhofer said.

“A commitment for an additional $9 million per year over the next two fiscal years to assure timely Shovel-Ready-Lite status will allow immediate marketing of the STAMP site to national and international tech companies to expedite the successful build out of this project.”

The STAMP project has the potential to create up to 10,000 high-paying jobs at full development, in addition to jobs created during construction and development of the site, and up to $2.5 billion in private investment. In the letter to Governor Cuomo, Senator Ranzenhofer also noted the possible economic benefits to residents beyond the Buffalo and Rochester regions.

“This project, with its offer of advanced manufacturing, is the only one of its kind in Western New York. In fact, we believe that it is the only remaining available Mega-site in New York State. It provides the legitimate promise of a significant private investment and thousands of desperately needed high-paying jobs for the residents of the Buffalo and Rochester areas as well as all the residents of the region including Erie, Monroe, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Livingston and Wyoming counties.”

Senator Ranzenhofer forwarded copies of the letter to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver, Genesee County Legislature Chair Mary Pat Hancock, Empire State Development Corporation President and CEO Kenneth Adams and Genesee County Economic Development Center President and CEO Steve Hyde.

The Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) is a 1,243 acre mega-site modeled after the Albany area’s Luther Forest development. Located in the Town of Alabama, the site is strategically ideal due to its access to three high-level electric transmission circuits, close proximity to the Empire pipeline – a 24-inch natural gas line– and only five miles distance from the New York State Thruway.

The next phase in seeking approval for a 1,200-acre high-tech industrial complex in the Town of Alabama is to sell it to the town board.

And by sell, we mean, offer incentives attractive enough to please residents and for the board to approve a change in zoning for the land that Genesee Economic Devlopment Center officials hope to turn into a lucrative and bustling complex employing 9,300 people.

Mark Masse, VP of operations for GCEDC, said negotiations are starting on the incentive package with the town and they will include financial assistance with the needs of the town to accommodate the project as well as possible cash grants for a "community chest" (money that can be spent on whatever the town board decides to spend it on).

Information on the final Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the project known as STAMP (Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park) was presented Thursday night to about 100 area residents at the Alabama Fire Hall.

With the GEIS done, the town board will be given an opportunity wthin the next month or so to either green light the project or not.

Prior to the vote, GCEDC officials will try to come up with a package of incentives that might help sway town residents and the board to support the project.

Once the incentives are hammered out, there will be a public meeting where the package will be presented and the public will be given a chance to comment on the proposal.

Attorney Adam S. Walters (top inset photo), representing GCEDC, said if the town board doesn't approve the zoning change for STAMP, the project is dead.

One audience member pressed Walters on whether GCEDC or anybody else could sue the town if it doesn't change the zoning to GCEDC's liking. Walters said he knew of no legal grounds to support such a suit and the town's attorney, Mark Boylan, nodded in agreement.

The time is ripe, according to Masse for the town to approve the project. He indicated there is a company that is looking to build a million-square-foot high-tech manufacturing facility. The company will be ready to start its site selection process in 2014.

Asked if it was a foreign company, Masse said, "It's American."

No company, especially one looking at building a million-square-foot facility, will even consider a site that doesn't already have zoning approval, Masse said, since such approvals take so long to get. 

Earlier, town Planning Board Member Lorna Klotzbach (inset photo below) expressed concern that, the way the plan is written out, the entire 1,200 acres could just fill up with a lot of small companies.

"If this site is allowed to be gobbled up by a database company here, a retail store there, a warehouse over here -- what's the chance that a big anchor company is going to want to come in if all of these other uses take up all the space?" Klotzbach asked.

Walters said that, as a practical matter, that isn't going to happen.

The big anchor tenant is needed first so the infrastructure can be built to support all of the smaller tenants that will help fill out the park and provide support services to the large tenants.

"The concept is to form the park around high tech manufacturing," Walters said. "That's the goal of this project and to do it in a way that makes sense. What keeps a Tim Horton's or a couple of warehouses from coming in first is the dollars necessary for the infrastructure. The smaller projects can't afford it.

