ALBANY - Will Elon Musk's visit to Tesla's "Buffalo Billion" solar panel factory be as much of a flop as his Cybertruck fiasco?

New York state economic development officials are hoping it won't be.

Musk is personally planning to visit Tesla's so-called Gigafactory 2 at the RiverBend campus in Buffalo in April, the same month when the plant must meet a key employment goal or pay a $41.2 million penalty to the state.

Back in November, Tesla stock tanked more than five percent after the car maker's chief designer was able to smash the windows of the new Cybertruck that were supposed to be bullet-proof. Following the episode, Musk's personal fortune fell $768 million in one day due, or about as much as it cost the state to build Gigafactory 2.

RiverBend was part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's so-called Buffalo Billion strategy that saw the state spend nearly a billion dollars to build the facility for Tesla in a project that was rife with corruption and led to the downfall of SUNY Polytechnic Institute founder Alain Kaloyeros and a Buffalo area developer.

April is an important month for the company, which is required under the terms of its lease with the state of New York to have 1,460 employees working at the solar panel factory by April 30.

Members of the Legislature grilled Empire State Development CEO Eric Gertler on Thursday at a state budget hearing, asking him whether he was prepared to fine Telsa the $41.2 million penalty should the company miss the deadline.

"Will you enforce this clawback and tell us how you are going to (verify) the 1,460 jobs?" Buffalo-area Democrat Assemblyman Robin Schimminger asked Gertler.

Gertler did not directly answer Schimminger's question.Instead, he said he had visited the RiverBend facility last week and liked what he saw.

"I was pleased to see the facility hustling and bustling," Gertler replied. "To see a facility that is focusing on the green economy, which is an industry of the future, was exciting to see."

Although Gertler said that as of last year the Telsa factory had 500 employees, he did not say how many people worked there now.

However, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has reportedly said that Tesla is now at 1,100 workers at RiverBend with two months to go to add 360 additional workers. Telsa officials couldn't immediately be reached to confirm its employment numbers at the Buffalo solar panel factory.

"I can tell you they are doing a lot of hiring," Gertler said. "They've hired individuals from some of the training centers in and around Buffalo. There was a lot of money that's been dedicated to that, and we're in the business of jobs. If by April 30, they do not reach the 1,460 jobs, then as you pointed out, we're going to move to enforce that penalty. ... The ESD team is focused on making sure they do that hiring."

Republican Assemblyman Christopher Friend, who is from the Southern Tier but attended school in Buffalo, quizzed Gertler also about the Tesla deal, asking him how much of the 1.2-million-square-foot RiverBend facility is being used by Tesla.

"From what I saw, it was being well-used," Gertler said. "They've added a lot of different lines."

One of the new lines is not a solar panel line but a Tesla car charging station production line. Telsa has also sublet some of the facility to Panasonic.

"They're doing other things," Gertler said about what he saw when he toured the facility last week. "Is the facility being used? It is. It seemed to be pretty full."

Link:

Cuomo's business czar says Tesla's Buffalo site is 'hustling and bustling' - Times Union