The North Country Regional Economic Development Council met recently for updates on economic development efforts across the region including DRI and New York Forward funding.
New York state created 10 councils to coordinate regional economic development efforts and recommend projects for funding under the state’s DRI, or Downtown Revitalization Initiative, and Restore New York grants.
North Country Regional Director Steve Hunt told council members that since their last meeting a number of efforts are continuing including public outreach opportunities.
“This is an opportunity to make known the grant options that are available to people in the region, as well as get the word out about what the Regional Council does and our strategic goals and our vision for the North Country economy,” Hunt explained.
Co-chair Jim McKenna noted that DRI projects in Watertown, Tupper Lake and other communities are moving forward.
“To actually see the DRIs come to life, it's pretty incredible. And you combine that with what's going on with the Restore programs in some of the same communities, it gives us a good indication that our downtowns are seeing some revitalization,” McKenna said. “I took the time to take a little tour of the Nest Facility downtown Watertown. Just to see that strip come to life, I can remember I toured it a year and a half ago, and what's happening now. It's good to see through this DRI/New York Forward programs, we are bringing life to these communities. Hopefully they'll translate into new investment as well.”
The regional council has created a scoring committee that reviews project proposals and makes recommendations to the full council as to which should be included in the regional DRI application.
Hunt reviewed the scoring criteria for the 61 applications the full council would review during the meeting.
“Every single CFA (Consolidated Funding Application) that you'll be reviewing today will receive a score of either 20, 15, 10, five or zero. The most project can get, of course, would be the 20, and that would make the project a priority project of the region,” noted Hunt. “This does not guarantee that a project will be funded. It just simply means that the region has identified it as a priority for its strategic goals. And then, of course, we also have 15 scores which are considered very strong or regionally significant projects. And these projects, again, that doesn't ensure that the project will be funded. It's just making a statement about the region's perspective on the project.”
Members of the scoring committee then reviewed the proposed projects, their costs and projected number of jobs. A motion to accept the recommended scores and ranks for the projects passed unanimously and it will be forwarded to the state for consideration.
Communities in the North Country that have so far received DRI funding are Plattsburgh, Watertown, Saranac Lake, Potsdam, Massena, Tupper Lake, Ticonderoga and Lowville. Lyons Falls, Waddington, Cape Vincent, Alexandria Bay and Canton have received New York Forward grants.
New York Department of State Office of Planning, Development and Community Infrastructure Revitalization Specialist Amanda Bearcroft told the council that the eighth round of DRI grants and the third round of New York Forward grants are upcoming for New York communities.
“Ten million dollars will be allocated to each region, with a caveat that New York City this round will only be receiving one $20 million award,” Bearcroft said. “Applicants for the DRI can be either one community or a joint application of two to three smaller, contiguous communities that all share a single, unified revitalization vision.”
Co-chair Mckenna announced that a new council work group has been formed.
“We’re going to do an Adirondack work group. And why we're doing an Adirondack work group, for those of you not familiar, the Adirondack Park is divided into three separate economic development regions. That combined with some of the additional regulatory requirements within the Park, we think there's real synergy with the other regions in talking about that,” explained McKenna. “So we’ve decided to put that work group together. It's going to be a little informal at first. But we think that this work group will provide good opportunity for the Park overall, while having three independent economic regions.”
DRI and New York Forward applications are due on October 18th .
