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Finger Lakes region to receive $80 million in economic development money

 Downtown Rochester skyline view.
Max Schulte
/
WXXI News
Downtown Rochester skyline view.

The Finger Lakes region, which includes the Rochester area, was one of the five "top award" winners of New York state's annual regional economic development competition.

The region will receive $80.5 million, which is out of a pool of $750 million in funding.

The awards were announced in Albany in a ceremony hosted by business reporter Maria Bartiromo, and which also featured remarks by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Anne Kress is a co-chair of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council. She said they are very pleased with the grant, which will add to local anti-poverty efforts. 

“The entire council is really dedicated to poverty reduction and economic development and aligning those two efforts, so we’re really looking forward to using some of these funds to make sure that economic opportunity is available to the full diversity of our community and of our region." 

Kress said the council is hoping the money can help create more entry-level jobs toward those anti-poverty efforts.

It was the sixth time for the Regional Economic Development Council Awards. Regions of the state compete to win millions of dollars in economic development funds. They are judged by the strength of their plans.
 
Last year, the Finger Lakes region won a special $500 million award through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

Other awards this year ranged from over $80 million for the Capital Region, New York City and the Mid-Hudson Valley to over $60 million each for Western New York, the Southern Tier, Central New York, the North Country and Long Island.

Cuomo said there are signs that the program is working.

“Unemployment has dropped all across the state of New York,” Cuomo said, with the current unemployment rate now around 5 percent.

Cuomo said there are plenty of employment challenges ahead, though. He said manufacturing jobs have not been lost to immigrants or trade deals with foreign countries. He said the biggest change is that much more factory work has been automated, and overseen by fewer, but more highly skilled workers.

Cuomo said New York has the potential, through its university system, to train new manufacturing workers. 

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for the New York Public News Network, composed of a dozen newsrooms across the state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.
Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.