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OtsegoNow CEO

Welcome:

I hope you find this newly created e-newsletter useful and informative as we use this interactive communications tool to better share details of Otsego Now economic development work and projects.

Our overall goal is to keep the citizens of Otsego County and our valued partners fully “in the loop” as we develop and advance initiatives targeting transformational development. Our focus is all about private investment, job creation and positively impacting the local economy while enhancing the overall quality of living.

I will use a style of brief summaries of activities, projects and other related initiatives connected to our overall economic development efforts and then provide a link to more detailed information for your review.

Economic development in rural areas is a lot like making sausage. Sometimes sweet, and other times hot. You grind up lots of ideas, and concepts, create a vision and combine for hopeful success. Names change, concepts shift, visions adjust and in the end, with a dedicated commitment, success will be achieved. Sometimes the process gets a little messy as you disturb old traditions, initiate change and disrupt status quo. It takes perseverance, trust in the vision, leadership, and community fortitude. Working together, with the whole community’s benefit and future our focus, we will succeed.

Please engage our efforts, offer your opinions, ask questions and work with us side-by-side in collaboration with a united goal of community vibrancy and prosperity.


Sandy Mathes, CEO
 

 
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Otsego Now Organizational Update
Oneonta Business Park
Oneonta Rail Yards Re-Development
Market Street Revitalization
Town of Maryland/Schenevus Site
Workforce Training

Communication
Events/Meetings/Public Hearings
Federal/NYS/Local Partnerships
Public Funding/Grants
A Look Ahead
Video

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Otsego Now is the branded umbrella organization for the Otsego Industrial Development Agency and the Otsego Capital Resource Corporation with a clear mission of making transformational economic development projects happen. Click here to find out more about Otsego Now.

The IDA is the structure that can provide incentive benefits such as project related Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) agreements, Sales and Mortgage tax exemptions and overall economic development administrative support. The nine members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the Chair of the County Board of Representatives and approved by a majority of the full board. See the following link for more detailed information.

The CRC is a local development corporation structure that supports tax exempt financing for our local not-for-profit organizations, medical facilities and colleges. Their nine-member Board of Directors is also appointed by the Chair of the County Board of Representatives and approved by the full board.

I must provide special recognition to our staff and team for their tremendous talent and work ethic. Please contact them at any time for help, a question, or quality information. 607-267-4010 or 189 Main Street, 5th Floor, Oneonta.
 

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ONEONTA
BUSINESS PARK
This approximately 35-acre “shovel ready” site is located just off Exit 13 of the NYS Route 88. Local approvals and SEQRA have been completed and can seize any development opportunity requiring only site plan approval from the Town of Oneonta Planning Board. Previously branded “Pony Farms,” the site is being aggressively marketed for a variety of uses including distribution, light manufacturing, and food processing. A detailed Site Fact Sheet has been developed to enhance marketing efforts and provide the site selector community with required infrastructure information.

LEARN MORE
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Oneonta
Rail Yards
Re-development

The redevelopment of the historic Oneonta Rail Yards is a top priority with significant resources committed to the strategic plan and overall vision. A development study with detailed mapping has been created with preferred site options highlighted. We closed Otsego Now’s purchase of approximately 80 acres of the identified development area on Friday, April 7, clearing the way for the advancement of SEQRA, local approvals, an update of the City of Oneonta Comprehensive Plan and a detailed housing study. A detailed Site Fact Sheet has been developed for marketing purposes.

LEARN MORE
OtsegoNow CEO

MOHAWK VALLEY FOOD AND BEVERAGE INNOVATION CENTER IN MARKET STREET

The original vision of how we could revitalize the City of Oneonta through a food and beverage strategy started with the original concept called Oneonta Craft Food and Beverage Hub. A concept suggested by the Late Mayor Richard Miller in early 2014 with much enthusiasm and energy.

Click here about the Original Concept & Consultant Presentation.

