Gov. Andrew Cuomo took his State of the State address on the road this year, but he didn't hit every region in New York state. The Mohawk Valley was one of the regions left out. Cara Thomas explains why local leaders are feeling neglected. 

UTICA, N.Y. -- Around this time last year, the Utica area was celebrating a future of prosperity as AMS had recently announced their plan to build a new chip fab facility in Marcy. That deal however, fell through about four weeks ago, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has yet to address it. 

"This area deserves its due," said Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi. "And they should hear from their leader and part of being a leader is leading in good times and bad times.

"He is the person that is our leader, and there's nothing more reassuring than hearing our governor reassure us that this funding is staying here for a project we have been waiting on for years." 

Local leaders said a State of the State address would have been the perfect opportunity to do so, but Cuomo chose not to stop in the Mohawk Valley at all. 

"He owes us an explanation and he should be willing to share with us how he is able to continue enhancing our community and not just ignore it," said Darby O'Brien, a Mohawk Valley resident. 

But what frustrated leaders even more was the fact that Cuomo didn't even mention the Mohawk Valley in his Syracuse version of the State of the State address.
 
"When he talked about nanotechnology and how the state was a leader, he mentioned Albany, Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse and no mention of Utica what-so-ever and we have a vacant building there," said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente.
 
Picente said the governor spoke about drones and airports in his speech, but failed to mention the drone testing site in Rome or the Griffiss International Airport, which he says was extremely disheartening.
 
"I'd have to give it an F in terms of a grade today in terms of what I saw from the governor relative to my region and my county," said Picente.
 
"The governor can not let the Mohawk Valley, the North Country and the Southern Tier -- three areas that he is not visiting during the State of the State tour -- become New York's fly over country," said Brindisi.
 
In lieu of a State of the State address by the governor, Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi gave one of his own instead. He outlined several of his priorities for this year including economic development and fixing the funding formula for Mohawk Valley schools.