March 3, 2015
Regions compete for $500M in state funds
Cortland County business officials are taking part in preliminary discussions with officials from four area counties, as they try to put forth an economic plan that would position the region favorably to win a pot of $500 million.
The economic revitalization funds, announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January, would be awarded to three regions and the winners are expected to be announced in September.
Cuomo announced in his budget presentation in January his plan to encourage economic development upstate by awarding $500 million to three regions that put forth the most compelling plans.
The Regional Economic Development Councils are tasked with drafting these plans and Garry VanGorder, executive director of the Cortland County Business Development Corp., said Monday there have been preliminary meetings in Syracuse on the matter. Cortland County is a member of the Central New York Regional Council, which is one of the seven regions eligible to compete for the three pots of $500 million in revitalization funds.
VanGorder sits on the council as does city Mayor Brian Tobin and Cortland County Legislature Chairperson Susan Briggs (R-Cortlandville). Tobin is a nonvoting member. The Central New York Council comprises Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Oswego and Onondaga counties.
The other eligible regions are the Mid-Hudson, Capital Region, Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes, North Country and Southern Tier. Not all 10 regions statewide are eligible to win these revitalization funds.
VanGorder said discussions have been very preliminary so far so he could not say which specific projects are being put forward, but he said the types of projects that would score highly are those that would result in significant job creation and an injection of funds into the local economy. He said Cuomo specified only that the funds should not be used for infrastructure projects, but rather ones that create jobs and stimulate private investment.
The funds are intended to underwrite projects that would ultimately boost that initial investment by resulting in more money being spent locally.
“The idea is that state money allows that private capital investment in the projects, meaning job creation,” VanGorder said. “The best plans are those plans that show there are businesses out there willing to make those kinds of investments in those regions.”
Although the regions are in the early stages of drafting their plans to apply for these funds, there is still uncertainty about what shape the initiative will take in the end.
“The wild card in this is what the governor put forward in his budget proposal, there are indications that the Legislature does not support the plan as put forward and there may be changes to it if it is in place at all by the time the budget’s set,” VanGorder said.
However, the councils are proceeding with conversations about what types of projects would be favorable and looking to “identify the best way to compete for the dollars,” VanGorder said.
Tobin said he has high hopes about the council’s ability to put forward an application that will score well.
“The Central New York team has been very effective, it is something that has worked well for us and hopefully will continue to do so,” Tobin said.
Tobin urges local businesses with ideas to contact VanGorder with their initiatives.
At the same time regional councils are gearing up to apply for these funds, they are also in their fifth year of competing for about $25 million in state economic development funds. This is the yearly competition among the10 councils statewide in which each region prioritizes a list of projects in the hopes of being among the three winners to receive millions of dollars to fund those projects.
The timeline the state sets varies yearly, but projects typically are submitted by June and not awarded until December.
“There’s a lot on our plate,” saidVanGorder.
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