Once our outstanding consultant team of Elan Planning, Karen Karp & Partners, Delaware Engineering and Hugh Boyd, Architect, finished exploring the possibilities with significant community engagement, we finished with a much grander and more broadly encompassing downtown approach centered around Market Street. The name of the plan was now Oneonta Regional Food & Beverage Innovation District. The Phase I part of our process produced the next level of ideas and strategies, and identified redevelopment concepts and projects.

Click here about the Oneonta Regional Food & Beverage Innovation District.

Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership an exciting opportunity to compete for needed funds to invest in downtowns was announced. Our opportunity was real for transformational investment in downtown, with Food and Beverage the centerpiece. This new concept and vision became the guts and soul of the City of Oneonta Downtown Revitalization Initiative application for the $10 million Mohawk Valley Regional Competition for funds to invest in a downtown vision and projects. Working collaboratively with Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig, City leadership, many community partners and Thoma Development Consultants we were successful and awarded the DRI funding to transform the City of Oneonta Downtown. The strong Mohawk Valley Regional Council support and commitment to our vision and project initiatives by the Governor and his team were exhilarating.

Click here about the City of Oneonta DRI Application.

The exciting NYS DRI process and success was followed by the advancement of specific projects related to the overall goal of embracing food and beverage as a centralized strategy to transform the City of Oneonta Downtown area. The overriding goal is to “get more people to live and work in downtown and give more people the reason to visit, stay, spend money and enjoy the Oneonta experience.”

The Otsego Now consultant team plowed ahead with the continued planning, community engagement and visioning process required resulting in the Phase II Summary and Conclusions Report and the next creation of the name of the initial project: Susquehanna Regional Craft Food and Beverage Education Center.

Click here to learn more about the Phase II Summary and Conclusions Report.

The formal DRI process then moved forward under the leadership of a talented and committed NYS team consisting of representatives from the Department of State, Empire State Development and Office of Community Renewal. A new consultant, Stantec, was hired by NYS to work with the community and City of Oneonta to drive the process, ensure additional community engagement, formalize and advance a transformational project list. This engaging experience has concluded with the following list of projects identified with the recommended public investment amounts. The detailed list of project fact sheets has been submitted to state officials and is under review for final sign-off.

DRI Recommended Projects by the Oneonta Steering Committee include:

  • Westcott Lot Re-development & Walkway                       $3,200,000
  • Parking Structure Renovation and Transit Hub                $2,500,000
  • Main Street Upper Floor Housing                                     $2,000,000
  • MV Food and Beverage Innovation Center                      $1,975,000
  • Market Street Improvements “Look & Feel”                      $1,750,000
  • Retail/Commercial Space Revolving Loan Fund                 $600,000
  • Public Walkway/Water, Lower Chestnut & Market               $500,000
  • Public Space Improvements: Muller Plaza and other          $350,000
  • Signage Plan/Downtown, District & Regional                      $320,000
  • Muller Plaza Walkway & Market Street Passage                $250,000
  • Downtown Branding & Marketing                                        $250,000
  • Public Art/Muller Plaza and other Downtown locations       $140,000
  • Downtown Program Design Standards                               $100,000
  • Signage Plan/Individual                                                        $60,000

As part of the overall discussion, public process, sub-committee discussions and fleshing out of project scope, budgets and private investment partners, the initial project, (called several things during the process) secured its final name and vision. The Mohawk Valley Food and Beverage Innovation Center, the brains and driver of the food and beverage strategy moving forward, was now real. Feasibility, financial structure, private sector investment, scope and uses as well as next steps outlined, while still in the process of finalization, now provide a clear picture of the future. Much work to still be done, but the path is defined. More details to follow as they are finalized.

Click here about Mohawk Valley Food & Beverage Feasibility Study.

Click here about Mohawk Valley Food and Beverage Innovation Center Scope and Uses.

