ITHACA — Representatives from Cornell University, Tompkins County Area Development and other organizations announced on Monday an initiative for the next three to five years to attract nanotechnology and materials science industry to the area.

The joint project, which TCAD President Michael Stamm said should come together by the end of the year, will target businesses that would be good candidates to relocate locally as well as places where the group can promote the advantages of living in Tompkins County. State and local sources so far have committed $400,000 to the initiative.

Much of the marketing will highlight the ability to link to research at Cornell. In October 2004, the university opened Duffield Hall, a $58.5 million nanotechnology research and education building; Monday's press conference was held there.

“Right here in Ithaca, we have a highly educated, highly skilled workforce that can play a vital role in this new economic marketplace” centered on global scientific innovation, said State Senator James L. Seward, R-51st District, who represents part of Tompkins County. “We have the people, we have the knowledge and — obviously, with the team we have assembled — we have the will.”

The marketing initiative is the latest manifestation of an historic link between TCAD and Cornell, and efforts by the county's Industrial Development Agency, which is managed by TCAD, to create jobs and boost the local economy through technology.

What's relatively new, though, is the focus on luring businesses from elsewhere in the United States or in other countries — an approach that has worked well in other communities such as Northern California's Silicon Valley, speakers said Monday.

“We've got something different,” Stamm said. “We've got Cornell University, which is our major advantage.”

The project is supported by $150,000 in state grants secured by Seward and the county's two other state senators, Michael Nozzolio, R-54th District, and George Winner Jr., R-53rd District, both of whom attended the press conference. Cornell, New York State Electric & Gas and the IDA have pledged another $250,000, some of which would come at a later date depending on the initiative's progress, Stamm said.

Initiative members expect that smaller companies could relocate completely to the Ithaca area while larger companies might set up a local office for 25 to 50 employees, Stamm said. They are still developing measurements to determine a target for the number of new jobs, he said.

In about a year, a similar initiative will start for the biotechnology and life sciences fields, Stamm said. Cornell, meanwhile, is developing its New Life Sciences Initiative at Cornell, a university-wide collaboration to modernize research and education.

Contact: kfrising@ithacajournal.com