Tagged: louise slaughter

Solar firm Natcore Technology cut the ribbon on its new R&D center at Eastman Business Park Friday.

The official opening of the million-dollar clean room consolidates Natcore's R&D work in Rochester.

But getting funding for a solar manufacturing line remains a challenge.

Buffalo-based CUBRC could earn $67 million for work on the behalf of the federal government.

Through a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), CUBRC will investigate potential medical treatments for a handful of conditions that currently have no cure.

"Our country, and frankly our world at large, face a growing threat," says Anne Radcliff, director of biological & medical sciences at CUBRC. "That's a threat from deadly infections for which treatments are nonexistent or inadequate. These diseases could be caused by either man made threats, in the case of biological weapons, or emerge naturally."

One of the tasks of the HHS is to fill the gaps in the government's response to possible medical scenarios.

Rep. Louise Slaughter dropped by Kodak's Eastman Business Park today to pull back the veil on efforts to bring a New Jersey solar company to Rochester.

It almost entirely depends on Kodak landing an $8 million federal grant from the Department of Energy (DOE), but if everything works out, the potential impact would be big.

Natcore CEO Chuck Provini says his company's solar cell manufacturing line in Rochester would create between 2,000 and 4,000 direct and indirect jobs within a couple of years.

But, again, that's if everything works out.

When the U.S. Senate omnibus spending bill was pulled last week, more than 6,700 earmarks from across the country failed to receive funding. Included in that package was $3.6 million for the University at Buffalo, to purchase a high-tech research tool called a cyclotron.

But now UB will have to plot a new course for a research initiative that officials were counting on.

In one of his last appearances as president of UB, John Simpson hailed the cyclotron funding as a game-changer in October.

Rochester is having its high-speed rail hearing tonight. It's the latest in a series of public meetings that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has been putting on around the state.

The content of the meeting will probably be the same. It's the context that's changed.

Since last week's midterm elections, high-speed rail funding has become a point of political contention.

A $4.6 million line item that would provide funds for the University at Buffalo to buy a new piece of medical research equipment is currently sitting in a Congressional bill.  Despite the fact the bill has yet to come to a vote, UB officials are already using the promise of the money as a promotional tool.

Rep. Louise Slaughter was in Rochester today to announce that the local Amtrak station was getting some federal money for upgrades ($1.5 million, to be precise). But the bigger news out of today's press conference was that more than $28 million in federal grants will be going to three upstate projects. Today's big rail winner: the Syracuse area. Say hello to $18 million for track and signal improvements.

Albany and Poughkeepsie also got in on this batch of Federal Rail Administration (FRA) funding. Almost $8 million is pegged for signal improvements around Poughkeepsie. In Albany, $2 million is going toward the early stages of replacing a 144-year-old bridge that spans the Hudson.