It’s a statewide economic-development initiative that will award up to $500 million to three of seven competing Upstate regions.
The CNY REDC announced its call for community input during a Thursday morning event at the historic Hotel Syracuse.
The Hotel Syracuse is the site of a $57 million restoration project and recipient of a $3.6 million REDC grant in the fourth round of the state’s competitive economic-development process.
The CNY REDC is one of several such councils statewide that are part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2011 to develop “long-term strategic plans growth” in their respective regions, according to the regional council website.
Cuomo proposed the Upstate Revitalization Initiative competition in his State of the State address in January, and state lawmakers included the funding in the new state budget.
Besides Central New York, the other regions competing for the three awards include the Mohawk Valley, Southern Tier, North Country, Finger Lakes, Capital Region, and Mid-Hudson.
“The governor’s staff and Empire State Development are currently working out the final details of this competition, but we are not going to wait to get started in developing our region’s plan because we intend to win,” Kent Syverud, chancellor of Syracuse University and co-chair of the CNY REDC, said in his remarks.
CNY REDC is looking for ideas for project applications that align with its “existing strategies and framework for investment,” Syverud added.
CNY REDC is looking for ideas in 10 strategic areas, Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO and co-chair of the CNY REDC, said in his remarks.
The group wants projects targeting urban cores and Main Streets; information and cyber security; unmanned aerial systems; financial services and insurance; agriculture and food processing and packaging; health and environment; tourism; innovation; transportation and logistics infrastructure; and strategies that create economic opportunity for all residents.
“We are going to put our best foot forward. We are going to work as hard as it takes to ensure that this strategy is well thought out. That it has broad buy-in from the public sector, from the private sector, from our institutions and our nonprofits and our neighborhood leaders,” said Simpson.
CNY REDC is launching a public-input process on its Facebook page.
Those interested can visit the page to download background documents on the process and submit feedback and ideas suggesting how the region can “best craft” a competitive application, the REDC said in a news release distributed Thursday.
The council will also hold its first public-participation “brainstorming” session in late April.
The CNY REDC expects the competition to launch in the coming weeks. New York is modeling the competition after the Buffalo Billion initiative that Cuomo established to “jumpstart” the Western New York economy, the REDC said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
PHOTO CAPTION: Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud, co-chair of the Central New York regional economic-development council (CNY REDC), addresses the gathering at the Hotel Syracuse as the CNY REDC called for community input for its application in the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState and CNY REDC co-chair, stands to the right of Syverud. (Eric Reinhardt / CNYBJ)