Seward At Table
In Dividing $1.5B
ALBANY – Otsego County’s state senator, Jim Seward, R-Milford, today was one of only two members of the state Legislature’s upper house to join in reviewing which three of the state’s economic development regions will share Governor Cuomo’s $1.5 billion Upstate Development Fund.
MV500, representing the six-county Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council that includes Otsego, submitted an application on Oct. 5 that was heavily weighted toward STEM and nanotechnology development in the Utica/Marcy area. But it included no STEM or nano projects in Otsego.
“New York State’s economic future is at stake, and these blueprints are essential to our success,” Seward said. “By taking a lead role in the process, I have an opportunity to review the proposals, ask questions of the architects, and learn the nuts and bolts of each plan. I look at this assignment as a chance to weigh in on this year’s grant winners, and to discover creative new strategies that could have future value.”
Each of the 10 Regional Economic Development Councils from around the state will make a presentation to the SIAT – the governor’s 2015 Strategic Implementation Assessment Team – over a three-day period.
Announced by the governor in January, the Upstate Development Fund is now being referred to as the URI, the Upstate Renewal Initiative.
