Economic-development agencies in the Southern Tier are teaming up to market the region as a clean energy and technology hotspot in hopes of attracting new business and creating jobs. “We’re really excited about this,” says Stacey Duncan, executive director of The Agency in Broome County. Talks between the agencies began last spring, with a focus […]
Economic-development agencies in the Southern Tier are teaming up to market the region as a clean energy and technology hotspot in hopes of attracting new business and creating jobs.
“We’re really excited about this,” says Stacey Duncan, executive director of The Agency in Broome County. Talks between the agencies began last spring, with a focus on turning the region into a clean-energy hub to grow economic-development opportunities. “It’s been a whirlwind.”
When the federal Build Back Better initiative was unveiled a year ago, the result was a lot of investment coming into the state, Duncan says, and talks centered around how to take advantage of that and keep the momentum going.
Locally, that means boots on the ground making sure the Southern Tier has the infrastructure and facilities available to welcome the opportunity, Duncan says.
To make sure, Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties are collectively funding a survey by Newmark Group, Inc.’s global corporate services division that will put together a reginal profile from a clean-technology standpoint.
“It’s going to be a very highly collaborative effort,” Duncan says of the survey.
With innovations across the region like Binghamton University’s designation as a New Energy New York battery innovation hub and the renewable-energy generation in Steuben County, it really just makes sense to pursue promoting the region as the place to be for clean technology, Steuben County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director James Johnson says.
“If you look at the region as a whole … the Southern Tier generates the most renewable energy in the state,” he says.
Clean-energy initiatives already in place provide a great foundation to market the region, Johnson notes, and the survey will help the region best prepare to both reach out to new companies and field inquiries coming in.
“We see leads all the time,” Johnson says. Once the survey is done, it will help the IDAs in the eight-county region by having a full catalog of sites across all the counties available. That way, they can work collectively to steer inquiring companies to the best site. The IDAs can also use the site profiles created by the survey to actively market sites, targeting companies that are ideal for that site. The ultimate goal is a regional marketing plan.
Duncan expects the survey will take about six months to complete. While the Agency is acting as the point of contact with Newmark, all the regional IDAs as well as other stakeholders have a place on the steering committee. Right now, the IDAs are working to get the necessary financial commitment from their respective counties.
The hope is to sign all the necessary contracts by mid-January and get the process going.
