Schumer promotes Rochester/Finger Lakes as tech powerhouse at Canandaigua facility
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Rob Kirchner, production manager for the test and trimming area at Akoustis Technologies, works in a clean room at the Canandaigua plant.
Julie Sherwood, MPNnow
CANANDAIGUA - US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing $ 52 billion in science and technology investments that make up the Rochester / Finger Lakes region, with assets including the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology and Akoustis Technologies in Canandaigua.
Schumer was on Wednesday at Akoustis, a semiconductor manufacturing facility on Campus Drive, with local business development executives.
"The Senator's vision is to make New York a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing, and we wholeheartedly support that goal," said Jeff Shealy, CEO of Akoustis.
"This legislation will provide the US semiconductor industry, which is vital to our major industries, with the support it needs for infrastructure and our national defense."
The US Innovation and Competition Act, due to be voted on next week, would dramatically increase investment in domestic advanced manufacturing and research and development. The funds would target strategically important technologies such as semiconductors and build regional technology centers across the country. The Senator said the Rochester / Finger Lakes should be one of those junctions.
A recent study by economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked Rochester, New York, as the leading region in the country for technological and economic growth. The study's authors, Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson of MIT, advocated the creation of a bold new federal investment in science and technology that legislation, according to Schumer, would create.
Shealy pointed to a six-inch silicon wafer displayed next to the podium and explained what was going on at Akoustis. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company bought the 120,000-square-foot facility in 2017 that previously housed the SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Smart Systems Technology & Commercialization Center.
The silicon wafer, a building block for semiconductors, is indispensable in all types of electronic devices. Shealy said the products are essential in 5G smartphones as well as in networks and Wi-Fi connected devices in infrastructure such as routers as well as radar systems.
Akoustis Technologies has a patented XBAW filter that is used for cellular and network infrastructure as well as for Wi-Fi networks and in defensive radars.
“When we bought this facility four years ago, we made a commitment to invest in this facility and in some pretty well-paying jobs. I'm proud to say we made that commitment, ”said Shealy. He cited investing over $ 40 million in upgrades and new equipment in the building, more than doubling the original workforce, and creating more jobs in the coming months to implement round-the-clock shifts.
The company announced on Wednesday that it currently has 130 employees and plans to hire more than 60 additional people at the Canandaigua site.
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