It's understandable that patience would wear thin when it comes to the Computer Chip Commercialization Center at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy. The process is long and tedious. And frustrating. Skepticism is growing. Patience and optimism are needed.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"] Observer-Dispatch | A 26,000 square foot cleanroom that's part of the Quad-C project at SUNY Poly in Marcy.[/caption]

Posted Jun. 2, 2015 at 3:30 AM Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s understandable that patience would wear thin when it comes to the Computer Chip Commercialization Center at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy. The process is long and tedious. And frustrating.

-- A job fair in April 2014 wasn’t followed by the anticipated hiring.

-- The facility was supposed to have been completed late last year, but it was delayed when officials said in January it would be expanded.

-- In sort of a Who’s-on-First scenario, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in the fall of 2013 that Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions Inc. would be moving in. Then in February, another expansion was announced and officials said Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions still was involved but another tenant would take the lead role.

-- That anchor tenant has not yet been publicly disclosed. Leaders are playing their cards close to the vest. Last week, Robert Geer, SUNY Poly’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, would only say that “it is all moving the way it was planned,” and that the governor will announce the tenant. It is not clear when that will be.

Skepticism is growing.

Patience and optimism are needed.

The magnitude of this project cannot be overstated. Quad-C is like nothing this region has ever seen before. The technology utilized in the nearly 300,000-square-foot facility is mind boggling. In short, this is a long, deliberate process that we cannot simply wish into existence.

“If you look at the example of Albany, it took many years for it to get up and running,” Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, said last week following a tour of the facility with the O-D editorial board. “The state in my lifetime has never made this kind of investment in this area.”

Brindisi is right. Quad-C is moving forward. The expansion that caused the delay in opening was a good thing because it increased the initial investment for the structure alone from $125 million to as much as $250 million or more. Total public and private investment in Quad-C, including the expensive tools used in chip making, has been pegged at $1.5 billion.

As for jobs, 1,500 had been anticipated. That total is now nearing 2,000.

And that doesn’t count the jobs sought in a Sunday newspaper ad. An advertisement appearing in the O-D stated that SUNY Poly, in partnership with Fort Schuyler Management Corp., was recruiting candidates for “a large number of immediate openings” at Quad-C. Positions sought are diverse: engineers, project managers, electrical and HVAC technicians, building management, environmental health and safety professionals, information technology technicians, security officers and many others. Visit www.sunycnse.com/Careers.aspx for a complete listing.

Geer said the jobs are separate from those from the April 2014 job fair. Most will be with SUNY, as opposed to the major tenant moving in, he said.

Waiting for good things can be frustrating — especially when it’s something that has the potential to change economic life in the Mohawk Valley like never before.

“I understand people are impatient,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, who also took the tour last week. “They don’t want to see their kids move even as far as Albany, and certainly not California, Florida or Texas. They want them to stay here.”

That day is coming. Don’t give up now.