Binghamton University start-up moves to Huron campus

In 2016, Shailesh Upreti and his firm Charge CCCV LLC (C4V) received $500,000 in the first 76West Clean Energy Competition administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Upreti, a post-doctoral fellow working with Distinguished Professor of Chemistry M. Stanley Whittingham at Binghamton University, took advantage of the University’s Start-up Suite to get C4V off the ground.

Now, C4V and several other firms have formed the Imperium3 consortium that will invest $130 million to create a lithium-ion battery giga-factory at the Huron Campus in Endicott, where IBM once reigned.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited the Huron Campus on Wednesday to make the announcement. “Today for me brings us full circle and is symbolic and metaphoric of all we’ve been trying to do in Upstate New York for the past six years,” he said. “Today is a perfect example of our success. Binghamton University has professors doing research and development who have developed the new lithium-ion battery of the future.”

Upreti credited the 76West funding for helping his company move forward, to the point where battery production can begin.

“76West helped us get to the stage where we’re now able to manufacture these batteries on a large scale,” Upreti said. “With this existing infrastructure and its close proximity to Binghamton University, and surrounded by other high-tech industries, there’s nowhere I would rather be than here in New York state.”

The Imperium3 consortium will build the batteries and create a network of supply companies in New York, Cuomo said. “The campus of yesterday, the industry of tomorrow, and creation of over 230 new jobs, all great, all high-tech innovation jobs,” he said. “It’s the beginning of a new industry and the industry of tomorrow, and for me that completes the circle.”

Upreti’s research in batteries first brought him to New York years ago and he’s excited to continue this journey in Upstate New York, he said.

“I see lithium-ion batteries as the future replacement for gas, coal, petrol and diesel,” Upreti said. “This technology has been developed right here at Binghamton University. Some of the most advanced research in lithium-ion batteries and in the supply chain side of it has been happening in New York for several years. We’ve developed a system of energy storage that plays a role in achieving Gov. Cuomo’s clean energy goals.”

Noting that Endicott has a true legacy of research and development and production, state Sen. Fred Akshar spoke of the importance of investing in urban cores and local businesses. “We will restore this region’s legacy of being at the forefront of technology,” Akshar said. “I can’t help but remember a talk I had with the governor about six months ago. We talked specifically about making investments in the anchors of our community and we’re doing that right now.”

“For those of us who have loved this place and believed in it, it’s a pleasure to see all of our work coming true,” said Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo. “We’re really starting to come back, just the way we had hoped. I’m grateful for these opportunities for people like us to think about what works here in our community and to grow from the ground up. This facility is a place that will bring life and energy to the downtown of Endicott.”