I wanted to share with you an article from the Mayville Sentinel News:

We are a region blessed with a diverse manufacturing base. We have a long history of making things in Chautauqua County. Building on that tradition, Governor Cuomo has brought forth a project that will have the residents of our great county manufacturing drugs that help in the fight against cancer. Governor Cuomo has brought a welcomed economic game changer to Chautauqua County in the form of a high tech pharmaceutical manufacturing firm to Dunkirk. This project will have a positive effect on the entire region. Athenex, a worldwide manufacturer of drugs used to treat cancer, will build a 300,000 square foot plant and will hire 900 people in Chautauqua County! This is an extraordinary development!

Chautauqua County has been watching with excitement the rebirth of Buffalo. This is a rebirth has been spurred by a strong collective vision backed by investment through the Buffalo Billion program designated by the Governor several years ago as well as significant private investment. The investments in Buffalo have been good for the entire region. These investments have also changed the attitude of a region that has had its share of economic challenges. We are catching our stride and there is a greater sense of hope and optimism throughout the region. The Governor's laser focus on the Western New York economy and a tail wind of positive momentum will now bring new high tech manufacturing jobs directly into the Dunkirk community.

Dr. Johnson Lau, Athenex Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman, said the Governor's "bold agenda" combined with his "human side, touched by the impact of cancer in his own family," was a powerful combination of forces that drew his company to Western New York. Athenex will have its American headquarters in the new Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, created through the Buffalo Billion. That facility will create 500 jobs, while the manufacturing plant in Dunkirk will create another 900 jobs. That's a total of 1,400 jobs for what the Governor admitted was a formerly largely forgotten corner of New York State.

Created in partnership with SUNY Polytechnic Institute, the Athenex facility will produce what is being described as some of the most advanced cancer medications anywhere in the world. Not only is this a job development initiative, it is also a potential life-saver for hundreds of thousands of cancer patients.

The company will invest $1.6-billion into the Western New York development, and the Governor has committed $200-million in state funding to match the private investment. Both Senator Cathy Young and Assemblyman Andrew Goodell have pledged to do all they can to usher that budget item through to completion this spring, and the Governor said he will not sign a budget bill that does not contain the $200-million allocation.

READ MORE

February 18, 2016

By Todd J. Tranum - President & CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce & Executive Director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier, Westfield Republican