The 2016-17 state budget, which lawmakers agreed to Thursday but has yet to pass the state Assembly and Senate, has some good financial news for the nanocenter center site at SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, and state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, announced Friday that $585 million in state funding for the city has been included in the budget. That amount is an increase from the $200 million that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in August, announced would be coming to the site.

“The state has teamed up with private industry for a project that will make our region a national center for research and commercialization in the field,” Brindisi said in a news release. “Many have called the Marcy nanocenter site the best of its kind in New York State and it was the vision and continuing strong interest of many state and local officials – especially Gov. Cuomo – that is making this long dreamed about project a reality.”

Site preparation has taken place on the SUNY Poly site where Austria-based AMS will open a chip fabrication plant. A three-story, 360,000- to 450,000-square-foot 300 mm wafer fabrication facility will begin to take shape this spring along with a two-story, 100,000-square-foot administration facility.

The company will invest $2 billion in the first phase of the project and expects to employ about 1,500 people. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, GE is making a $150 million investment at the Computer Chip Commercialization Center, commonly known as Quad-C. The company expects to be in full-scale production there in 2017 and to employ 470 people at that time. Another 450 jobs are expected over the next 10 years.

“None of this will happen overnight, but by investing in public-private partnerships like the Marcy nanocenter project, we show that Central New York is a welcoming region for new industries,” Griffo said in the release. “By fostering the kind of environment where businesses can expand and bring jobs, we are in the best position to sustain our momentum toward even greater opportunity, prosperity and growth.”

In a statement, SUNY Poly President and CEO Alain Kaloyeros said that the “unprecedented funding will further cement New York’s global high-tech leadership, seed thousands of good paying and sustainable jobs in our communities, and expand the state’s nano-corridor to the North Country and Dunkirk.”

“From Riverbend, photonics, Nano Utica, the movie hub, and our Albany megaplex, the governor’s vision for innovation-driven economic development and job creation continues to deliver for New York,” Kaloyeros said.

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