At a public meeting at Wegman's Conference Center, leaders from over 15 workgroups pitched some of their best projects so far to the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council.
Though they are still accepting applications until the end of the month, the workgroups have already identified some of their priority projects and this meeting gave them an opportunity to show them off.
So far, the projects are as varied as they are plentiful (The Entrepreneurship and Innovation group's plan for a Start Up Accelerator is a little flashier than Infrastructure and Transportation's idea for a new intersection.) but Chairman Joel Seligman says all these diverse industries have a contribution to make to the competition.
"I didn't hear a project today that didn't strike me as meritorious and worthy. The toughest challenge -- representing nine counties and discovering over time that $500 million, while a big number, maybe will not go as far as all of our projects -- will be to prioritize."
Besides the $500 million from the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, the Finger Lakes is also eligible for at least $90 million through the fifth annual Regional Council Competition. Seligman says these two initiatives, as well as the Rochester Anti-Poverty Task Force, are complimentary initiatives which all address a unified vision for the future of the region and as a result, have objectives that overlap.
Boston Consulting Group, provided by the state to work with the region, also addressed the council with updates of their own. The group is responsible for making the proposal data-driven, comprehensive, and competitive as possible by addressing several key objectives laid out by Governor Cuomo, including employing hard to place workers and connecting industries.
Simonida Subotić of BCG says one of the important factors in winning the competition will be establishing that the Finger Lakes is ready and deserving of the grant money through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. She says there are three ways to do that in the proposal: Show your track record, show your assets, and show private investment.
"Show that we actually have private investors ready to go and projects in the pipeline that are committed and they are counting on that state support."
BCG's presentation also focused on branding, and the narrative the Finger Lakes Region will be developing as part of their proposal.
The next public meeting of the FLREDC will be August 12.
