Schumer visit to JMA Wireless spotlights region’s tech push

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York region’s technology push was front and center as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves visited the new Syracuse location for JMA Wireless on Jan. 24.

The new 5G (fifth generation) manufacturing facility that JMA Wireless built at 140 Cortland Ave. in Syracuse (just south of downtown) will be opening soon. 

The JMA Wireless facility, which will open in the next month, “will be the only U.S.-owned 5G manufacturing facility in the country,” John Mezzalingua, CEO of JMA Wireless, said. 

“We are energized by what that means because this country used to be a leader in wireless technology, but the U.S. has not played a meaningful role in wireless technology in the last two decades,” he added. 

The JMA facility will manufacture all of the firm’s 5G equipment. It will employ more than 200 people at the Syracuse site, in addition to the 500 people employed at 7645 Henry Clay Blvd. in Clay. 

Mezzalingua spoke inside his firm’s new facility as it hosted Schumer and Graves.

Schumer used the appearance to discuss how the recently passed Build America, Buy America Act — a provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — is a “boon” for Syracuse and will “ensure American taxpayers dollars buy American-made products for any federally funded infrastructure projects,” his office said. 

Schumer noted that the investments in the IIJA include $65 billion to expand high-speed internet across the country and will support American manufacturing and workers, like those at JMA Wireless in Syracuse. The Commerce Department will distribute the funding, he added. 

By harnessing funds from the IIJA and the ‘Build America, Buy America’ requirement, the radios and antennas made at JMA’s new Syracuse factory will be “positioned to supply efforts to help bridge the digital divide while also creating high-tech manufacturing jobs in Central New York,” Schumer’s office said.

In his remarks, Mezzalingua also noted that Graves will oversee the implementation of the infrastructure law and “play a key role” in supporting 5G innovation more broadly.

Schumer is also pushing for final passage of his U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which provides $1.5 billion in emergency appropriations for next generation telecommunications technology development, “which can further accelerate JMA Wireless’s expansion,” his office said.

The U.S. Senate has already approved the USICA legislation, Schumer said, and anticipates the House of Representatives will pass its version soon.

Technology push 

Besides JMA Wireless’ effort in manufacturing 5G equipment, Schumer also noted that CenterState CEO is also working to get Central New York designated as a tech hub. 

His office announced in mid-December that CenterState CEO will use a $500,000 federal grant to develop its proposal to expand the region’s semiconductor industry and the existing unmanned-aircraft systems (UAS) and quantum-computing industries. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) selected CenterState’s Smart Systems Cluster project as a finalist and phase 1 award recipient for investment through the American Rescue Plan’s (ARPA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge.

As a finalist, the project will have the exclusive opportunity to compete for up to a $100 million federal award through the EDA to implement the proposed projects.

“So, there are now 60 [proposals] chosen; about a third of those will actually get chosen for the $100 million,” Schumer said in answering a reporter’s question on what’s next in the region’s technology push.

“The combination of that … the combination of our desire to [recruit] a major chip fab company to come here and manufacture; and the kinds of things that JMA [is] already doing … [is] really the best news Syracuse has had in a long time in terms of jobs,” he added.