Partnership gets $30,000 boost

A north country marketing initiative got a final boost to create a website and plan.

Drum Country Business received a $30,000 grant from National Grid to complete this phase of work. The money is matched by $30,000 from local economic development partners, including Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties' industrial development agencies, Lewis County Office of Economic Development and Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization.

"Everything has been moving together at the same time, so we will roll all of it out together," said Michelle L. Capone, who has worked with Drum Country Business as the senior project development specialist with the Development Authority of the North Country. "It's a great example of a regional partnership to promote our region and its assets."

The site promotes itself as "an essential web site for soldiers and families transferring to the Fort Drum area." Its offerings include health care, education, day care, jobs and housing and it offers a relocation guide, a business guide and regional photo gallery, among other things.

Consultant Ady-Voltedge, Madison, Wis., has completed a five-page prospectus to attract businesses through site selectors and a logo. The firm will now improve the website and develop the marketing plan. A public unveiling is tentatively scheduled for March 4.

"FDRLO and the Drum Country Business group have employed internationally known experts in site selection and marketing to produce outstanding materials," said Art Hamlin, National Grid's director of economic development for upstate New York, in a news release.

This is the second grant from National Grid's Strategic Economic Development Outreach Program, which provides resources to regional organizations for marketing and sales efforts to generate out-of-state prospects for Upstate New York communities in its service area.

In 2009, National Grid matched $15,000 from the local partners to work on the prospectus, which also will include specifics geared to targeted fields, including renewable energy and food processing industries.

National Grid expected to assist with the phases of the project's roll-out, said spokeswoman Virginia Limmiatis.

"This is something that we have strived to work closely on with the partners," she said.

The initiative started with a North Country Business and Resources Gap Analysis, commissioned by the liaison organization and completed in 2007.

"Drum Country Business highlights the unique collaboration of agencies using their collective resources to promote the region," said Carl McLaughlin, executive director of the liaison organization, in a news release.

ON THE NET

Drum Country:

www.drumcountry.com