Buffalo Billion
Buffalo Billion is a New York state government project led by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo that aims to invest $1 billion in the Buffalo, New York area economy.[1] The project uses a combination of state grants and tax breaks to spur economic development.[2] Governor Cuomo first announced program in his 2012 "State of the State". The program is modeled on a similar program implemented in the Albany, New York area. A key project in the program is a $750 million SolarCity solar panel factory. The chairman of SolarCity is Elon Musk, the co-founder of Paypal and the CEO of Tesla Motors.[3]
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Buffalo is a city known for snow. It is not the first place one would think to build a solar panel factory. But the city will soon be the home of the largest such manufacturing facility in the Western Hemisphere, according to SolarCity, the San Mateo, Calif.-based company that is set to begin moving into the complex later this year.
July 16, 2015[4]
An example of projects developing under Buffalo Billion include:[2]
- Solar panel factories
- A solar panel array at a former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna built by BQ Energy, a renewable energy development company
- A data and customer service center for Yahoo!
Contents
Development projects
| Name | Funds from Buffalo Billion | Project | Completion date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SolarCity solar panel factory | $750 million | Solar panel factory | Summer 2017 |
| Buffalo High Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend | $225 million | Facility to host clean energy businesses | 2015 |
| Buffalo Medical Innovation and Commercialization Hub | $50 million | Biomedical research equipment and facilities center | 2015 |
| Genomic research partnership | $50 million | Partnership between the University at Buffalo and the New York Genome Center in Manhattan. Goal is to use genomic medical research to find new ways to treat, prevent, and manage serious diseases. | Unknown |
| Workforce training and development | Approximately $10 million | Train new workers going into manufacturing jobs | "2015 and beyond" |
| Buffalo Niagara Institute for Advanced Manufacturing Competitiveness | "Unspecified, but likely to be “tens of millions” of dollars. The state has spent $8 million to buy a temporary site and is paying $800,000 to the facility’s operator." | Institute to help local manufacturing companies create new products | Spring 2014 |
| Downtown Niagara Falls development challenge | $20 million | Revitalize downtown Niagara Falls | Ongoing from 2014-2019 |
| Robert Moses Parkway removal | $11.5 million | "Remove a roughly one-mile stretch of the Robert Moses Parkway along the upper rapids of the Niagara River as part of a bid to bolster Niagara Falls as a tourist destination and remove a barrier between the waterfront and downtown Niagara Falls" | Spring 2016 |
| Daemen College/ Empire Visual Effects | $4.5 million | Create a visual effects industry in Buffalo | Unspecified |
| Rainbow Centre Mall | Unknown | Fill the empty mall with businesses | Unknown |
SolarCity
SolarCity is the largest rooftop solar installer in the United States,[2] headquartered in San Mateo, California.[4] Under Buffalo Billion, SolarCity received $750 million in incentives in exchange for building a factory. According to The New York Times, after the factory is complete, SolarCity will create 1,500 new jobs on site; an additional 1,500 new jobs are expected to be created among suppliers in the area.[2]
| Component | Number |
|---|---|
| Acres | 88 |
| Building size (sq. ft.) | 1,200,000 |
| Project schedule (months) | 18 |
| Buffalo Billion incentives | $750,000,000 |
In mid-May 2016, the New York legislature had planned to take a vote on a measure that would have given an extra $500 million to the SolarCity project. However, legislators pulled back the vote. The New York Times wrote that legislators “hinted they would exercise more oversight of the governor’s banner economic initiative.”[7]
Controversy
The federal government is investigating the distribution of Buffalo Billion project money and contracts. The office of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, is leading the investigation. As of May 2016, Bharara’s investigation has not led to criminal charges against any individuals.[7]
A handful of people connected closely to each other have dominated the process of planning, building and promoting the majority of Buffalo Billion’s projects. Some include developers who have contributed to Governor Cuomo’s campaign. The New York Times wrote on May 24, 2016:[7]
“…federal investigators’ interest seems to lie less with whether the people of Buffalo will ultimately benefit than with those who already have: a tangle of well-connected players — including developers and frequent donors to the governor — who have feasted on Buffalo Billion money.”
One of these players is LPCiminelli, a prominent developer.[7]
LPCiminelli
In November 2013, the CEO LPCiminelli, Louis P. Ciminelli, hosted a fundraiser for Cuomo three weeks before submitting his company’s bid to the Buffalo Billion program. According to the New York Times:[7]
“… the state’s request for proposals was worded in a way that appeared to exclude all bidders except the eventual winner, LPCiminelli. State officials later said that was the result of a “typographical error.” LPCiminelli is a prominent builder in the city whose chief executive, Louis P. Ciminelli, has generously supported Mr. Cuomo: Mr. Ciminelli and his associates and relatives have given nearly $150,000 to his campaigns over the years.”
Ciminelli personally contributed $96,500 to Cuomo's gubernatorial campaigns.[3]
In late 2014, Cuomo increased the state’s pledge to the SolarCity construction project from $225 million to $750 million. Bharara’s office has issued LPCiminelli a subpoena in the investigation, but LPCiminelli not the target of the investigation.[7]
Empire State Development Corporation
Federal prosecutors are investigating the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD); specifically, how ESD chose companies to give award fund to for the Buffalo Billion project. The U.S. Attorney's office asked ESD to assist it by providing documentation. To aid in that process, ESD has hired a Washington, D.C. law firm at the rate of $800 per hour. WGRZ asked the U.S. Attorney Bharara to comment about the case, but Bharara declined.[8]
McGuire Development and SUNY Polytechnic University
McGuire Development, which was awarded contracts to build a technology hub, donated $25,000 to Cuomo's campaigns. However, Cuomo's office said that the State University of New York (SUNY) and its non-profit was in charge of the bidding process, and the governor's office did not play a role.[3]
The head of SUNY Polytechnic University, Alain Kaloyeros, is a point person for Buffalo Billion. On May 4, 2016, media reported that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been investigating Kaloyeros in a possible alleged "bid-rigging" violation related to the development of a dorm constructed at SUNY Polytechnic. One developer (Columbia) submitted a bid for the dormitory. Both Kaloyeros and Columbia have close ties with Governor Andrew Cuomo; Kaloyeros has served as an advisor and Columbia has contributed a substantial sum of campaign money.[9]
References
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