"The plan calls for a million-square-feet high-tech manufacturer in phase one," Walters added. "If you don't have that, you don't have the money to put in the infrastructure to make any of the other stuff happen."

Until then, Masse and Walters explained, the arable land within the park's proposed footprint will still be farmed and the people living in houses will still live in their houses.

In fact, soon-to-be-former Village of Oakfield resident Joseph Bradt (bottom inset photo) expressed a unique concern about what will happen to residents living within the STAMP area.

Bradt said he recently bought a home in Alabama in order to move his family out of the village.

Pointing at the site plan on the projector screen, Bradt said, "My house is off the map and I haven’t even moved in yet."

Masse said that until a portion of the park is needed for a new tenant, no offers to buy out residential homes will be made, and when they are made, the offers will be at fair market value or or just above assessed value.

Ask if eminent domain would be used to remove people from their homes if they didn't want to sell, Masse said, "no."

"If you don't want to sell you're property, we'll figure out how design around it or if we can move the project to another part of the park," Masse said.

As for Brandt, Masse said it could be up to 20 years before it's time to try and buy him out of his house.

The final GEIS addresses at least some of the concerns raised by residents over the past couple of years.

Regarding the John White Wildlife Management Area, that's been completely removed from the site plan and won't be developed.

Regarding lost agricultural land, the crop land that will displaced represents only .65 percent of the 148,584 acres of farmland in Genesee County and only .23 percent of the total prime farmland.

There are also at least 17 possible farm-protection strategies for the town board to consider to protect the remaining farmland. Some of them, according to Walters, are very expensive. Some, such as rezoning, cost nothing.

On wetlands mitigation, the footprint of the building space was reconfigured to protect more of the wetlands within the park. One of the early plans would have destroyed 69 of 106 acres of wetlands within the park area. The new plan protects all but 10 acres of the land.

The acres protected will be enhanced and restored.

"Many of those wetlands are not in great shape today, and without this project, they would be subject to further degradation," said Roger Person, the consultant heading up the environmental review process.

The report also deals with impacts on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation and traffic flow.

Officials are working with representatives of Tonawanda to minimize impacts and while traffic will increase in areas, some of the proposed improvements to roadways and intersections will bring relief to some traffic flow problems already present in Alabama, Person said.

When a member of the public expressed concern that if the zoning change were approved, what would stop developers from doing something different than what residents are being told now would happen?

Walters explained that the way the process works, the final GEIS acts as a box.  The box contains everything that is currently permissible within the STAMP project area.

"If a proposal comes along that doesn’t fit inside that box, it requires a supplemental analysis and perhaps a supplemental environmental impact study," Walters said. "Everything has to fit within the box."

Press release:

Information addressing the comments of the Western New York Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (WNY STAMP) Draft Generic Impact Statement (DGEIS) will be discussed at 7 p.m. on Jan. 26 at the Town of Alabama Fire Hall. All property owners in the Town of Alabama will receive a postcard announcing the meeting and the public is welcomed to attend.

A general overview of the WNY STAMP project, the environmental review process and responses to common topics from the DGEIS will be presented. The major topics that were brought up in response to the DGEIS, and that will be covered at the informational meeting include: traffic, chemicals, water and wastewater.

The proposed action, examined by the DGEIS, is the construction and operation of approximately 6.1 million square feet of advanced technology manufacturing and ancillary facilities, along with on-site utility improvements, on 1,337.20 acres of land in the Town of Alabama.

The WNY STAMP site is located along New York State highways 77 and 63, approximately five miles north of the I-90 New York State Thruway. The proposed action will involve rezoning the property pursuant to the Town of Alabama Zoning Law.

According to the DGEIS, the buildable area of the WNY STAMP project is 46 percent of the entire site. The remainder of the land would remain as open space. The intent of the master plan design is to blend the manufacturing park into the existing fabric of the community. The Hamlet of Alabama is separated from the STAMP site by a subtle ridgeline and gracious landscape setbacks from existing uses.

As part of the open space system, only 9.5 acres of wetlands would be impacted by the current design, and the site will retain its rural nature. The park will be built to high-tech industry standards, in line with employee expectations, and will respect its surrounding context and environment.

