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Regional Economic Development Council appoints county legislature chair, Massena Alcoa manager to vacant seats

Posted 1/26/15

The North Country Regional Economic Development Council recently appointed St. Lawrence County Legislature Chairman Joseph Lightfoot and Alcoa Massena location manager Robert Lenney to vacant seats. …

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Regional Economic Development Council appoints county legislature chair, Massena Alcoa manager to vacant seats

Posted

The North Country Regional Economic Development Council recently appointed St. Lawrence County Legislature Chairman Joseph Lightfoot and Alcoa Massena location manager Robert Lenney to vacant seats.

The council is tasked with coming up with projects to compete with others throughout New York for more than $1 billion in state economic development grants.

The North Country council appointed Lightfoot and Lenney at a recent meeting in Lake Placid, which Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul attended.

During the meeting, council workgroups reported on their progress and plans for 2015.

The agriculture workgroup provided an overview of the USDA and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets grants awarded in the region. They asked for a letter of support from the NCREDC in favor of a project to add forest products and community supported agriculture to the Adirondack Harvest Project website. The website links farmers to consumers, restaurants, stores and institutions.

The New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL) presented on the expansion of what Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling the “Unemployment Strikeforce,” a campaign to boost employment rates in the areas where the fewest people are working. In partnership with New York state, Empire State Development, the state Department of Labor and other partners, the “strikeforce” will no include 10 counties, including St. Lawrence.

The higher education and research development (HEARD) workgroup discussed its planned actions around several state programs, including “START-UP NY,” the “Innovation Hot Spot” program and “SUNY 2020.”

The workforce development group made a presentation about science, technology, engineering and math education, and workforce development in local schools.

Finally, the council provided an update on the status of all regional council projects, including a summary of the 2014 regional council awards. In December, the North Country Regional Council was awarded $63.4 million for 69 economic and community development projects.