Prospective first tenant for STAMP withdraws plans for high-tech factory in Genesee County

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2018 at 9:46 am
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Photo by Tom Rivers: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces 1366 Technologies from Bedford, Mass., will build a new factory at STAMP in this photo from Oct. 7, 2015. Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies, is pictured at right sharing in the announcement.

ALABAMA – On Oct. 7, 2015, leaders of 1366 Technologies joined Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Batavia in announcing the company would be the first tenant in the new STAMP high-tech park in the Town of Alabama.

1366 Technologies would spend $700 million and serve as “an anchor tenant” for the park, which is just south of Orleans County. The company would use 105 acres of the 1,250-acre site, leaving plenty of room for other high-tech companies.

The company said it would have 600 full-time employees at the site initially with 1,000 at full build-out. The company would develop and manufacture high performance silicon wafers, the building block of solar cells and the most expensive component of a solar panel.

But on Friday, 1366 Technologies announced it was withdrawing its plans for the site and would build its manufacturing plant in another country.

The company, based in Massachusetts, said the decision was based on delays and uncertainty around a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to a report in The Batavian (Click here).

If the company builds a second plant in the future, 1366 Technologies said it would be very interested in the STAMP site.

The company, with its intention of building at STAMP, helped to advance $33 million in infrastructure at the site, making it more attractive to other developers, Steve Hyde, CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, told The Batavian.

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