Chenango may see benefit of push for more EDA funding
WASHINGTON – The federally funded Economic Development Administration hasn’t seen an increase in funding in nearly a decade, and that’s cost New York State dozens of lost opportunities for job creation, according to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer.
Schumer, a Democrat, has launched a push to significantly increase federal funding for the Economic Development Administration for the first time in 10 years, making the case that hundreds of EDA applications go unfunded each year.
Those unfunded applications result in thousands of lost jobs and missed economic growth opportunities throughout upstate New York, Schumer said, including in the Southern Tier which encompasses Chenango County and ten other counties.
From 2007-2014, the Southern Tier saw 31 applications receive EDA funding of more than $15 million. However, eight applications submitted from 2011-2014, totalling $8.9 million, went completely unfunded.
The problem, said Schumer, is that EDA funds are life-saving for projects like sewer upgrades, business incubators, industrial parks, and regional innovation plans. But with EDA funding static (and in some years, funding for EDA has even been cut slightly), upstate is losing.
With a slow-going economy, now is the time to invest more in EDA activity, he said.
“A worst case scenario is when a community has done the hard work of attracting a new company to their backyard, but the business decides to move elsewhere because the EDA application for a modest infrastructure improvement was stalled,” said Schumer. “I am urging federal appropriators to make a significant increase in EDA funding this year so New York can use those funds to create new jobs, attract new businesses to the region and make key infrastructure upgrades.”
“If you want to spur economic recovery, you’re going to be doing more activity,” said Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig. “So if the activity level goes up, and the funding is flatlined, there’s going to be a disconnect.”
Commerce Chenango is currently working with the EDA to restore the defunct Utica Main Line Railroad that runs south to north in Chenango County from the Town of Greene to the Town of Sherburne.
Because EDA funding is limited, and their workload is so high, there have been challenges throughout the railroad project, said Craig; namely, hindered communications between Commerce Chenango and the EDA due to staff shortages at the EDA Philadelphia office. That office has been without a regional director for nearly a year.
“In our frequent contact with the EDA over the last five years, it’s become clear that EDA staff is significantly overworked,” said Craig, adding that an increase in funding may help the Philadelphia office with its overladen workload.
Commerce Chenango is also considering the EDA as a funding source for another large-scale project in the near future. Craig said hopes are to create an innovative makerspace in Norwich for business-minded individuals to bring their ideas into fruition. But the project may cost between $1 and $3 million, said Craig. If EDA funding isn’t available, that project may never get past the idea stage.
The lack of EDA investment leaves nearly 800 applications nationally for federal funding unfunded each year. In the last few years alone, New York has had more than 100 applications not receive funding due to a lack of available resources.
The EDA’s mission is to promote innovation and competitiveness in the American economy, which it does by providing grants to state and local governments, and to economic development councils, nonprofit organizations, universities, and other institutions that support the development and implementation of economic development projects.
Schumer, a Democrat, has launched a push to significantly increase federal funding for the Economic Development Administration for the first time in 10 years, making the case that hundreds of EDA applications go unfunded each year.
Those unfunded applications result in thousands of lost jobs and missed economic growth opportunities throughout upstate New York, Schumer said, including in the Southern Tier which encompasses Chenango County and ten other counties.
From 2007-2014, the Southern Tier saw 31 applications receive EDA funding of more than $15 million. However, eight applications submitted from 2011-2014, totalling $8.9 million, went completely unfunded.
The problem, said Schumer, is that EDA funds are life-saving for projects like sewer upgrades, business incubators, industrial parks, and regional innovation plans. But with EDA funding static (and in some years, funding for EDA has even been cut slightly), upstate is losing.
With a slow-going economy, now is the time to invest more in EDA activity, he said.
“A worst case scenario is when a community has done the hard work of attracting a new company to their backyard, but the business decides to move elsewhere because the EDA application for a modest infrastructure improvement was stalled,” said Schumer. “I am urging federal appropriators to make a significant increase in EDA funding this year so New York can use those funds to create new jobs, attract new businesses to the region and make key infrastructure upgrades.”
“If you want to spur economic recovery, you’re going to be doing more activity,” said Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig. “So if the activity level goes up, and the funding is flatlined, there’s going to be a disconnect.”
Commerce Chenango is currently working with the EDA to restore the defunct Utica Main Line Railroad that runs south to north in Chenango County from the Town of Greene to the Town of Sherburne.
Because EDA funding is limited, and their workload is so high, there have been challenges throughout the railroad project, said Craig; namely, hindered communications between Commerce Chenango and the EDA due to staff shortages at the EDA Philadelphia office. That office has been without a regional director for nearly a year.
“In our frequent contact with the EDA over the last five years, it’s become clear that EDA staff is significantly overworked,” said Craig, adding that an increase in funding may help the Philadelphia office with its overladen workload.
Commerce Chenango is also considering the EDA as a funding source for another large-scale project in the near future. Craig said hopes are to create an innovative makerspace in Norwich for business-minded individuals to bring their ideas into fruition. But the project may cost between $1 and $3 million, said Craig. If EDA funding isn’t available, that project may never get past the idea stage.
The lack of EDA investment leaves nearly 800 applications nationally for federal funding unfunded each year. In the last few years alone, New York has had more than 100 applications not receive funding due to a lack of available resources.
The EDA’s mission is to promote innovation and competitiveness in the American economy, which it does by providing grants to state and local governments, and to economic development councils, nonprofit organizations, universities, and other institutions that support the development and implementation of economic development projects.
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