The Finger Lakes region was the big winner today at the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) awards for second round funding.
The Finger Lakes REDCreceived $96.2 million in funding to continue working on 76 projects around the region.
It was also one of three Best Plan awardees, winning $25 million for its 2012 submission.
A total of $738 million was distributed to 10 councils around New York state in thesecond round of funding.
The Finger Lakes council received the largest award in the state, and CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance, Sandy Parker says she is pleased that this money will be filtering into the region’s communities.
“This is a great boost, and the region should be proud of getting the largest award.”
Parker says the council applied for funding for ten transformational projects across the Finger Lakes, totaling about $28 million in funding requests in the Consolidated Funding Application process..
She says they received all the capital needed for the projects, plus extra funding that will trickle down to other endeavors in the region.
In a statement released today, co-chairs of the Finger Lakes regional council – University of Rochester president, Joel Seligman, and CEO of Wegmans Food Markets, Danny Wegman – said they are proud of the council’s progress so far, and they look forward to moving forward with projects thanks to this funding.
“These funds represent a crucial investment in our plans to create 50,000 new jobs in the region over the next five years. We take particular pride in the fact that the state singled out our region’s strategic plan for recognition.”
Parker says she does not know yet the exact list of projects receiving funding, or the amount that will be given to all projects.
However, Parker says the following list of projects is an example of how the funding will be divided.
· The University of Rochester Center for Computational Excellence received $5 million
· RIT’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability received $5 million
· MCC’s Middle Skills project received $600,000
· The Midtown revitalization project received $4 million
· The University of Rochester College Town expansion received $4 million
Other projects that will receive funding include the Eastman Business Park in Rochester, the Pathstone Finger Lakes Enterprise Fund, the STAMP project, the Seneca Ag-Bio Green Energy Park, and the Finger Lakes Business Accelerator.