Proposed Long Island tech manufacturing center wins $30 million New York State grant

A proposed manufacturing center on Long Island where entrepreneurs could turn out small batches of their prototype products and seek financing from investors has won $30 million from New York State.

The project, called the Regional Commercialization Corridor, is one of four to share $150 million in a new competition between the state’s 10 Regional Economic Development Councils. The other winners are in New York City and upstate Ithaca and the Mohawk Valley, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Tuesday.

The Long Island council had sought $50 million for the 50,000-square-foot manufacturing center, which would be open to technology startups from Nassau and Suffolk counties and the city. When the proposal was first made public in October, officials said the center's location had yet to be determined.

"This award reflects our council’s commitment to advancing transformational economic initiatives that build on Long Island’s unique strengths, support innovation, and unlock new opportunities for growth and prosperity," the council's co-chairs, Linda Armyn and Kimberly Cline, told Newsday on Wednesday. Armyn is CEO of FourLeaf Federal Credit Union and Cline is president of Long Island University.

The manufacturing center will be run by Newlab LLC, which is based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and has business incubators there and in Detroit, New Orleans, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.

Liz Keen, chief strategy officer at Newlab, said in October that having a manufacturing center on Long Island would keep startups in New York City from moving to other states in search of production space.

She also said the center's tenants would have access to Newlab’s Brooklyn Navy Yard incubator, training programs to turn inventions into commercial products, and to more than 300 investors.

The manufacturing center’s activities would focus on three industries that already have a significant presence on Long Island: aerospace/defense, clean energy and cyber physical systems, including semiconductors and AI, Keen said at the October meeting of the local development council whose members are business executives, university presidents, union leaders and nonprofit officials.

The center is expected to open in late 2027 and to not require government subsidies by 2030, according to Sulin Carling, a principal at HR&A Advisors, the consulting firm that helped the council develop the proposal.

Grants for affordable housing

Separately on Tuesday, the first winners in the 2025 Regional Economic Development Councils’ contest were announced, with 29 projects on Long Island receiving a total of $26.4 million from the state.

The largest award, $5 million, went to Brookhaven Town for the replacement of septic tanks with sewers in Mastic Beach. The work is needed to revitalize the community’s downtown and to build more than 600 townhouses and multifamily residences, officials said.

The sewer project is among five sharing a total of $16.7 million via the state's new Pro-Housing Supply Fund. The $100 million fund only backs projects in communities that are certified by the state as supportive of affordable housing.

RuthAnne Visnauskas, the state’s housing commissioner, said in a statement that the state "is committed to supporting communities that are striving to grow their housing supply by removing barriers to development."

Other contest winners include improvements to Sheepen Peninsula, also in Mastic Beach, and renovations to Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center Inc. for the addition of 80 students, which won $2 million and $1.3 million, respectively.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.