At 9:30 am on Thursday, Dec 8, 2011, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will announce the winners of the $200 million Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) grants contest. The event, headlined by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, will be held in Albany, NY at the Hart Theater.
Photo credit - NY REDC
New York’s 10 REDCs are competing for a $40 million grant to fund priority economic development projects. Four of 10 agencies will each get $40 million apiece, while the other six will have to share the remaining $40 million.
Each of the councils was asked to prepare and submit presentations to a 5-member panel of judges, including a 5-year strategic plan for 2012-2016.
This $200 million is part a $1 billion reorganization of New York’s economic development grant programs.
Some of the funds allocated to nine state agencies like the Empire State Development (ESD) and NYS Canal Corporation have been pooled together under a new Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process.
The 10 Regional Councils can now apply for funding for specific projects via this CFA process, instead of having to deal with separate agencies for different kinds of development projects. Regardless of which four win $40 million next Thursday, they can all still apply for grants, tax breaks and energy incentives from the remaining $800 million.
The awards ceremony was actually scheduled for mid-December, but has been moved ahead after the councils finished submitting their presentations. The Regional Councils had to come up with their strategic plans in a hurry due to the short notice. In a live chat with members of the public, ESD president and CEO Kenneth Adams explained that the timeline was aggressive by design.
“Achievement deadlines were set for the Regional Councils as part of our effort to move toward a more efficient business model for economic development,” saidAdams. “Just as in the business world, the strict deadlines we implemented were meant to lead to better performance and production to fulfill local needs.”
You can register online for attending the awards ceremony. Applications are being accepted until 5 pm on Dec 5. Seating is limited so your registration won’t be valid unless you get an email confirmation by Dec 6.
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