For decades, the Southern Tier has wrestled with economic decline. Since 2000, Binghamton has lost 6,500 manufacturing jobs — a staggering 37% reduction — as losses also piled up down the road in Elmira (19% decrease) and Ithaca (25% loss).

What’s more alarming is witnessing local pride fade under the weight of shrinking opportunity.

But the story can, and must, change — not by clinging to the past but by leaning into new opportunities like the bright future of clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

A recent strategy report commissioned by regional economic development leaders lays out a clear path forward. Newmark Group found the Southern Tier region already has in fact a strong labor force suited for advanced industries, with high employment concentrations in power management, battery manufacturing, and clean transportation that outpace national averages. Cornell and Binghamton University are conducting world-class research and development in photovoltaics, hydrogen and energy storage. Our workforce — particularly in engineering, computer science, and manufacturing — is strong, and our cost of living remains among the lowest in the Northeast.

To capitalize on these critical assets and fly higher we have more work to do to build the foundation needed to convert potential into progress.

Across the Southern Tier, the supply of viable pre-developed sites and buildings is limited, especially for the medium- and large-scale projects that cleantech companies require. Most lack the basics: utility access, high-voltage power, water and sewer infrastructure, or proximity to skilled labor.

Site readiness needs to be our top strategic priority. That means investing in utility upgrades, modernizing infrastructure, and streamlining permitting across the region.

It’s the kind of work that we’re looking to do with a development like the Broome Technology Park, replicating the success of others like Onondaga County’s White Pine Commerce Park that landed a $100 billion chip fab investment from Micron. As development professionals, we understand the need to be flexible to the needs of leading-edge businesses, and that’s what shovel-ready greenfield sites allow us to do.

More than that, of course, we need a strong ecosystem around the companies we want to attract. That includes talent pipelines, supplier networks, and research partnerships and aligned talent pipelines.

The Southern Tier leads as home to 12 higher education institutions and 65 K-12 districts. It’s not just that we are home to those world-class leaders in innovation like Cornell and Binghamton University. Programs like SUNY Broome’s specialized workforce training initiatives are promising and are primed to further scale to meet the hiring needs of the advanced industries.

At the root of it all is coordination. Historically, too many municipalities, institutions, and utilities across New York state have operated on separate tracks — with different goals, different timelines, and no shared strategy. But as we’re learning from the recent Newmark research and seeing in real-time with high-tech clustering across the thruway to our north, there is significant room to grow when there is a unified front in support of fast permitting, regional infrastructure improvement and integrated workforce development.

The final ingredient in the recipe for success is visibility. The Southern Tier has real strengths — including nationally recognized R&D capacity, strong engineering and sales talent, and two of the most affordable housing markets in the country in Binghamton and Elmira. In fact, the region’s cost of living is 5% lower than the national average, giving employers and workers alike a strong value proposition.

Particularly as the nation has navigated a rocky economy in 2025, those companies looking for an affordable, sustainable place to put down strong roots on which to grow would do well to work with us to identify their unique needs we can satisfy regionally so we can get to work bringing them here to our hidden gem.

There is exciting work ahead of us, and the Southern Tier has done this before as a 20^th century leader of the technological revolution. We’ve built industries from the ground up. This time, the stakes are even higher, and the pace is faster, but we’re resilient and knowledgeable enough to step it up.

Continuing on this path of building out to accommodate leading-edge industries, I am confident that the Southern Tier will soar.

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 State Economic Development Council, Binghamton, N.Y.