Update: Edwards Vacuum Opens $319M Genesee County Chip Pump Plant

Update: Edwards Vacuum in Genesee County has finished construction on its $319 million dry pump manufacturing plant at the STAMP site in the town of Alabama, and state and federal officials cut the ribbon on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The 240,000 square foot campus is built to produce 10,000 dry pumps a year for semiconductor makers, and the state says the project is now operational (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

WCG first covered the project in May, when the plant was on track to open this fall (America’s First Domestic Semiconductor Pump Factory Opens in Genesee County This Fall). Thursday’s announcement confirms that the building is complete and the company has moved into operations. The plant is the first operating tenant at the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, nearly 20 years after the park was first conceived (WXXI News).

What Happened

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the completion of construction Thursday evening, and the ribbon cutting was held the same day with Sen. Chuck Schumer, company leaders and economic development officials (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul; 13WHAM). Edwards Vacuum is a British company and part of the Atlas Copco Group. The Genesee County plant is its first U.S. dry pump manufacturing facility, and officials describe it as the first of its kind serving the domestic semiconductor industry (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul; 13WHAM).

Dry pumps are vacuum pumps used throughout chip fabrication. Building them in Western New York puts a key piece of the tool supply chain close to customers. Greater Rochester Enterprise said proximity to clients including Micron and Intel was part of the reason Edwards chose the site (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

What Is Confirmed

• Investment: $319 million, according to the state and Rochester Business Journal. Schumer’s office and some coverage use a rounded $300 million figure (13WHAM).
• Size and output: a 240,000 square foot campus with manufacturing, warehouse and administration space, with capacity for 10,000 dry pumps per year (Rochester Business Journal).
• Jobs: up to 600 jobs tied to state incentives; Schumer said the plant will create more than 600 jobs at full production (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul; 13WHAM).
• State incentives: up to $21 million in performance based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credits and Investment Tax Credits from Empire State Development, plus $1 million for workforce development and training (Rochester Business Journal).
• Power: the New York Power Authority is supplying a 4.9 MW allocation of low cost Niagara hydropower and a 2.1 MW High Load Factor allocation procured on the energy market (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).
• Federal support: Schumer said he secured $18 million in federal CHIPS funding for the project (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).
• Design: the facility is all electric, will pursue LEED certification and will draw most of its power from hydroelectricity. Edwards estimates the domestic production will cut CO2 emissions by up to 13,000 tons per year (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

The state release and local coverage did not name the general contractor, architect or other construction firms on the project (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul; Rochester Business Journal). Hiring timelines for the full 600 positions were not detailed.

Background on STAMP

STAMP is a 1,250 acre shovel ready site developed by the Genesee County Economic Development Center to attract semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing. It was first proposed in 2009 and has drawn opposition because of its location next to the Tonawanda Seneca reservation and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, with the Seneca Nation and environmental groups filing several lawsuits over the site (WXXI News).

The park’s earlier anchor, hydrogen company Plug Power, began infrastructure work in the early 2020s and scrapped its project earlier this year. A proposed hyperscale data center from Stream U.S. is on hold following a state moratorium on large data centers (WXXI News).

The project followed the federal CHIPS and Science Act and New York’s Green CHIPS law, and it sits within a broader regional push tied to Micron’s planned $100 billion campus in Clay, which the state expects to create nearly 50,000 jobs (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul). WCG has tracked that work, including the Micron megafab groundbreaking in Onondaga County and National Grid’s transmission plans for the Clay fabs.

What It Means for Owners and Contractors

For Western New York contractors, a finished, operating tenant at STAMP is a meaningful signal. Owners weighing advanced manufacturing sites in the region now have a working example at STAMP of a large plant permitted, built and energized (WXXI News; Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

Supplier plants like this one tend to bring follow on work: fit out of production lines, tenant improvements as hiring ramps, maintenance and service contracts, and potential future expansions. Subcontractors with experience in clean manufacturing environments, electrical distribution for all electric buildings and LEED documentation are the trades most directly aligned with this type of facility.

The all electric design paired with hydropower allocations from NYPA is also worth noting for owners planning new industrial buildings in the state. Low cost power was a central part of the incentive package here, and the availability of similar allocations can shape site selection and mechanical system design on future projects (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

Genesee County has seen a steady pipeline of industrial development along the Thruway corridor, including the Horizon Acres industrial park in Pembroke. A completed semiconductor supplier at STAMP adds to that base.

What to Watch

• The pace of hiring toward the 600 job commitment tied to the Excelsior credits (Rochester Business Journal).
• LEED certification results for the completed building (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).
• Whether additional semiconductor suppliers or manufacturers commit to STAMP, and the status of the paused Stream U.S. data center proposal (WXXI News).
• Ongoing litigation involving the Seneca Nation and environmental groups over the park (WXXI News).
• Micron’s construction progress in Clay, which drives much of the regional supplier demand (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

Key Questions

What did Edwards Vacuum build in Genesee County?

Edwards Vacuum completed a $319 million, 240,000 square foot dry pump manufacturing plant at the STAMP site in the town of Alabama, Genesee County, New York, with capacity for 10,000 pumps a year (Rochester Business Journal).

When did the Edwards Vacuum plant open?

Officials held the ribbon cutting on Thursday, October 29, 2026, and the state said construction is complete and the facility is operational (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul).

How many jobs will the Edwards Vacuum STAMP plant create?

State incentives of up to $21 million are tied to up to 600 jobs, and Sen. Chuck Schumer said the plant will employ more than 600 people at full production. A detailed hiring timeline has not been released (13WHAM).

Who built the Edwards Vacuum facility?

The state announcement and local news coverage of the opening did not name the general contractor or design team for the $319 million Genesee County plant (Rochester Business Journal).

Related Coverage

• America’s First Domestic Semiconductor Pump Factory Opens in Genesee County This Fall
• Micron Groundbreaking $100B Semiconductor Megafab Onondaga County
• National Grid Plans Eight 345kV Lines and 2-Mile Gas Pipeline for Micron’s Clay Fabs
• Horizon Acres: The $142 Million Industrial Park Filling In Along the I-90 Corridor East of Buffalo

Image credit: Empire State Development. Image from the source article.

Sources

• Office of Governor Kathy Hochul (via EIN Presswire), Governor Hochul Announces Completion of Construction for Edwards Vacuum’s $319 Million Semiconductor Supply Chain Facility in Genesee County, https://www.einpresswire.com/article/953228389/governor-hochul-announces-completion-of-construction-for-edwards-vacuum-s-319-million-semiconductor-supply-chain-facility-in-genesee-county
• Rochester Business Journal, Edwards Vacuum unveils $319M facility in Genesee County, https://rbj.net/2026/10/29/edwards-vacuum-opens-319-million-facility-genesee-county/
• WXXI News, Edwards Vacuum opens $319 million plant at Genesee County’s STAMP, https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2026-10-28/edwards-vacuum-opens-319-million-plant-at-genesee-countys-stamp
• 13WHAM, First-of-its-kind manufacturing facility now open in Western New York, https://13wham.com/news/local/first-of-its-kind-manufacturing-facility-now-open-in-western-new-york-stamp-alabama-ny-genesee-county-dry-pump-semiconductor-micron-technology-jobs