SCHUMER SETS GOAL FOR NEW YORK TO SURPASS SILICON VALLEY AS TECH CENTER OF AMERICA BY 2035; ASKS MAYOR AND GOVERNOR TO JOIN IN CREATION OF WORKING GROUP TO MEET AMBITIOUS GOAL.

WASHINGTON -- The following information was released by New York Senator Charles Schumer:

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, at the 4th Annual Internet Week Conference today, set out an ambitious goal of seeing New York City surpass Silicon Valley as the high tech center of the United States. In his keynote address at the conference, Schumer asked Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo to join him in creating a working group with leaders from the high tech, financial services, real estate, media, and medical research fields to help meet this 25-year goal through a public-private partnership. Schumer noted that for this benchmark to be met, it will require that firms large and small be supported and nurtured by both the business community and with investments at the local, state, and federal levels.

"New York's ability to adapt to changing times and emerging industries has been the vital ingredient to our continued success, decade after decade," said Schumer. "Today, we stand at another turning point, and that's why New York needs to become not just a high tech center, but the American high tech center for decades to come."

Schumer noted that New York has the foundation in place to meet this lofty goal. The City is already the second largest recipient of high-tech venture capital in the country, having passed Boston this year and only trailing Silicon Valley. By some measures, the New York metropolitan region actually has more workers in the high tech industry than any other region in the country, employing 300,000 people with nearly 22,000 firms classified as technology companies. This number represents more high tech jobs than Silicon Valley, Boston and Washington. Schumer pointed to the financial and business services industries that have been leaders in technology development, and pointed out specifically that JP Morgan Chase had more actual programmers working for their company than Microsoft.

Schumer also threw his support behind Mayor Bloomberg's plan to attract a top-notch applied sciences school as vital to meeting the goal of establishing New York as the country's foremost technology hub in the next 25 years. Schumer noted that if the applications are of exceptionally high quality, the City should double-down and choose two winners, one focused on providing graduate level engineers across fields and one focused on undergraduate engineering and applied sciences to capture talent at every stage of its development.

Pointing to successful projects like the Alexandria Science Park, where firms like Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Imclone are working, and the Brooklyn Army Terminal's Biobat incubator, as an example of strategic and targeted investment, Schumer said that we need to do a better job of bringing together New York's biotech sector and venture capital to support it. Despite being the nation's leading financial center, New York's biotech industry has not been a focus of New York venture dollars. He also called for a greater focus on the burgeoning clean energy industry as not only an economic engine, but a path toward a cleaner energy future.

The 4th annual Internet Week Conference taking place his week includes over 200 events at more than 70 venues across New York City, with nearly 30,000 people participating. The conference will host some of the biggest names in the Internet world and will engage hundreds of small firms and individuals who are vital to the growth of this sector of New York's economy. Schumer delivered the conference first keynote address keynote to kick off the conference.