Chris Mckenna of the Middletown Times Herald-Record writes - “Some 27,000 military veterans living in Orange County can now claim discounts of up to 25 percent at certain local businesses through a new program announced Tuesday.

About 150 companies have agreed to participate so far, entitling vets to a price break on everything from pizzas and bagels to lumber and auto repairs whenever they present a county-issued identification card.

The first beneficiaries got their IDs in a matter of minutes Tuesday morning, lining up inside the Orange County Government Center to have their photos taken and cards made before a news conference heralding the program.”

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The Buffalo News reports _ “National auto insurer GEICO Corp. will be adding about 300 jobs to its Amherst service center, boosting employment to about 1,800, sources confirmed Tuesday.

Gov. David A. Paterson is expected to make the formal announcement at 11 a.m. today at the CrossPoint Business Park facility.

The Washington, D.C.-based carrier, the nation’s fourth largest private-passenger car insurer, will move a home insurance agency subsidiary to Amherst. The jobs are expected to be filled during the next two years.”

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The University at Buffalo is launching a new department of biomedical engineering to address pressing regional needs. The program is a joint venture between UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Science and UB School of Engineering. Student enrollment begins this fall.

“The department was developed based on the advancing necessity and interest in research in the biomedical and biotechnology fields, UB’s already accomplished strengths in that area of study and the sector’s strong presence in Western New York. It was a natural step for us” describes Alexander Cartwright, Professor and Chair of the Department at the University at Buffalo. “[This program] will concentrate on America’s critical healthcare needs and issues by developing innovative strategies and research initiatives involving new medical products and product improvements.”

The department and local biomedical and bioscience companies have worked closely together in developing the program, and both parties plan to expand these relationships. Companies will have the opportunity to provide input on curriculum, influence research priorities, and offer students the opportunity to contribute to the development of new products and product improvements. “Through partnerships with local biomedical and biotechnology companies, the program will receive input from experts in the industry that will enable the department to successfully address important issues that face our nation today,” said Cartwright.

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Governor David A. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito today announced a partnership between the State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) and the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) to create the Computer Chip Hybrid Integration Partnership (CHIP). The new collaboration will create as many as 675 new positions in the Mohawk Valley and Capital Regions combined, while expanding the nanotechnology sector in New York and strengthening the State’s commitment to the New Economy.

Read more here.

The Journal News in Westchester reports that Business Council member IBM is, “easily beating the competition in building supercomputers that not only perform complicated calculations at breathtaking speed but make energy efficiency a top priority, according to a new report.”

Read reporter Jay Loomis’ story here.

Albany’s Times-Union reports that Business Council of New York State member, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics will move its Green Glue unit from North Dakota to its plant in Granville, Washington County, New York.

The move will result in an expansion of the Granville plant and the addition of seven jobs.

Read the story.

Yankee Legend and Hall of Fame Pitcher “Goose” Gossage featured speaker at Business Council Second Annual Golf Tournament

Richard Michael “Goose” Gossage will be the featured speaker at The Business Council of New York State’s Second Annual Business Council Member Golf Classic.

National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Gossage is a former relief pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1972 to 1994 for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres.

The golf classic takes place on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at the Otesaga Hotel’s Leatherstocking Golf Course in Cooperstown. Participants will start at 11:30 am with a buffet lunch followed by scramble golf. There will be a reception and dinner at the Otesaga followed by a dessert reception at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Gossage will be the keynote speaker at the Dessert Reception and meet informally with those attending the event.

For more information about the event click here.

The Albany Times Union reports — “The largest electricity-generating plant in the Middle East kingdom of Bahrain will be powered by turbines from General Electric Co., in a deal worth a half-billion dollars to GE Energy.

GE will provide two steam turbines and the plant’s generators, all built in Schenectady, and four of its heavy-duty Frame 9FA gas turbines, built in Greenville, S.C., spokeswoman Cynthia Mahoney White said Thursday.”

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Jay Loomis reports on LoHud.com - “IBM Corp. has landed a $597 million contract extension to provide computer services to Telstra, the largest telephone company in Australia.

Telstra, which has 9.4 million traditional telephone lines and 9.2 million mobile phone accounts in Australia, uses IBM to handle a variety of tech services. For instance, IBM builds and manages more than 3,000 computer servers, software and tech systems for Telstra - the largest tech network in the country after the Australian government.

Under the renewed contract, IBM will simplify Telstra’s tech infrastructure and improve system performance.”

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The Times Union of Albany reports - “GlobalFoundries Inc. purchased nearly 223 acres of land Wednesday at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in one of the most anticipated real estate closings ever for the Capital Region.

The price? About $7.8 million, or $35,000 an acre.

That’s a discount on the land that was negotiated as part of the state’s $1.2 billion incentive package for the project, which was first announced three years ago this month.

“We are ecstatic here,” said Michael Relyea, president of the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp., the nonprofit that owns the former logging forest being transformed into a business park. “We are very excited about where we are going in the future.”

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