Finger Lakes priority projects include middle skills job development
ext month, Empire State Development will announce how much funding New York's 10 Regional Economic Development Councils receive for
the priority projects each region identified. As a member of the Finger Lakes
Regional Economic Development Council,
I worked closely with the group to choose
which projects we felt had the greatest potential to transform the region and create
jobs. Since the beginnil\g of the program
four years ago, the goal" b;a~ been to bring
50,000 jobs to our regiof{by 2016.
The biggest success of the regional
council process is that itsOieaders reached
a consensus on the top economic drivers
of the nine-county Finger Lakes region.
Rural communities worked together with
Monroe and Ontario counties to help name
projects for economic development and
job creation.
As you'll see below in some of the
Finger Lakes priority project highlights,
one of the main differences over the four
rounds of council funding is a shift from
concentrating mainly on capital projects to
include non-capital issues such as middle
skills job development efforts.
Here's a look at some of the priority
projects:
Eastman Business Park remains the
region's number one economic development priority. The EBP Biosciences
Manufacturing Center is expected to
create a new shared facility that will establish the park as a leader in research
and development and th~ manufacture of
N
ON BUSINESS
biofuels and biomaterials.
A Finger Lakes Business Accelerator
hub in downtown.Rochester wiH provide
early stage business support services as
wen as accelerate downtown development.
This has the potential to bring an "innovation district" to the heart of the city.
New investments will strengthen theregion's leadership in biomedical research,
optics, photonics, imaging and the graphic
arts as well as support the region's technology companies. These include the University of Rochester Institute for Data
Science, RIT's MAGIC Spell Lab and
the Finger Lakes Regional Center for
Advanced Optics Manufacturing.
The Multiple Pathways to Middle
Skills Jobs initiative is a collaboration of
higher education, public school districts,
workforce investment boards, trade associations and employers to help create
seamless career pathways. Similarly, the
Monroe Community College Accelerated Precision Tooling Degree Certificate Program, the Finger Lakes Food
Processing Cluster Initiative and Finger
Lakes Community College's Mechatron-
ic Technology Training program aim to
bridge the middle skills gap.
Along those lines, programs that help
prepare at-risk students for academic success and job readiness include the Hillside
Work-Scholarship Connection, the Stepping Stones Learning Center's new child
care facility and the expansion of the Boys
and Girls Clubs of Rochester.
Assistance for the region's farmers,
food processors and food entrepreneurs
can help them ejq>an~, develop new products and access ·new markets. These include renovation~ to ·the New York State
Food Venture Cen(t!'r, the new Rochester
High Pressure Pr.ocessing Center, the
Winery Based Wastewater Treatment
Systems pilot project, the Growing ihe
Agriculture Industry Now! Fund, the
Foodlink Food Hub and the Wyoming
County Dairy Initiative.
Investment in industrial sites can help
the region attract the next generation of
high-tech companies and convert food and
agricultural waste into sources of energy.
This includes the Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park in
Genesee County, the Genesee Biogas
project serving the Genesee Valley AgriBusiness Park in Batavia and the Seneca
BioEnergy project in the former Seneca
Army Depot.
Tourism and arts destinations attract
visitors to the Finger Lakes and expand
local business activity. Regional Council
priority projects include The Strong and
Toy Industry National Halls of Fame,
improvements to Frontier Field in Rochester and the continued development of the
Finger Lakes Museum Discovery Campus in Yates County.
The region has a small amount of input on where the money goes for stateapproved projects, but the Finger Lakes
Regional Economic Development Council
would like to see more of an emphasis on
local input. Currently, it stands at 20 percent; it should be higher to have a greater
impact, as those who live and work here
know best.
I also know that some people expressed
disappointment last year when the Finger
Lakes was not one of the top recipients of
Regional Council funding. It's important
to remember that most of the regions have
received fairly even funding over the life
of the program. In fact, we were the top
recipient in 2011. The Finger Lakes region has received $225 million over the
first three years of the Regional Council
funding model.
Again, we find out early next month
which of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council's priority
projects made the cut for this year's round
of state funding. In past years, the state
has waited until December to make the
announcements. I ~onder why it's moved
up this year. Does anyone have a guess?
On another note, don't forget to vote on
Election Day, Nov. 4!
Sandra Parker is president and CEO of
Rochester Business Alliance Inc. Contact
her at SandyP@RBAlliance. com.