by Katie Liu | May 28, 2026
ESD is a foundational partner for the NENY initiative
You may be familiar with the famous red “I LOVE NY” graphics throughout Times Square gift shops.
The iconic slogan and logo, however, has its home in Empire State Development, which has been operating under this name since 1995. But ESD, with 10 regional offices stationed all around New York state, does more than tourism. Using tax incentives, loans, and grants, ESD’s primary mission is bolstering the state’s economy: its various divisions concern everything from workforce development and university innovation to manufacturing and small business support.
ESD is also a foundational coalition partner of New Energy New York, thanks to a $50 million grant — money that had been committed by Governor Kathy Hochul — which helped kickstart the Binghamton University-led battery initiative.
Now, ESD aims to continue the work whose foundational architecture has already been laid by pioneers such as Nobel Laureate and Binghamton University professor M. Stanley Whittingham, alongside longtime leaders in energy storage technology like the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium.
“There are hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into the battery innovation hub in the Southern Tier,” said David Whipple, senior director of industry development at ESD. “Now is the time to be bold and aggressive. We can use this innovation hub to differentiate New York state and attract some large, high-value battery manufacturing facilities to the state.”
New York state is attractive
Several branches of ESD work with NENY to strengthen New York state’s clean energy ecosystem, including its Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), which offers resources and support for new and innovative businesses.
Whipple, on the other hand, takes on the role of attracting key industries to New York state, with a focus on clean tech — from hydrogen to batteries. In conjunction with NENY, ESD works to attract companies to the region and grow its battery supply chain, while also preparing sites for future site selection and development. These programs include the FAST NY Shovel-Ready Grant Program and the POWER UP Grant Program, said Whipple, which both focus on preparing and de-risking sites for businesses who are looking for expansion locations that can meet their speed to market requirements.
“A core goal of NENY is to bring more energy storage manufacturing to New York state. But each company we are targeting needs a site,” Whipple said. “If the site isn’t ready for them, they won’t locate here. So the work we’re doing with FAST NY and POWER UP is very complementary to the work of NENY.”
Several major companies have already announced projects or intentions to expand in New York state, through ESD’s efforts. This includes CMP Advanced Mechanical Solutions, a Canadian firm specializing in energy storage enclosures which aims to revamp its facility in Binghamton, establishing a foothold in the Southern Tier.
“If we want to be the center for developing next-generation battery and energy storage technologies in New York and in the Southern Tier, we need a strong base of private industry innovators here, hiring engineers, driving innovation and bringing new technologies to market — which we can then export from New York state,” Whipple said. “That’s when the real economic benefit starts to accrue to the Southern Tier.”
Another major firm, BAE Systems, announced last year it would invest an additional $65 million to expand operations in Endicott, adding 150,000 square-feet to its existing Huron Campus site to accommodate new battery production lines and labs. Meanwhile, Toyota Material Handling and the Raymond Corporation are establishing an energy storage R&D and manufacturing center in the region as well.
These projects, he said, demonstrate that industries already consider the Southern Tier as a potential hotspot for innovation and manufacturing opportunities.
“New Energy New York is absolutely an asset to New York state and a selling feature when we are in these conversations with companies,” Whipple said. “Once they learn about everything that’s going on in the Southern Tier, in New York, and more broadly in energy storage here, they start getting quite interested. These assets include workforce development programs, energy storage testing assets, the supply chain database, multiple battery conferences and the annual Binghamton Battery Week. Once companies see some of these assets themselves, it speaks much louder than words about New York’s leadership in energy storage innovation.”
On top of existing programs, convenings and networking events allow company leaders to witness, first-hand, the opportunities available in the region.
“They can see and touch and feel all of these resources themselves,” Whipple said. “It’s not just a blurb on a flyer. There is real momentum building in New York— come be a part of it.”
A mirror to history
Looking forward, ESD will continue to support projects around the Southern Tier. This includes the Battery-NY facility, the first-of-its-kind facility in the U.S. with the flexibility to accommodate multiple formats and chemistries of batteries, which is slated to open its doors later this year.
With these foundations in place, Whipple emphasized that New York is an ideal place for battery and energy storage manufacturers to expand operations — thanks to a history of industrial strength, an existing workforce, as well as ongoing initiatives aimed at further boosting the region’s success.
“What we’re building in energy storage mirrors the foundation that New York and its partners previously built with the semiconductor industry in the state — which now employs thousands, and will employ tens of thousands,” Whipple said.
With this legacy of success, New York has the playbook and the partners in place to become an international leader in energy innovation.
“The foundation we are building upon has been decades in the making,” Whipple said. “We’re at an inflection point where we can mirror the success of the semiconductor industry in our energy storage sector, and we’re well on our way to doing that.”