Flight Simulation Firms
Touch Down In N.Y.

Two major firms specializing in various areas of flight simulation selected sites in the state.
        Aerospace company NLX opened a new facility in Binghamton, which will create 371 jobs paying an average salary of $65,000. The company chose Binghamton after considering a site in Virginia. It built a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,300-sq.-m.) facility to house new research, design and manufacturing operations. NLX specializes in high-fidelity simulation systems that provide training to aircrews, navigators and maintenance personnel for military and commercial applications.

Syracuse Project Destined To Be Big Billed as the world's only "green" resort hotel, the Grand Destiny in Syracuse is a $180-million, 650,000-sq.-ft. (60,400-sq.-m.) structure which will employ 2,400. Operating sans fossil fuels, the hotel will rely completely on solar, wind and geothermal energy sources. Some solar energy will be produced on-site with the remainder of the facility's needs being purchased from vendors of renewable energy. But the 47-story hotel is just the first piece of Destiny USA, a $2.2 billion retail and entertainment complex. It will eventually include a 65-acre enclosed indoor park, a water park, a 15,000-seat amphitheater, an aquarium, an indoor re-creation of the Erie Canal and hundreds of stores and restaurants.         The project, which continues to grow in scope, will also include several other hotels with thousands of more rooms. Pyramid Cos., which is developing the project, estimates completion by the end of 2005.

        "We see a strong future and significant growth in our Binghamton facility, fueled primarily by the technical strength that exists in this area," says Tony Syme, NLX president. NLX's Binghamton facility is the focal point for U.S. Army programs with emphasis on rotary wing and commercial training devices.
        Veridian, a leader in the design and operation of airborne simulator aircraft, will invest $6.9 million in a new hangar project for the Niagara Falls Airport, creating 80 jobs over the next three years, while retaining 45 jobs. The company is moving from the Buffalo International Airport. The expansion will add test pilot, engineering and R&D jobs with average annual salaries of $70,000. Veridian's project will retain its Flight Research Operation in western New York and enable it to expand. The 74,000-sq.-ft. (6,900-sq.-m.) facility will include two hangars and engineering and office space.