Michael Bloomberg was a tech entrepreneur prior to being mayor of NYC. Last year Bloomberg solicited RFPs from universities to develop a high tech campus on city owned land with $100M of public money thrown into the mix. I love that kind of big thinking, it’s part of what made America great.

For example, when the Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, which was considered a huge boondoggle by many at the time, everything changed for NYC. Within 15 years, the NYC port became the largest in America by far. NYC hopes the high tech campus will be another Erie Canal moment.

Cornell University won the competition by teaming with Technion, an Israeli technology institute. They plan to build 2M sf at a cost of $2B (that’s right, $1,000/sf).  The 11 acre Roosevelt Island site is only one subway stop from mid-Town. When Bloomsburg announced the Cornell-Technion award, he said, “By adding a new state-of-the-art institution to our landscape, we will educate tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and create the jobs of the future”. They are projecting 20,000 construction jobs and 8,000 permanent jobs.

Cornell’s bid was further sweetened by a $350M donation from the Atlantic Philanthropies (the largest donation in Cornell’s history). It’s wonderful to see parties converge on a big idea and do what it takes to make it happen.

I see my customers taking similar steps (on a reduced scale) and making some big decisions to move forward on various projects. It’s a good sign for America’s future…and for mine.