New York State is investing $20 million to support the next phase of the federally-sponsored NextFlex initiative, dedicated to developing flexible and additive hybrid electronics devices. The State is providing a second round of funding to the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, on behalf of Binghamton University – the New York Node of the NextFlex nationwide consortium. This program brings companies of all sizes together with universities to develop critical new technologies, supply chains, and manufacturing infrastructure, and to train the skilled workforce needed to help Upstate New York grow its high-technology manufacturing base. Empire State Development is providing the funding to support this forward-thinking initiative through the Southern Tier Soaring Upstate Revitalization Initiative.
NextFlex Phase II will work to provide state-of-the-art solutions for healthcare concerns, energy generation, and aviation. The total project cost has been placed at $45 million, supported by New York state’s $20 million investment, $20 million from the federal government, and $5 million in private investment from NextFlex members. In 2016, ESD invested $20 million in NextFlex Phase I, which supported the Department of Defense’s launch of NextFlex. Phase I focused on the development of flexible and printed electronics in the U.S.
The NextFlex consortium is comprised of nearly 100 American electronics companies and academic institutions and partnerships with dozens of other non-profits, state, local and federal government entities with the shared goal of advancing U.S. manufacturing of printed flexible and additive electronics. Since its formation in 2015, the NextFlex community of technologists, educators, problem solvers, and manufacturers have come together to collectively facilitate FHE innovation, narrow the advanced manufacturing workforce gap, and promote sustainable electronics manufacturing ecosystems.
“New York State continues to lead the way in creating the jobs of the future, investing in industries from scientific research to software development,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “Initiatives like NextFlex are spurring further development in growing sectors like these to create the high-tech jobs needed to support New York’s economy for future generations.”
Binghamton University is dedicated to developing the technologies of tomorrow. In September 2022, Governor Hochul announced that the university would be receiving a combined investment of nearly $114 million to support the creation of Battery-NY, a cutting-edge technology development, manufacturing, and commercialization energy storage hub. Binghamton University was selected by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration to receive $63.7 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge, a national competition that is providing transformative investments to develop and strengthen regional industry clusters across the country, that also enhance economic equity, create good-paying jobs, and further the United States’ global competitiveness. Binghamton University was one of 21 chosen out of more than 500 applications originally which were then narrowed to sixty applicants in the final round of the challenge.
Recently, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced that the university’s New Energy New York project won the prestigious federal Tech Hub designation, which he created in the CHIPS & Science Act, accelerating the Southern Tier’s emergence as America’s next battery tech hub. Additionally, the project advanced to the final round in the $160 million National Science Foundation’s Regional “Innovation Engines” competition which aims to program catalyze and foster innovation ecosystems across the United States, ensuring the U.S. remains globally competitive in key technology areas for decades to come.
