Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s multibillion-dollar upstate economic development plans, including the massive Buffalo Billion project, may be derailed by growing nervousness from IBM and other companies over the continuing corruption probes.
IBM, a major player in the state’s high-tech development efforts for more than a decade, has decided to “cease all new investments and additional hiring’’ regarding the plans until the probes are concluded, said a source with knowledge of the company’s action.
A “major” Japanese clean-energy company that had planned to invest $1.5 billion in a project in Binghamton recently decided to pull out because of the ongoing scrutiny by US Attorney Preet Bharara and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the source said.