Tech Jobs For Greene County

By Susan Campriello
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

LEEDS, 04/20/10 - An assembly of business, municipal and education leaders from Greene and Columbia counties as well as from Berkshire County in Massachusetts heard Monday how Greene County is positioned well to reap the benefits of the fabricator Global Foundries in the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County.

Greene County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Sandy Mathes, who emceed the Destination Greene Destination Greene Business Event at Anthony’s Banquet Hall in Leeds Monday morning, said Greene County is located at the heart of the Tech Valley with the campus one hour north and IBM’s campus one hour south in East Fishkill.

State Senator James L. Seward, R-Oneonta, who spoke at the event, said the state has already committed $1.4 billion for the facility, which has already begun to benefit the region.

The construction jobs associated with the campus have given the regional economy a boost, he said, as will the future jobs that will open as the facility comes online in 2012 and reaches full volume production the following year.

“What happens in the rest of the region is equally, if not more, important than what happens on the site itself and that is our opportunity here in Greene County,” he said.

Seward said the county has the infrastructure necessary for new businesses and is a “shovel ready” county.

He said New York can lead the rest of the country into recovery from the economic downturn and the county can lead the rest of the state.

“Greene gets it,” he said.

The complete story is on-line at The Daily Mail.