NNY gets $103m in economic council funds from state
The north country has received $103.2 million in funding to fund projects that will help create jobs.
The state money will focus on tourism, housing, agriculture and small business, along with other projects. Anthony G. Collins, a co-chair of the regional economic development council that received the award, estimated that the money will help create 1,000 jobs, including those in construction. A full list of projects can be found here. North country projects start on page 52 of the PDF document.
The following projects in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties received funding:
* $4 million to build 400 units of housing in Jefferson County.
* $400,000 to help build MetalCraft Marine in Cape Vincent.
* $2.3 million to help build a destination hotel in Clayton.
* $400,000 to the city of Watertown to help rehabilitate and build new housing.
* $25,000 to Florelle Tissue for workforce training.
* $1.8 million in housing rehabilitation programs in Jefferson County and Watertown.
* $351,000 to help the village of Philadelphia develop a small island on the Indian River.
* $1.5 million to construct a hangar at the Watertown International Airport, with office space.
* $10 million to reopen and rehabilitate 46.25 miles of rail line to serve Newton Falls Fine Paper, Benson Mine and Slack Chemical.
* $330,000 to rehabilitate the Lyons Falls mill site into a mixed use business park.
* $21,668 to restore Constable Hall in Lewis County.
* $428,560 to rehabilitate low- and moderate-income homes in Lewis County.
* $18,750 to help restore the General Walter Martin mansion in Lewis County.
* $288,200 to help rehabilitate low-income housing in Gouverneur.
* $311,600 to help rehabilitate homes in Massena.
* $135,000 for waterfront improvements in the towns of Clifton and Fine.
* $400,000 for Composite Systems Technologies to build a mill in St. Lawrence County.
* $130,000 to buy a mobile poultry slaughter unit.
* $759,900 for the Massena International Airport to build a storage facility for small aircraft.
* $250,000 to provide broadband access to Corning Inc. and to provide broadband access to the village of Rensselaer Falls.
* $60,000 for improvements to the Highley Flow winter park in St. Lawrence County.
* $1.6 million for improvements to a rail line connected to Alcoa in Massena.
* $450,000 for improvements to the New York Ogdensburg railway that connects the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority with Norwood.
* $750,000 to help low- and middle-income St. Lawrence County residents purchase a home.
* $300,000 for improvements to single-family homes in St. Lawrence County.
* $200,000 for rail improvements serving the Clearwater Paper Company near Gouverneur.
* $400,000 to help renovate homes in Potsdam.
* About $2 million for sewer and water improvements in Gouverneur.
* $136,800 for housing improvements in Gouverneur.
* $184,800 in housing improvements in Massena.
* $100,000 for a grant program that helps small businesses in Potsdam.
* $346,923 to determine whether a whitewater kayaking park on the Grasse and Raquette rivers is possible.
The grant also includes $55 million in tax credits and bonds that the state or local governments can issue to help fund projects.
This breaking news story will continue to be updated.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is from a recent Times story about the funding process.
Over the past three days, regional economic development council leaders from around the state have taken their turn in the Blue Room of the Capitol building, presenting their plans for economic growth.
For an hour on Wednesday morning, all eyes and ears in Albany were on the north country as council leaders presented their strategic plan to a five-member panel of judges.It is that panel that will decide how to hand out $200 million in funding. Members will choose four plans to take home the top prize of $40 million, while the remaining six councils will split another $40 million.
Judges listened intently as North Country Regional Economic Development Council co-chairs Garry F. Douglas and Anthony G. Collins portrayed an independent, and largely forgotten, region of New York.
More than any other area of the state, the north country has had to be self-reliant, Mr. Douglas told the audience, and has been left behind as the state hands out economic development dollars.
"We have been the most ill-served region of the state by past policies," Mr. Douglas said. "By the past approach of the state setting top-down, flavors of the year as to what the strategies and priorities are that don't necessarily fit our area of the state."
But now, with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's regional approach, the north country finally has been set on a level playing field with places like Long Island, New York City and Albany, council leaders said.
And it was with this newfound level of equality that leaders took to the state capital, highlighting four of their 16 priority projects to the board.
They began by talking about a high-tech problem at Fort Drum, a problem that could threaten the future of the post, Mr. Collins warned.
The council is asking for help in the expansion of C-Speed, a Liverpool-based engineering firm, as it works on creating radar that eliminates interference from wind turbines.
"We're confident that if we can solve the radar problem, then the base can continue to be there, it will expand and we will need housing," Mr. Collins said.
The two co-chairs shuffled through slides, asking for funding support to create reliable broadband Internet access in the area, restore the Newton Falls rail line and create mobile slaughterhouses for poultry.
With the help of state funding, Mr. Collins and Mr. Douglas told the judges, these plans and the 12 other priority projects would be boosted along.
"Thousands of lives will be positively changed by this planning process and the acceleration that potentially we could receive from the state of New York to take all of our projects and strategies forward," Mr. Douglas said.
Following the presentation, the judges took turns praising the plan. But they did raise a few questions about the priority projects.
