TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – President Joe Biden met with IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna at the IBM Poughkeepsie facility to tour the plant that has been a cornerstone of the company’s innovations since 1941.
President Biden was accompanied by Hudson Valley Democratic Congressmen Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) and Pat Ryan (NY-19), as well as Capital District Congressman Paul Tonka (NY-20) to celebrate IBM’s announcement of a $20 billion investment in the Hudson Valley region over the next 10 years while also celebrating the federal CHIPS Act, which he recently signed into law.
“As we saw during the pandemic, when factories that make these chips shut down around the world, the global economy literally came to a screeching halt. More Americans learned the phrase ‘supply chain and what it means’,” he said. “Guess what. The supply chain is going to start here and is going to end here in the United States.”
The IBM investment, supported by the CHIPS Act and collaboration with New York State is slated to expand the technology of artificial intelligence, quantum computers, semiconductors, and hybrid cloud development. “As we tackle large-scale technological challenges in climate, energy, transportation, and more, we must continue to invest in innovation and discovery – because advanced technologies are key to solving these problems and driving economic prosperity, including better jobs, for millions of Americans,” Krishna said.
Congressman Ryan told Mid-Hudson News “We’ve sent a strong statement that we need to – and we will – create more good-paying, middle-class jobs like the one that my grandfather had. And that those jobs – union jobs – and research dollars need to come straight to the Hudson Valley to build things here at home again.”
The Poughkeepsie facility is home to the Quantum Computation Center, which launched in 2019. According to a company statement, “IBM’s vision is for Poughkeepsie to become a global hub of the company’s quantum computing development, just as it is today for mainframes.” The company’s successful line of mainframes made in Poughkeepsie was touted by Congressman Maloney when he visited the plant in February of this year.
Republican Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro, who is running for Congress in the newly drawn NY-19, said he supports the purpose of the CHIPS Act but denounced the President’s visit. With IBM and the White House saying the new investments will create thousands of jobs, Molinaro said, “The jobs of tomorrow are a cruel solace to those who are alone and struggling today. Election year giveaways to encourage high tech giants to do what they should, while perhaps necessary should not be politicized.”