The completed DGEIS, which was approved by the GCEDC board, can be found on the GCEDC’s website www.gcedc.com

Comments will continue to be accepted until June 23 on the Western New York Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park -- known as the STAMP project.

At the request of the Alabama Town Board, the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) has extended the deadline for residents to submit comments on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement, or DGEIS.

Anyone wanting to weigh in on the Final Generic Impact Statement and what it should address or include can write to: Mark Masse, senior vice president of operations at GCEDC, 99 MedTech Drive, Suite 106, Batavia.

Last night, residents attended a public hearing at the town hall to voice their concerns, such as increased traffic, possible discharges into water during manufacturing processes and how Alabama would benefit by allowing the park to locate within its jurisdiction.

“The purpose of the meeting [last night] was to solicit comments and feedback from the public on the DGEIS which has been released for public review. The GCEDC believes that objectives of the meeting were met,” Masse said in a statement.

The site consists of about 1,300 acres along Route 77.

“The purpose of the project is to develop a high technology manufacturing center with a focus on renewable energy and to provide economic development opportunities within the region,” according to the draft plan.

While the first phase of construction could begin within the next few years, the park may not be fully developed for another 10 to 25 years.

The document says, “The DGEIS analyzes several alternatives for the STAMP site. The Preferred Alternative includes 6.1-million square feet of development, including, among other things, technology manufacturing facilities; flex space and support facilities, office space, retail support uses, a new multi-use Town Hall building site, and a network of open space and trails that meander throughout the property.”

In regard to bringing water to the proposed park, the DGEIS explains that a “phased approach” would be necessary.

“Water resources and large diameter water mains are very limited in the vicinity of the project area. This results in a challenging and complex situation to providing an adequate water supply to the STAMP site.”

Many sources were considered and studied because such a high-volume of water demand calls for more than one supplier, according to the document. A summary of the alternatives considered can be found here.

The DGEIS also includes -- in the Economic Impact Analysis -- projected decreases in property tax rates as follows:

The Town of Alabama could realize a decrease in the tax rate per $1,000 in value from $1.11 to 11 cents.

Genesee County could realize a decrease in the tax rate per $1,000 in value from $9.82 to $7.97.

Oakfield-Alabama School District could realize a decrease in the tax rate per $1,000 in value from $23.73 to $16.94.

GCEDC officials made clear in a statement that all comments received would be compiled into the Final Generic Impact Statement which, when finished, will be made available to the public at the Alabama Town Hall, GCEDC offices and online.

Press Release from GCEDC:

On April 14, during a board meeting of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) a resolution to approve the Draft Generic Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the Western New York Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park was approved. The DGEIS has been completed and accepted by the GCEDC as Lead Agency for the proposed action.

On February 10, reports to the public of the preliminary findings of the DGEIS were presented at a public information meeting at the Town of Alabama Fire Hall.

The completed DGEIS, which was approved by the GCEDC board, includes an economic impact study, environmental studies, master plan update, traffic impact study, utility plan summary, proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment and farmland protection plan. The contents of the completed DGEIS have not changed significantly from what was presented in February.

The proposed action being examined by the DGEIS is the construction and operation of approximately 6.1 million square feet of advanced technology manufacturing and ancillary facilities, along with on-site utility improvements, on 1,337.20 acres of land in the Town of Alabama.

The WNY STAMP site is located along New York State highways 77 and 63, approximately 5 miles north of the I-90 New York State Thruway. The proposed action will involve rezoning the property pursuant to the Town of Alabama Zoning Laws. 

According to the DGEIS the buildable area of the WNY STAMP project is 46 percent of the entire site. The remainder of the land would remain as open space. The intent of the master plan design is to blend the manufacturing park into the existing fabric of the community.

The Hamlet of Alabama is separated from the STAMP site by a subtle ridgeline and gracious landscape setbacks from existing uses. As part of the open space system, only 9.5 acres of wetlands would be impacted by the current design, and the site will retain its rural nature.

The park will be built to high-tech industry standards, in line with employee expectations, and will respect its surrounding context and environment. 

The WNY STAMP site has seen several interested companies who were looking for locations on the East Coast and close to Canada. The companies were excited about the site, but it was not “shovel-ready” enough for their purposes.

