Ground was broken Oct. 2 for the $19 million, 35,000-square-foot Southern Tier High Technology Incubator at the corner of Hawley and Carroll streets in downtown Binghamton, and collaboration was the word of the day. With so many partners – at the federal, state, county and city level – “everyone here has had a role in this in some way,” Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said. “This is an extremely complicated project and we’re thankful to all of our partners.”

The facility, a partnership between Binghamton University, the Binghamton University Foundation, New York state, SUNY Broome Community College, Broome County, the City of Binghamton, the federal government and private-sector and industry partners, will provide strategic resources for new businesses, including cutting-edge laboratories, business development services, core user facilities, interns and cooperative educational opportunities, as well as access to technology transfer and commercialization expertise at Binghamton University.

“This incubator is important for Binghamton University, Broome County and the entire region,” said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who recalled standing at the building site on a cold January day two years ago, pledging to push for federal support. “This is truly our future, truly a transformational project, and a red-letter day for not only Binghamton but the entire Southern Tier economy.”

Referring to the American dream of working hard to improve the quality of life for families and their children, Schumer said we need to keep the dream alive, and this incubator does that. “It keeps the dream alive and allows families to grow, thrive and remain in the Southern Tier.”

Though unable to attend the groundbreaking, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was lauded by several speakers for the state’s support of the project through the Regional Economic Development Councils, NYSUNY 2020 and the START-UP NY program.

“We are revitalizing communities across New York by bringing together talent, resources and capacity,” Cuomo said in a news release. “The Southern Tier High Technology Incubator will provide a learning platform for students, research opportunities for higher education, and gives businesses the infrastructure and resources they need to continue investing in New York.”

Calling Binghamton University and SUNY Broome Community College the region’s two greatest assets, state Sen. Thomas Libous termed the incubator a career creator. “This beautiful building is going to create careers and that’s what we want to do,” he said. “We want people to establish themselves. These new companies will spin off and grow and establish careers, not just jobs, so that people can raise a family and have the wherewithal to buy homes and to provide for their families.”

Collaboration at all levels was the key to achieving this shared goal, said Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo. “We all have shared the dream and goal for this place, and the types of collaboration it took to get us to this point is very, very impressive,” she said. “People look to us now for how to do this type of collaboration, and this will foster the entrepreneurial spirit that helped this community grow in the first place. The potential is limitless.”

State Assemblyman Clifford Crouch, SUNY Broome President Kevin Drumm, Broome County Executive Debra Preston and Binghamton Mayor Richard David also spoke. Crouch spoke of the value of the partnership between Binghamton University and SUNY Broome and Drumm highlighted the SUNY Broome Bridge to Entrepreneurial Excellence student incubator (SUNY-BEE) that will allow students to generate great ideas and develop businesses. Preston spoke of the valley of innovation that is Broome County, and David talked of the revitalization of downtown Binghamton and beyond.

With 12 suites for new high-technology companies, the building will serve as an incubator for START-UP NY-approved companies. Five companies are already approved for the program and are being housed at the Binghamton University campus until the incubator is completed in fall 2016. The facility will also include 18 laboratories and a shared high bay space dedicated to research in health sciences, energy-efficient technologies, and systems integration and packaging. The recently approved SUNY-BEE program will be housed on the building’s third floor.

Funding has been provided through the Regional Economic Development Council awarded to Binghamton University, a NYSUNY 2020 grant awarded to SUNY Broome, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Broome County Industrial Development Agency and the SUNY Research Foundation. In-kind contributions have come from Binghamton University, SUNY Broome, Broome County, the City of Binghamton and industry partners.

The incubator will enable between more than 900 jobs over a nine-year period, with an estimated 250 jobs created in the first three years alone.

During construction of the building, which is being built to a minimum LEED Silver certification level for energy efficiency and conservation, the project will support over 220 jobs and have a direct economic impact of $25.1 million on the Broome and Tioga county economies. Following completion of construction in fall 2016, the facility is expected to generate over $6 million in economic impact annually to the local economy.

The building design has been completed by Ashley McGraw Architects.: Matthew Broderick, partner in charge; Fouad Dietz, project manager; and Jason Evans, project designer.