The State of New York has been aggressively pursuing the promise of an economic boom brought on by nanotechnology for a decade now. There’s even a Web site called New York Loves Nanotech, on which the more than US $13 billion that has been invested in nanotech within the state is glorified.
Despite the love affair the state has with nanotech, it has learned that nanotech businesses can be fickle lovers, prodding jealous inquiries into the allegiances of at least one of the corporate interests the state has been trying to seduce.
The quid pro quo, if you will, in this deal, is that New York State needs to invest “$400 million in the SUNY College for Nanoscale and Science Engineering (CNSE) in Albany, including $100 million for energy efficiency and low cost energy allowances” over the next five years. The promise of nearly 7000 jobs makes it seem like a good deal for New York. Here is how the high-tech jobs will break down:
- 800 at CNSE Albany NanoTech Complex
- 950 at IBM-Yorktown Heights and IBM-East Fishkill
- 450 at SUNY Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) in Utica
- 300 at CNSE's Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center in Canandaigua
Now I don’t know how government types look at the prospect of 7000 new jobs in their state, whether they concern themselves over how many of those jobs will actually go to currently unemployed residents of the state, but perhaps in the long run it’s not as important as having 7000 people (current residents or not) with new, high-tech jobs buying things at the local retail stores.
Anyway, I hope it all works out for the parties concerned, or else I am afraid the locals are going to progress from skeptical to bitter.