“Planning, preparing and developing a shovel-ready site designed for appropriate industries, and having local community approval will help to secure companies at the WNY STAMP site,” stated Steve Hyde, president and CEO of the GCEDC.

"Developing the necessary infrastructure to attract investment from outside the region is one of the most important roles that the GCEDC takes on for our county. A site zoned for a particular purpose, where a company can begin building quickly, at the speed of business, is the best way to bring jobs to our community.”

A public hearing is scheduled for May 12 at the Town of Alabama Fire Hall. The hearing will begin at 7 p.m., and residents are welcome to attend and comment on the DGEIS. Postcards will be sent to the residents of the Town of Alabama next week as a reminder of the meeting. 

Copies of the DGEIS are available at <http://www.gcedc.com>, in print at the GCEDC offices, located at 99 MedTech Drive in Batavia, and at the Town of Alabama office.

More than 200 concerned residents -- not all from Alabama -- turned out Thursday night for a more than two-hour presentation on a proposed high-tech manufacturing park.

The park, known as WNY STAMP (WNY Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park) may be the Genesee County Economic Development Center's most ambitious project yet.

And while the handful of residents who spoke may have asked skeptical and probing questions, nobody at this meeting really spoke out against the proposal.

The 15-year-build-out plan calls for the creating of more than 9,000 new, permanent jobs in 6.1 million square feet of manufacturing space. There will also be 180,000 square feet of retail space and a new town hall and museum in the southeast corner.

GCEDC officials pitched the project as one that would create good-paying, 21st Century jobs (average annual wage, $58,000), reduce the brain-drain of youths leaving WNY, provide new revenue for community services, enhance the local infrastructure and potentially reduce property taxes.

Of course, these jobs and all of this new revenue in the community is only created if businesses decide to build new high-tech manufacturing plants -- such as flat screen monitors, computer chips and solar cells -- in STAMP.

Some residents wanted to know why GCEDC thinks -- especially with the seemingly slow adoption of Buffalo East by new companies coming to town -- that any manufacturers will set up shop in STAMP.

Mark Masse, project manager for GCEDC, explained that in the past couple of years, GCEDC has fielded a few inquiries about appropriate locations from the types of businesses that use STAMP, but because STAMP hadn't even completed the earliest of approval processes yet, the companies had to look else where.

"What they're interested in is 'speed to market,'"said Roger Pearson, lead consultant on the project.

He said they need to know that they can get their new plant open in 12 to 18 months, and right now, if a business committed to the park, it would take much longer than that before they could open.

That speed to market was a concern of John Hatch, too. He's a UB student from Amherst and he wants to work in the kinds of industries STAMP will hopefully attract.

"I'd like to see this happen so I can stay in the area," he said.

Macomber Road resident Mark Williams wanted to know if GCEDC had a guarantee from the New York Power Authority for the cheap hydro power these companies will want for their operations.

Masse said, "There's no guarantees in life. ...But, "if we had a significant client come in, the New York Power Authority is will to work with us to ensure power."

Others wanted to know who was going to pay for the infrastructure development that needs to take place to attract these businesses.

Pearson explained that a project like this is really "shovel ready lite." The goal is to get all of the permits and environmental review processes completed, decreasing the amount of time it takes to build a new manufacturing facility. Much of the infrastructure, he said, wouldn't be built until it was needed and those costs would be covered by developers.

Pearson warned that the project plan presented Thursday is still evolving and some aspects may change as it goes through the planning and permitting process, and some of the changes will be based on feedback from the community.

A draft environmental review is expected to be completed by the end of March, with the final review completed by the middle of July.

Next month, the Genesee County Economic Development Center officials will hold a public information meeting to discuss preliminary results of the draft environmental impact report concerning STAMP.

That stands for Science, Technology, Advanced Manufacturing Park -- a proposed large scale, high-tech/clean-tech, manufacturing park planned near the intersection of Judge Road and Route 77 in Alabama.

The meeting will take place beginning at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Alabama Fire Hall, located at 2230 Judge Road, in Basom.

The draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) includes an economic impact study, environmental study, master plan update, traffic impact study, the utility plan summary and provisions for farmland protection.

The proposed location for STAMP, according to its supporters, is considered ideal because of immediate access to transmission level electric power, reduced cost hydropower, a high capacity gas line, and the New York State Thruway.

STAMP is being developed as a campus-like setting to attract companies which produce computer chips, flat panel display units, semiconductors or similar products. Operations of this size could provide thousands of medium- to higher-income jobs to residents of Genesee and surrounding counties.

Alabama residents will receive an informational postcard in the mail encouraging attendance to February's public informational meeting. But everyone interested in this critical project is encouraged to attend.

Hunting. Somebody wanted to know today how the proposed STAMP project in Alabama will impact hunting in the area.

Lonra Klotzbach raised the question and noted, "I'm not sure that in most communities' experience that hunting and the impact of such development makes would be as big as a concern as it is in this area."

"That's a good suggestion," said Roger Person, the consultant heading up the environmental review process for the project. "We are doing a threatened and endangered species assessment, but that's not what you're suggesting, so why don't we add that to our scoping document to consider the impacts on hunting grounds."

Earlier, Klotzbach started a discussion about how today's informational meeting -- and one like it on Thursday -- is not required by the environmental review process.

The purpose of today's meeting, as Person noted, was to better define the scope of what the environmental review will cover, and the hunting question illustrated how such an informational meeting can help the consultants better understand unique local issues.

Legally, the only time public input is required is during a public hearing after the draft environmental impact report is written.

For the STAMP project, the Genesee County Economic Development Center is holding four meetings during the review process -- the one today, one this past Thursday and two while the environmental report is being drafted.

Besides hunting, today's meeting uncovered concerns about storm drainage, the impact on the volunteer fire department, traffic and agriculture, as well as what additional impact further housing development might have.

"I think it's exactly what we expect," said Chad Zambito, spokesman for GCEDC. "Take the first meetings we had here and add these, and I think we've seen an evolution of understanding and a growing trust between residents here, and this is what we want -- we want good, honest, open dialogue."

About 30 people attended today's meeting, and Zambito said about 80 people were at Thursday's meeting.

Genesee County residents who wish provide comments to the environmental review process can write to the WNY STAMP Project c/o GCEDC, One Mill St., Batavia, NY 14020. Comments must be received by March 5.

Previously:

• Three major projects in the pipeline show promise of bringing industry back home
• Keep Alabama rural is local farmer's plea

This article is based on information provided by the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) about the Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park or STAMP project:

Next week, the GCEDC will hold two informational meetings regarding the environmental review process for the STAMP project.

Those meetings will be held at 7 p.m Thursday, Feb.11 and at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13  at the Alabama Town Fire Hall located on Judge Road.

They will include an overview of the project’s activities to date, as well as a review of the environmental process required pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

The proposed draft-scoping document will be explained. It is used to guide the preparation of a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the project. This will eventually become a Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement that, along with a findings statement, will complete the SEQRA requirements.

Although next week's public meetings are not required by SEQRA, the GCEDC has agreed to hold them to encourage community input during the initial stages of the SEQRA process. They offer residents a chance to learn about and discuss project issues, but comments can also be provided in writing until March 5. Written comments should be mailed to: GCEDC, 1 Mill St., Batavia, NY 14020.

WNY STAMP is a large-scale, advanced-manufacturing site modeled after Luther Forest Technology Park located in Saratoga County (which recently landed semiconductor chipmaker Global Foundries/Advanced Micro Devices’ latest expansion). According to Forest tech park’s website, the $4.6 billion project will bring 1,465 jobs to the Capital Region. 

GCEDC President and CEO Steve Hyde believes that a similar project could help revitalize WNY.

At full build-out, which could take up to 25 years, estimates project the site will be home to 9,300 workers with a large majority of skilled and semi-skilled workers earning starting wages that pay between $40,000 and $45,000 annually.

“The STAMP project is a transformational project that could redefine the employment scene in WNY by helping to stop the 'brain drain' by providing future generations the chance to find good-paying jobs right in their own back yard," Hyde said. "The site has all the attributes that high-technology companies seek as highlighted by the feasibility study completed in 2008 by the global firm CH2M HILL.”

