Progress requires development that breaks the old norms - by Stacey Duncan

Across upstate New York, real transformation is happening.

Micron’s $100 billion investment in Central New York hasn’t just changed the trajectory of one community. It sent a signal across the state that New York, the historic center of literal upward and outward growth, can still build bigger and better than ever before. 

This comes as demand for advanced manufacturing, technology, and clean energy development is accelerating. The question facing places like Broome County and the Southern Tier that want to become well-positioned to attract supply chain businesses amid this accelerated demand is not whether companies and developers are ready to invest in the regions like ours. It’s whether we are positioned to help them invest quickly.

Our path to accomplishing just that isn’t charted simply by identifying available land. It requires intentional work to prepare ample shovel-ready land. 

Across New York, shovel-ready, de-risked sites are increasingly scarce. Topography, limited infrastructure, and outdated legacy industrial layouts restrict what can realistically be made available to companies hungry to invest. And when companies can’t find sites that meet their needs — in terms of scale, certainty, and speed — they don’t wait. They move on.

For us, the path to shovel-readiness must come through a community-oriented process, one in which challenges are identified early and plans are developed to overcome them, rather than trying to recreate an inclusionary process after the fact, when communities are less apt to buy in because they felt left out of key steps along the way. 

What we’ve found is that the old model of site development — maximizing square footage by clearing and leveling wide swaths of land — doesn’t fit our community priorities. And misalignment with community priorities is a sure-fire way to stop development dead in its tracks down the line.

The new reality is more complex and demanding — yet ultimately rewarding for all involved. Communities expect to, and ultimately should, be part of the process. Environmental considerations must be addressed upfront. Infrastructure readiness must be taken care of early and in a way that benefits the broader community.

The bottom line is that today’s most-competitive sites aren’t just large; they’re intentionally designed to meet the needs of industry while proactively addressing the factors that have historically slowed projects down.

In Broome County, that approach is reflected in the vision for the Broome Technology Park.The site we are preparing spans approximately 537 acres, but the goal is to be intentional about where across that land we build. We propose preserving roughly 75% of the land as open space — not as a limitation, but as part of a deliberate development strategy.

By working with the site’s natural topography and preserving key environmental features, the plan focuses development in areas best suited for it, ultimately conceptualizing up to 5.5 million s/f of sustainably designed building footprint that includes not only manufacturing and office space, but also housing and community amenities. This results in a site that is both competitive for industry and responsive to community priorities.

For developers and site selectors, this kind of planning creates a clearer path forward, with defined environmental parameters, more predictable permitting, and fewer unknowns that can derail a project down the line. For municipalities, it helps manage infrastructure demands and ensures development integrates more effectively with surrounding communities. And for companies, it delivers what the market increasingly demands: sites that are ready, reliable, and capable of supporting long-term growth without unnecessary uncertainty — all in a location that offers work, living and recreation opportunities in one place.

This isn’t about choosing between development and preservation. Done right, preservation is not a constraint on development; rather, it’s what makes development more viable and in fitting with the community character that makes places like upstate New York a draw. 

Of course, the preparation required to accomplish this doesn’t happen overnight. Broome County hasn’t brought a new industrial park of this scale to market in decades, and it has taken us the better part of two years of planning to reach the stage of developing a generic environmental impact statement that outlines everything about how we create a site like we envision. We were pleased to release a draft GEIS this spring and are now pivoting to finalizing this plan — addressing community input — so we can take the next steps toward bringing this development to life. 

Ultimately, we believe the steps we are taking today will pay off tomorrow, helping companies clear hurdles to development while setting our community up for long-term success. We’re excited to be part of a movement rethinking how we meld shovel-ready development with sustainable development and look forward to building a brighter future.

Stacey Duncan is executive director of The Agency; president and CEO of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce; and director-at-large board member of New York Economic Development Council, Binghamton, N.Y.