Week in Review: November 9 – November 13, 2020
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CEG IN THE NEWS
offshreWIND.biz: Equinor’s New York Plans Could Bring 350 Jobs Through Port of Albany
Rivera: Equinor backs Port of Albany for first US tower/transition piece facility
Renewables Now: Equinor picks Port of Albany to host 1st offshore wind tower factory in US
NS Energy: Equinor plans to build offshore wind tower manufacturing facility in US
Energy News: Equinor plans to add offshore wind facility at Port of Albany
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS
PVA moving factory, headquarters to Halfmoon
“Precision Valve & Automation Inc. plans to move its headquarters and manufacturing into the Halfmoon SportsPlex in the Capital Region Business Park.
The $10.5 million investment to relocate into a smaller, yet more efficient building just four miles from the current plant in Colonie will drive down costs without disrupting commuting patterns of chief executive Tony Hynes’ 162 employees.”
Cree ramps hiring in Utica, Albany as production start is a year out
“Cree Inc., the North Carolina semiconductor manufacturer building a new $1 billion factory near Utica, has started to hire for more positions in both Utica and Albany.
The company has more than 20 jobs posted, including for a facilities operation manager, senior process engineers, equipment technicians, as well as interns. About 80% of staffing in Utica will be engineering and technical jobs.”
Scannell plans to invest up to $255 million in Luther Forest
“Scannell Properties could spend up to $255 million to construct five buildings, bringing an estimated 2,500 jobs to the region, according to plans filed with the town of Malta.
New details of the Indianapolis real estate investor’s plans have emerged after the company confirmed last week that it is negotiating to purchase 245 acres in the Luther Forest Technology Campus near the GlobalFoundries computer chip manufacturing complex.”
Slickfin Brewing plans Fort Edward expansion
“Slickfin Brewing Co. plans to demolish a vacant building next door and create a beer garden where customers can watch movies on a big screen, enjoy fire pits or just enjoy a drink next to the Hudson River.
‘We want to turn our brewery into a destination brewery,” said owner Kris March. “We’re just going to create a really beautiful space for people to bring their families.’”
IBM Research installs expensive chipmaking tool at SUNY Poly for AI research
“IBM Research has installed an expensive new machine at SUNY Poly that could pave the way for the next step of AI development.
The machine is part of the more than $2 billion investment from IBM Research at SUNY Poly and elsewhere to research and develop artificial intelligence technology, according to Mukesh Khare, vice president of hybrid cloud research at IBM Research.”
St. Peter’s opens $8M medical arts center in Clifton Park
“St. Peter’s Medical Arts, an $8 million center providing heart care, vascular care, advanced cardiac imaging and primary care all under one roof officially opened Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The 18,000-square-foot center, operated by St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates, is located at 1735 Route 9.
It’s the second facility in the rapidly growing northern suburb for St. Peter’s, which also has a medical campus at 1 Tallow Wood Drive offering primary, pediatric, obstetric and gynecologic, urologic, diabetes and endocrine care. That center also includes satellite offices of St. Peter’s Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic surgery, and St. Peter’s General Surgery.”
Kirsh Helmets’ new motorcycle helmet heading to store shelves
“A startup that’s designed a safer motorcycle helmet is ready to sell its product.
The half-shell helmet by Kirsh Helmets is making its way to dealers throughout the country beginning this month, said Donnie DeVito, the company’s president and chief operating officer. It’s also available online.”
Etain boosts capacity as Cuomo pushes to legalize recreational marijuana
“Etain LLC and an affiliated real estate development company are seeking tax incentives on a proposed $7 million expansion of their Chestertown medical marijuana growing and processing plant.
Executives believe a 60,000-square-foot addition of manufacturing and greenhouse space will position Etain to grow as Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues pushing for the legalization of recreational marijuana use.”
What businesses need to know about Albany County’s proposed economic development agency
“Albany County — the only county in the Capital Region without a countywide economic development group — is likely to get one by the end of 2020.
The county legislature approved a bill on Monday that would create the Advance Albany County Alliance. The legislature is also considering budgeting $500,000 to fund it, which would be created as a local development corporation. It would be led by Kevin O’Connor — the former CEO of FirstLight Fiber and the Center for Economic Growth — who was hired by the county earlier this year, and modeled off of similar jobs in Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties.”
Albany Airport, GE unveil digital incubator for travel technology during COVID and beyond
“General Electric and Albany International Airport are working together to improve airport operation and traveler experience with digital technology.
The company and the Airport Authority announced their collaboration Thursday, and rolled out the first piece of it: A real-time smartphone readout of the sanitization status of 45 separate traveler contact points across the airport.”
Area hotel occupancy rates rising slowly
“Summer occupancy and room rates at hotels in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area were off from year-ago levels as regulations and hesitancy associated with the coronavirus pandemic lingered.
In June, occupancy at the 150 or so hotels counted locally stood at 32.5 percent, down by more than half from the same month in 2019, according to global hospitality watcher STR. By August, it had improved to 45.9 percent, but was still below the year-ago level of nearly 79 percent of available rooms sold.”
Made in the Capital Region: COVID-19 treatments and vaccines hoping to get to market
“A month or so from now, first responders across the country could be receiving the first batches of a promising COVID-19 vaccine made by drug giant Pfizer that was found to be 90 percent effective protecting against the coronavirus in a clinical trial.
A new COVID-19 antibody drug designed to help people recover from the virus — the same one that President Donald Trump’s doctors gave him during his stay at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in October — could also soon receive emergency federal approval.”
