Empire State Today

Standing at Renaissance Commerce Park, the former Bethlehem Steel site, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today revealed new federal legislation, the ONSHORE Act, to create critical new federal investment to breathe new life into industrial sites across Upstate New York and bring good-paying manufacturing jobs back from overseas to places like Western NY. Schumer said that this new bipartisan bill will help provide much-needed federal support with major site-readiness and workforce development America needs to onshore critical industries like semiconductors, clean energy, and their supply chains, being spurred from the CHIPS & Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act. Schumer explained that sites like Renaissance Commerce Park are primed to take advantage of this game-changing new program proposed by the ONSHORE ACT and said that with this boost in federal investment, Buffalo and Western New York can lead the charge in reviving American manufacturing.

“The ONSHORE Act is a vital piece of legislation that, when combined with the historic investment for domestic manufacturing I passed into law in the CHIPS & Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, will help bring manufacturing back from overseas to Upstate New York, and in the process create thousands of good-paying jobs for New Yorkers. By developing shovel ready sites for new factories at places like the former Bethlehem Steel location in Western New York, we are tapping New York’s manufacturing legacy from the last century to ensure New York powers the revival of American manufacturing and critical industries like chips and clean energy are Made in America, including right here in Upstate New York,” said Senator Schumer. “This is about leveraging Buffalo’s rich manufacturing past to ensure that sites like Renaissance Commerce Park have the federal resources to become the sites for the industries of Western New York’s and America’s future. The ONSHORE Act will build on the historic new investments and manufacturing boom that Upstate NY is already seeing from the bills I pushed through into law last Congress, and I will fight tooth and nail to lead the ONSHORE Act to passage in my role as Majority Leader to continue to deliver federal investment in manufacturing across Upstate NY.”

“On behalf of all Erie County residents, I want to thank Senator Schumer for his leadership and support on this bipartisan initiative,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “The ONSHORE Act would further boost the federal, state, and local economic development tools driving our region’s resurgence. Our community has lived through the devastating effects of off-shoring and deindustrialization, and there is no better place to showcase smart, strategic reinvestment than Renaissance Commerce Park.”

“Our thanks to Sen. Schumer for championing the ONSHORE Act federal grant program, which will provide more vital resources to aid the redevelopment of industrial lands throughout New York State as shovel-ready sites for new in-demand industries,” said City of Lackawanna Mayor Annette Iafallo. “The power of collective government support in aiding industrial land redevelopment is successfully illustrated in the ongoing efforts to transform the former Bethlehem Steel Plant site into Renaissance Commerce Park – which is starting to generate new tax revenues and job opportunities for the Lackawanna community. Based on this early success, we encourage extension of this support model for the benefit of other industrial communities throughout the state.”

"The ONSHORE Act will kick the burgeoning development at Renaissance Commerce Park into overdrive,” said Senator Timothy M. Kennedy. “What was once a symbol of Western New York's long-gone past is becoming an integral part of our region and state's economic future. As we work on strengthening our supply chains and grow our economy, the ONSHORE Act will play a critical role in attracting new employers to the region. Thank you to Senator Schumer for always having Western New York's needs at the front of his mind."

“The success of Renaissance Commerce Park and the growth momentum we are seeing now did not happen overnight. It took a great public-private partnership more than ten years to develop these build-ready parcels, which is now paying dividends with over $90 million in private investment and hundreds of quality light manufacturing and warehouse/distribution jobs. The Onshore Legislation is critical to funding and accelerating the transformation of former heavy industrial sites like Renaissance Commerce Park into modern, thriving commerce parks that create economic growth and high-paying jobs for our region,” said ECIDA President and CEO John Cappellino.

Schumer explained that strengthening domestic manufacturing, especially for industries of the future, is critical for economic and national security. Following the passage of Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, companies from across industries have shown a renewed interest in bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. and rebuilding their supply chains in America, presenting a significant opportunity to revive manufacturing in Upstate New York. However, one of the primary factors that affects where a new manufacturing facility is built is site-readiness, or whether a site has the basic infrastructure and workforce to enable a company to quickly begin construction on a facility and hire enough qualified workers to begin operations. Schumer explained that investment in the site readiness of New York industrial locations will further position the state to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity we currently have to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and build resilient and robust supply chains right here at home.

