Week in Review: May 3 – May 7, 2021

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CEG IN THE NEWS

IBM elicits praise, celebration locally after 2nm chip breakthrough

REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Study: Columbia County ranked among best for small business

“Columbia County has been ranked one of the top areas in New York state for small business owners.

Financial technology company SmartAsset recently released a study measuring the small business presence in each county in the United States. The study looked at factors such as the number of small businesses per capita in each county and the amount of small business revenue generated in each county.”

Plug Power leases office space near Albany International Airport following acquisitions

“Plug Power is leasing an additional 51,000 square feet of office space in Latham after the fuel cell maker increased its headcount by 427 people last year.

Plug signed a long-term lease at 8 British American Blvd. with Dan O’Brien, owner and broker with NAI Platform. O’Brien and 8 BA Blvd LLC purchased the building for $3.55 million in March, according to a deed filed with the Albany County clerk’s office.”

Telemedicine startups AptiHealth, UCM Digital Health, UTM Healthcare and ZephyRx are growing

“It’s been a big year for telemedicine companies.

Most areas of health care were forced to use telemedicine during the pandemic and that’s opened a window of opportunities as patients have realized they appreciate the convenience.”

IBM makes another major chip breakthrough in Albany

“Four years ago, IBM surprised the semiconductor industry by unveiling the world’s first 5 nanometer computer chip developed at its clean room lab at Albany Nanotech on Fuller Road, the most advanced chip technology ever developed at the time.

On Thursday, IBM is making public yet another major breakthrough that demonstrates it remains at the vanguard of computer chip invention – the creation of the first working 2nm chip – with 50 billion transistors crammed onto a silicon chip the size of a fingernail.”

National photonics institute in Albany hoping for second round of funding

“The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics, or AIM Photonics, a $600 million national semiconductor manufacturing program located in Albany and Rochester, appears to be on the cusp of lining up another round of government funding that could sustain it for the rest of the decade.

AIM Photonics, which develops computer chip technology that is powered by lasers instead of electrons, was first announced in 2015 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then-Vice President Joe Biden.”

GE awarded $36 million to create ‘smart’ military warehouses

“General Electric’s global research center has been awarded $36 million from the Department of Defense to create “smart” warehouses at military bases in San Diego, Calif. and Albany, Ga. that will use 5G data networks, robots and digital replicas of the facilities to speed up the deployment of supplies to military missions.

GE Research, which operates a 5G test network installed by Verizon at its Niskayuna campus, says the 5G-enabled warehouses will fulfill orders that used to take days or weeks in  less than 24 hours. 5G networks are ten times faster than the 4G networks in use today by the majority of businesses and cell phone carriers.”

UAlbany startup SupraMEtric developing analyzation tech for body fluids at crime scenes

“A chemistry professor at the University at Albany is creating a laser-based tech platform meant to help law enforcement more easily analyze crime scenes.

Through his startup SupraMEtric, Igor Lednev is working on a system that can help determine the origin of biological stains.”