Emerging businesses attracted to Binghamton

There are few places more breathtaking than autumn in upstate New York. When you plan your visit, reserve some time to explore the advantages of working and living in our little part of the world. If you drive a mere three hours west of New York City, northwest through Scranton and then on to Binghamton you will find a place very convenient for combining working and living. Binghamton is a haven for high technology. We rank-along with San Jose, Cambridge, and Austin- among the most highly concentrated centers for innovation in the U.S. We have strong clusters in aerospace, software, advanced manufacturing, communications, simulation, distribution and the services. We are home to household name companies like Lockheed Martin, Gannett, Rockwell Collins, Frito Lay, L3 Communications and BAE Systems. My agency, the Broome County IDA, owns and operates a 600 acre mixed-use corporate park just outside Binghamton. Maines Paper & Food Service, one of the largest food service distributors in the country, is near completion of an 82,000 s/f distribution center for Darden Restaurants located in the park. Darden is the leading casual dining restaurant company in the U.S. with 1,400 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones, and Seasons 52 Restaurants. Soon, Maines will begin construction on a nearly 80,000 s/f addition to its corporate headquarters also located in the park. This enhancement will give the company much-needed refrigeration and storage space. These projects will make it easier for Maines to serve clients in the major population centers of the northeast. This summer, FedEx Ground announced it would construct a 62,000 s/f package distribution center further down the road in the Broome County IDA's corporate park. The facility is in the early stages of construction and expected to employ about 90 people both full and part-time. We are also proud to report that two companies, Microdyne Outsourcing and Diversified Information Technologies, have recently assumed space in the Edwin A. Link Building, a 428,000 s/f technology center located just outside Binghamton and owned by the Broome County IDA. Our regional reputation has grown in large part due to Binghamton University, an education powerhouse ranked among the nation's top 50 universities. A few weeks ago a $30 million academic center opened in downtown Binghamton along the banks of the Chenango River. The building serves as a powerful symbol for the revitalization of our urban core. High-tech workers in large, more urban markets are being increasingly squeezed by the high cost of living in these areas. Business Week Magazine has ranked Binghamton one of the 50 most affordable housing markets in the U.S. In Binghamton your dollar goes a lot further. In Binghamton, we like to brag about our quality of life. It means excellent schools, an opera and a symphony, strong minor league baseball and hockey, Division I athletics, and a fast-growing arts scene. Our long tradition as a hockeytown helped us land the prestigious American Hockey League All Star game set for January, 2008. Many of the players on the Ottawa Senators' 2007 Stanley Cup finalist team spent time learning the ropes in the legendary Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. Binghamton's amazing transportation system makes it possible to get to the Adirondacks, the Poconos, and the tremendous fly-fishing along the Delaware River in a matter of hours. And if you like winery tours and tastings we are a short distance from the Finger Lakes, named one of the emerging wine regions of the world by Wine Spectator. The BCIDA's new website, www.bcida.com, includes a searchable property database, an interactive profile of the region, a link to our incentives and programs and much more. Please visit the site when you can and then plan your trip to Binghamton this autumn. We look forward to meeting you. Patrick Doyle is the marketing director at the Broome County IDA, Binghamton, N.Y.