Schumer said the Opportunities for Non-developed Sites to Have Opportunities to be Rehabilitated for Economic Development (ONSHORE) Act would provide much-needed federal support to preparing sites for this new manufacturing investment. Specifically, the new federal legislation would provide $100 million per year for 5 years in dedicated funding for a Critical Supply Chain Site Development Grant Program within the Economic Development Administration (EDA). Through this program, EDA would provide assistance for site and utility readiness, workforce development, distribution, and logistics, to prepare strategic mega sites and regionally impactful sites across places like Upstate NY for new industrial investment. Western New York would be able to tap these resources to prepare strategic sites, like Renaissance Commerce Park and others to be market-ready and able to rapidly scale to begin construction of new domestic manufacturing facilities, better positioning the U.S. to compete against international competitors like China and the European Union and ensuring more critical products are made in America.

Schumer said Western New York is uniquely positioned for this kind of federal investment, given the region's legacy manufacturing sites and workforce, as well as the region’s universities, and current manufacturing base that make it a prime location to onshore critical industries. In addition to Bethlehem Steel’s transformation into the now booming Renaissance Commerce Park, Schumer said there are countless other examples across Upstate New York that with an increased investment into shovel ready sites and workforce development, could attract major manufacturing companies. The successful attraction of major new manufacturing investment to Western New York’s STAMP, including Edwards Vacuum’s over $300 million, 600 job investment and Plug’s green hydrogen production facility, the largest in North America. As another proof positive example of site development leading to major investment, Micron announced an historic $100 billion investment to build a cutting-edge memory fab in Central New York, after years of site preparation at the White Pine Commerce Park in Clay, NY positioned the region to compete for and be home to an industrial project of this size and significance.

Schumer has been the leading champion of bringing manufacturing back to America and Upstate New York in particular. In addition to the major new federal incentives to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America, Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act that he created and led to passage as Majority Leader, for example, includes a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub (“Tech Hubs”) Program that allows Upstate communities like Buffalo to compete for planning grants and flexible implementation investment that would position the region as a global center in innovation. Schumer said that the Tech Hubs program, just like the ONSHORE Act, is about ensuring America’s future is being built in the places that helped build our nation, breathing new life into America’s legacy as a manufacturing and innovation powerhouse, and creating thousands of good-paying jobs that will sustain communities for generations to come.

Schumer said that Bethlehem Steel, a steel plate production plate plant, took off during WWII and its prosperity lasted throughout the 1970’s, at one point employing more than 35,000 workers at its plant located just south of Buffalo, NY. Similar to American Axle, it acted as a “walk to work, earn a fair living at the factory” sort of hub. At its height, the Bethlehem Steel site was one of the largest steel mills in the world. The plant officially shut down operations in 1983, and many of the structures on its 1,000-acre site sat empty and abandoned for decades, serving as a painful reminder of the countless jobs that Western NY lost to overseas.

Redevelopment appeared unlikely due to environmental remediation and economic factors, but the relic of Bethlehem Steel officially began its transformation into what is now known as Renaissance Commerce Park in 2017, when Erie County and the Industrial Land Development Corporation signed a purchase agreement for 140-acres along Route 5. A preliminary infrastructure masterplan, remediation, and preparation efforts for Renaissance Commerce Park got underway, including gathering public input, coordinating with the Department of Environmental Conservation, outreach to interested businesses and working with all parties to bring the site to a development-ready state. In 2019, local "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser" manufacturer TMP Technologies signed a purchase agreement to become the first business at what would now be called Renaissance Commerce Park. TMP broke ground on its new $22 million, 290,000 square foot manufacturing facility in 2019 and celebrated the ribbon cutting on their new facility, now home to more than 130 workers, in May of 2022. Renaissance Commerce Park’s second tenant, Uniland Development, broke ground on 8 Dona Street, a 150,000 square foot, $14.5 million manufacturing/warehouse spec building in October 2021, and celebrated their ribbon cutting in March 2023. Schumer said there is still much room for growth though at Renaissance Commerce Park, and the investments Erie County has already made to successfully revitalize the site demonstrates how critical legislation like this can be to helping both this site and others like it grow with new industry.

The ONSHORE Act would provide targeted federal investment to further advance the development and success of the Renaissance Commerce Park, as well as to help replicate the redevelopment model of the Park across other industrial sites across Upstate New York.

Original source can be found here.