Upstate NY becoming the high tech center of the east coast

[Jolly Blue Giant]

It's great news for the local economy where I live. So far, ALL lithium batteries are imported for use in the U.S. But thanks to a Binghamton University professor (a Nobel Prize winner and inventor of the lithium battery), lithium battery production will take over much of the space taken up by the many large buildings that used to be IBM (currently being bulldozed) as new factories are being built throughout the Binghamton area. It's good for the country to have facilities in the U.S. that can provide their own batteries, should chaos develop further in an unstable world 

To top it off, it has just been announced, that a huge amount of lithium has been found in the Smackover Formation that runs from the Florida panhandle through Louisiana, most of Arkansas, and down through Texas making it one of the largest resources of raw lithium in the world. That is great news for America...not only because of this valuable resource, but also because a manufacturing plant is getting ready for the first production of lithium batteries in the western hemisphere. The U.S. has been at the mercy of China in their reliance on lithium batteries, that are used in everything from phones to cars and trucks. It's America's Achilles heel to be unable to manufacture our own needs

Upstate New York is seeing a boom in becoming a major hub of high technology, with Micron building monstrous new facilities for leading-edge memory semiconductor chips manufacturing in the Syracuse area, and Plug Power in Albany and Rochester as a world leader in hydrogen power (along with Cummins hydrogen powered engines production in Jamestown), and the growth of world leading semiconductor manufacturing facilities throughout Dutchess County (Hudson Valley area), Utica, and Albany area, Upstate might just become a boon to the NY economy, and a great place to do business for a change. Wouldn't that be nice 

https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/4734/binghamton-battery-project-named-one-of-10-nsf-innovation-engines

https://nypost.com/2024/10/23/us-news/19-million-on-lithium-deposits-found-in-american-southeast-usgs/

https://cleantechnica.com/2024/10/21/how-the-us-can-solve-its-lithium-supply-problem-in-one-fell-swoop/

Hopefully, New York will one day be a leading state in these high-tech fields and maybe become the East Coast version of Silicon Valley

https://www.micron.com/manufacturing-expansion/ny
https://www.fchea.org/member-plugpower
https://esd.ny.gov/industries/semiconductors
https://www.thinkdutchess.com/semiconductor/

[Sem]

So Ric, since I'm no longer local, what's going on here?

https://www.wskg.org/regional-news/2024-10-21/endicott-battery-company-im3ny-which-received-over-500-000-in-state-funding-lays-off-staff

[Jolly Blue Giant]

So Ric, since I'm no longer local, what's going on here?

https://www.wskg.org/regional-news/2024-10-21/endicott-battery-company-im3ny-which-received-over-500-000-in-state-funding-lays-off-staff

Startup issues. Hired too many workers before the process was put in place. A lot of bugs to work out before actual production starts up (and even the buildings aren't finished yet). Binghamton University has also purchased the ten-year-old Binghamton Press facility, that went out of business once Gannett bought them out. The Binghamton paper has basically become USA Today, with a Binghamton headline. About the only thing it's good for is obituaries, which they charge an arm and a leg to put in (can cost thousands of dollars). Paper itself is 3.50 a pop, except Sunday which is 5.00 or more...I don't buy it anymore. It's super-thin with only two sections with a total of about 8 pages, and very little to do with local news. Shame really

The Binghamton Press printing building was constructed just a few years ago before taking their printing elsewhere (nearest USA Today printing facility), and was snapped up by Binghamton University that is turning the building into a lab and teaching facility for the study of and production of, lithium battery technology. It's still in process and everything takes more time than expected. And now, Harvey Stenger (BU president for the last 12 years) has announced he's leaving the University for greener pastures. This was his baby, so who knows how long it will take before the manufacturing gets underway. If you're familiar with Binghamton politics, it's a nasty place to try and get things off the ground and running


The new Binghamton Press building, now being converted into a lab and training center by Binghamton University

[Sem]

Startup issues. Hired too many workers before the process was put in place. A lot of bugs to work out before actual production starts up (and even the buildings aren't finished yet). Binghamton University has also purchased the ten-year-old Binghamton Press facility, that went out of business once Gannett bought them out. The Binghamton paper has basically become USA Today, with a Binghamton headline. About the only thing it's good for is obituaries, which they charge an arm and a leg to put in (can cost thousands of dollars). Paper itself is 3.50 a pop, except Sunday which is 5.00 or more...I don't buy it anymore. It's super-thin with only two sections with a total of about 8 pages, and very little to do with local news. Shame really

The Binghamton Press printing building was constructed just a few years ago before taking their printing elsewhere (nearest USA Today printing facility), and was snapped up by Binghamton University that is turning the building into a lab and teaching facility for the study of and production of, lithium battery technology. It's still in process and everything takes more time than expected. And now, Harvey Stenger (BU president for the last 12 years) has announced he's leaving the University for greener pastures. This was his baby, so who knows how long it will take before the manufacturing gets underway. If you're familiar with Binghamton politics, it's a nasty place to try and get things off the ground and running


The new Binghamton Press building, now being converted into a lab and training center by Binghamton University

Ok thanks for that info Ric. I saw the article and feared the whole project was being scrapped. Nice to see it's still on track and will hopefully bring a much needed financial boost to a community that's been reeling in recent years, mainly caused by IBM pulling out of the area.
There's a good chance I'll be in the triple cities next summer for a few days. Thinking of attending my HS class 50 year reunion. I'm also anxious to see what North St. area looks like without many of the IBM buildings, where I spent the better part of my 35 years working there.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I have a little more information on what's going on. It isn't being scrapped. However, environment concerns by activists, coupled with slow paperwork and approvals, and the promised funds lagging (not in amount, but in a timely manner), and private investors wanting to see more progress in the project. Typical problems when the government gets deeply involved, as well as private investors concerned with delaying tactics. With government, they like to micromanage everything (speed means nothing to them), and they don't give a rat's backside about the slew of private investors who have their money tied up in a promising project. Very frustrating, but not surprising. Syracuse is having some of the same issues with the Micron project as activists are worried about some swampland that is home to various snakes, frogs, etc., and they are up in arms. You should hum the chorus Taylor Swift's song, "Welcome to New York, welcome to New York", when reading about politics here...lol