Mark DiOrio / Observer-Dispatch - Michael A. Candella has owned Candella's Farm & Greenhouses with his wife Florence Candella since 1978 when they took it over from Frank and Rose Candella, parents of Michael A. Candella, Apr. 28, 2016 in Marcy, N.Y. Candella makes his way through one of his greenhouses and checks on some of the hanging baskets. The Candellas have seen many changes happen along Route 49 over the decades including the construction of the New York State Thruway and Interstate 790.

MARCY

The road to the current nanotechnology boom in the town of Marcy might have been paved by an early 19th-century glass factory and other industries, all of which no longer exist.

While some in the area are slow to jump on the “Tech Valley” train, others are optimistic the train will gain momentum.

“It might take a few years,” Florence Candella said, “but nano is going to turn everything around.”

Florence and her husband, Michael Candella Sr., have owned the greenhouse on Route 49 in Marcy since 1978 when they took it over from Michael’s parents, Frank and Rose Candella, who lived in the house there since 1939. Frank and Rose first moved to Marcy in 1919, the family said.

While thinking about the past, the Candellas said they are looking toward the future and wonder what the anticipated nano boom will bring. Right now, the major employers in the town are the state prisons — Marcy and Midstate.

On April 20, ground was broken at SUNY Polytechnic Institute on a 360,000-square-foot semiconductor chip fabrication plant that will be home to Austria-based AMS. Soon, a three-story, wafer fabrication facility and a two-story, 100,000-square-foot administration building will rise.

READ MORE

Jolene Cleaver | April 29, 2016