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Governor Andrew Cuomo announced early in his term that he'd be creating a set of "regional economic councils" to build plans for funding economic development across New York, from the ground up.In the summer of 2011 he finally announced some of the details of the program, to be led by Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy. The ten councils each have dozens of members, and are charged with gathering input from the public and business leaders, and creating a plan by November 14. Those plans will be pitted against each other for a pot of $1 billion in grants, incentives, and tax relief from various state agencies. The winners will get more funding, the losers will get less.But other details - like whether funding will be available past the initial term, and who will serve on the board that decides who wins and who loses - have not been released.The Innovation Trail is looking for your feedback about what your regional economic priorities are, and what you want your community to look like once the councils have completed their task.

Regional council workshop focuses on the funding

Agency officials led breakout sessions on how to land state money via the new regional economic development councils.
Zack Seward
/
WXXI
Agency officials led breakout sessions on how to land state money via the new regional economic development councils.

For all the talk about “collaboration” and “efficiency” surrounding the governor’s new regional economic development councils, what it really boils down to is pumping state money into the economy - one project at a time.

On Monday, more than 150 people from the Finger Lakes region attended a workshop that kept that fact front and center. The workshop focused on the nuts and bolts of how specific projects would win state cash.

A new approach

The tool at the heart of the Cuomo administration’s economic development initiative is called the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA). Here it is.

“This is a real different method of doing business in New York state,” says Bob McNary, executive director of the Finger Lakes council.

McNary says the new application is a one-stop-shop for businesses, non-profits and municipalities who want to tap in to the wide-ranging pool of state money that the councils have some say over. McNary told workshop attendees that over 200 CFAs had already been submitted for the Finger Lakes region alone.

Here’s how the CFA process works: Each project submits an application, which is then ranked against the council’s vision statement and strategic priorities. The strongest CFAs - i.e., the ones that fit best into a region’s strategic plan - get funded.

But the problem is, those priorities aren’t yet final - they’ll be released to the public on November 14. The deadline to submit a CFA, however, is October 31.

No rubric

“If you’re not going to match your grant or your item with the priorities of the council, then you’re just wasting your time,” says Harvey Botzman. He was at the workshop on behalf of the New York Bicycling Coalition, among other biking nonprofits.

Botzman says he likes the new streamlined approach - with the CFA, projects submit a single application for state money, instead of one for each agency. But without a firm picture of each region’s strategic priorities, Botzman thinks the upcoming deadline is problematic.

In at least one breakout session, other attendees voiced similar concerns.

No rubric needed

“It’s like being back in elementary school or college,” says Deb Najarro, a consultant working for local rail development program.

Najarro says she understands why some people feel like they’re in a class with no syllabus. But she’s not entirely sympathetic. She thinks there’s enough draft material out there to craft an application that’ll get a good grade.

“Let’s face it,” says Najarro, “each of the councils are pretty much going to be focused on the same basic premise: job creation, leveraging private funds and all the other economic development strategies that go along with it.”

WXXI/Finger Lakes reporter for the Innovation Trail.
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