The feasibility study identified several high-tech industries as a good potential fit for the STAMP site, including photovoltaic panel (solar panel) and semiconductor (computer chip) manufacturing. The site is surrounded by industrial-class infrastructure including redundant electric transmission lines. It also sits in the New York Power Authority’s hydropower zone, meaning companies that locate there would be eligible for low-cost power allocation.

The site is five miles north of I-90 exit 48A, which makes it easily accessible to workers from both Buffalo and Rochester, New York’s second- and third-largest cities, respectively, with a combined workforce of more than 1.1 million people.

There are four phases in the site-planning process.

Phase I included the feasibility study and community survey, which yielded a 42-percent response rate with 78 percent of residents favoring further exploration of the project. Phase II consists largely of environmental assessment and engineering efforts. Phase II work has been funded by a $1 million state grant, which received bi-partisan support from both senators Bill Stachowski and Mike Ranzenhofer as well as funding from National Grid.

Phase III focuses on implementation, should a project commit to the site. Phase IV concerns management of the site at full build-out.

The environmental review process officially began on Dec. 22 when the GCEDC Board of Directors voted to seek lead-agency status for the project. Last week, the GCEDC declared itself the lead agency after no other entities objected. The lead agency directs the SEQRA process, which includes several opportunities for public input.

The process is also being guided by an advisory committee comprised of members of the GCEDC, the Genesee County Planning Department, the Alabama Town Board and the Alabama Town Planning Board. In preparing a draft-scoping document, the advisory committee has worked with legal counsel that includes Harris Beach and Phillips Lytle, technology planners and engineering experts from IDC Architects/CH2M, HILL and Clark Patterson Lee, and environmental consultants from Conservation Connects.

This document will address potential impacts and the analyses will be reviewed in the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement. It will be available for review Feb. 4 at the Alabama Town Hall on Judge Road in Alabama. It will also be available at the GCEDC’s office on Mill Street in Batavia and on its website, www.gcedc.com.

The GCEDC will schedule other public hearings for the draft EIR and the Town of Alabama may also conduct meetings as part of its future zoning-review process for the project.

The approval of $1 million for Phase 2 of the Western New York Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) was granted by the Empire State Development Corporation today.

Senator Michael Ranzenhofer was among those who applauded the allocation to help build the Western New York Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP). He sent along this press release:

“The WNY STAMP park project allows Genesee County to compete in a 21st Century global economy. The project paves the way for technologically advanced companies that manufacture computer chips, semi-conductors and photovoltaic cells for solar power to locate in Western New York. This project would create over 9,300 jobs here in Western New York."

The WNY STAMP park has been planned as a prime mega-site, suitable for large scale advanced manufacturing projects. The 1,340 acre project, located in Alabama near the intersection of Route 77 and Judge Road, will be the second of only one other similar park in New York State. Phase II of the project allows the Genesee County Economic Development Center to complete design and engineering work.

Senator Ranzenhofer expressed appreciation to the efforts of many to move the project to the next phase.

“I would like to thank Senator Mary Lou Rath, Senator Bill Stachowski, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Assemblyman Dan Burling, Genesee County Economic Development Center President and CEO Steve Hyde and the Empire State Development Corporation for their tireless efforts to create a business-friendly environment and create jobs in Western New York."

Genesee County Economic Development Center President and CEO Steve Hyde had this to say:

“The WNY STAMP (Science, Technology, Advanced Manufacturing Park) project, located in close proximity to the NYS Thruway in the Town of Alabama, Genesee County, is a transformational regional effort which will, over the long term, help to transform Western NY’s economy from Buffalo to Rochester by growing high paying, advance manufacturing and technology oriented jobs. This...site is being developed as NY’s next generation Mega-Site similar to Luther Forest, the home of Global Foundries and AMD’s recent multi-billion investment.

"...I, along with many of the elected officials and people of Genesee County and the region, would like to thank Senator Ranzenhofer, and his predecessor Senator Rath, for all the support and hard work that has gone into helping WNY STAMP become a reality.”