On Thursday November 8th 2010 Steve Hyde, President and CEO, along with Mark Masse, Sr. VP of Operations for Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) met with the Alabama Town Board to discuss the current progress of the Western New York Science Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (WNY STAMP).
WNY STAMP will be New York’s second mega site that could house as many as 10,000 high paying jobs. The park is situated on roughly 1,300 acres of land located on the northwest corner of the intersection of State Route 77 and Judge Road. Officials at GCEDC have identified this site as ideal because of its access to low cost transmission level electric via the Niagara Hydro-Power Zone.
"WNY STAMP is a unique convergence of infrastructure, containing low cost transmission level electric, high capacity natural gas via the Empire Pipeline and proximity to the New York State Thruway," stated Hyde. "The project has the potential to change the workforce landscape of Western New York as we know it. Combined with Buffalo East Tech Park, located in the town of Pembroke five miles south of WNY STAMP, Western New York will be directly in the New York State Thruway’s High-tech/ Clean-tech Corridor," added Hyde.
WNY STAMP will have the potential to house high tech companies producing computer chips, flat panel display units, semiconductors or similar products and provide thousands of high paying jobs.
Masse emphasized the importance of the project as a whole "WNY STAMP would compete on a global scale because the high-tech companies production costs would remain low due to the sites location in the Niagara Hydro-Power Zone. Electricity could be delivered at a rate of $0.035/ kilowatt hour.” Masse cited “potential high-tech companies will provide more jobs per kilowatt hour and a higher return on investment than traditional manufacturing."
Full build out of WNY STAMP is expected to be completed between 10 to 12 years with the project moving forward in four phases.
(Phase I) CH2MHill, a national engineering firm, was hired to complete the feasibility study for WNY STAMP that included a community survey which showed overwhelming support for the project. Nearly 42% of residents responded with 78% supporting the efforts.
Phase II is near completion. The core acreage of the WNY STAMP site is under purchase option. State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) and Generic Environmental Impact Statements (GEIS) preliminary findings are expected to be released this December. Final SEQR/GEIS reports will be completed in the spring of 2011. The SEQR/GEIS items include: archeological phase 1B, wetlands jurisdictional determination, traffic study, visual assessment study and threatened and endangered species II study.
Completion of phase III is subject to the Town of Alabama’s affirmative decision on the zoning of the WNY STAMP. Phase III consists of full land acquisition, infrastructure design engineering, construction and advanced marketing and sales. Phase III’s main goal is producing a "shovel ready" park. Shovel ready sites are more attractive because businesses can access strategically placed infrastructure within the park and break ground, build, and begin selling product quicker. Phase IV will involve site and project management.