University of Rochester President and CEO Joel Seligman and Wegmans Food Markets CEO Danny Wegman, co-chairs of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, issued the following statement in response the 2015 Regional Economic Development Council and Upstate Revitalization Initiative Awards, which were announced earlier today.
Today in Albany, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul, and legislative leaders announced $500 million in economic development support for the Finger Lakes and selected the region as one of the three awardees of the Upstate Revitalization Initiative (URI) competition.
We cannot overstate our enthusiasm at this historic opportunity to transform our region’s economy.
We are deeply grateful to the Governor and New York State Legislature for their unprecedented commitment to revive the upstate economy and help confront the roots of poverty in our region. The URI award represents a catalytic multi-year commitment to accelerate economic growth at a speed and on a scale previously unimaginable and extend opportunity to more of our region’s residents.
Our region is proud of what we have achieved to date. With state support, Eastman Business Park is on track to becoming a global center for technological innovation and the STAMP site in Genesee County will soon be transformed into a key component in New York State’s next-generation manufacturing infrastructure. State investments have also played a critical role in the revitalization of downtown Rochester, and new developments at College Town, CityGate, and in Geneva, Canandaigua, and Penn Yan.
These new funds will enable our region to build upon this momentum by making strategic investments in core job drivers, strengthen our region’s quality of life, and – in collaboration with the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative and the Governor’s Rochester Anti-Poverty Task Force – undertake an historic effort to lift more families and communities out of poverty.
The development of the Finger Lakes URI plan would not have been possible without the tireless work of the Council, the 450 members of our Work Groups, and the thousands of stakeholders and members of the public who participated in this process.
We fully recognize that our efforts have only just begun and look forward to continuing to work with the Governor and New York State to continue to build a new economic future for the Finger Lakes region.