As we move forward with the Mohawk Valley Food and Beverage Innovation Center, focus will now shift to other related Market Street Redevelopment priorities and projects outlined in the Karen Karp & Partners/Elan Planning Report and the overall DRI vision. They include:
  • City of Oneonta Parking Structure Re-development
  • Westcott Lot Redevelopment
  • Main/Market Street Pedestrian Connections
  • Market Street Gateway, Streetscape enhancements and overall “Look & Feel”
  • Development of a Food Aggregation Center
  • Development of a new Food/Beverage Themed Boutique Hotel
  • Redevelopment of Stella Luna into Food and Beverage Themed Brewery & Pub
  • Redevelopment of Foothills into a Creative Culture Centerpiece with Arts Focus
  • Main Street Business and Housing Incentives

 

Town of Maryland/Schenevus
Logistics/Distribution Site

We have started the process to develop a new business park site in the Town of Maryland just off Exit 18 of NYS Route 88. We are moving forward to secure a land option on approximately 175 acres for use as a logistics driven distribution business park. SEQRA and community approval process anticipated to begin Spring 2017.

Click here for more about the Maryland/Schenevus
Logistics/Distribution Site Map.


Click here for more about the Maryland/Schenevus
Logistics/Distribution Site Fact Sheet.

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WORKFORCE
TRAINING
The availability of an educated and trained workforce is equally as important to our goal of growing existing businesses and attracting new opportunities as is site readiness. Our Workforce Training Center, located on the 5th and 6th mezzanine floors of 189 Main Street, is a state-of-the-art facility with the technology needed to embrace any training need. Through a valued partnership with State Senator James Seward, all equipment has been purchased and is available for use by public entities and private sector companies for their training needs.

Our overall goal and current focus is not only on helping fill a growing list of employment opportunities in Otsego County and the region, but also to build the workforce pipeline of the future required to attract new business to our communities. We anticipate a Workforce Summit in early May, in partnership with Senator Seward and other NYS/community partners, to address our current and future challenges. The end result will be our Action Blueprint to move aggressively forward. Much more on this will be shared in the near future.

LEARN MORE
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COMMUNICATION
Enhancing our communication with the citizens of Otsego County and our valued partners is a top priority of Otsego Now and our Board of Directors. As projects move forward and SEQRA and local approvals are sought, the visibility of our projects will greatly increase. We will use a variety of tools to share information and respond to the community’s desire for information. Please utilize the following tools and resources to stay connected and absorb factual information on our economic development efforts: Visit our website or view our social media. Or check out our Newsletter.

Visit our website or view our social media. Or check out our Newsletter.


  

Another great recourse to track the work and success of Otsego Now is our award winning Annual Reports. Please take a look when you have the opportunity:

Click here for more about Otsego Now 2014 Annual Report

Click here for more about Otsego Now 2015 Annual Report

Events/Meetings/Public Hearings

Over the upcoming months there will be numerous project related events, informational meetings, public hearings and other reasons to gather and discuss current economic development happenings. Keep a watchful eye on otur efforts to promote these important opportunities to meet, hear about current projects and efforts, ask questions, express your opinion and simply stay connected.

Click here for more about Otsego Now and Community Events

Click here for more about Otsego Now Meetings.
 

Federal/NYS/Local
Partnerships

Economic development, strategic planning, transformational projects, site control, site development, infrastructure, workforce development and may other related costs make our job challenging. Resources are scarce and priorities many. Without supportive partnerships with our federal and state governments and elected officials our task would be insurmountable. Quite frankly impossible.

Our success to date has been driven by these partnerships and their support. Special thanks to the following partners for their help and responsiveness to our demanding needs:

Governor Andrew Cuomo and his NYS Empire State Development Team:
US Senator Chuck Schumer and staff
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and staff
State Senator James Seward and staff
Assemblyman William Magee and staff
Alexander Betke, II - Jackson and Lewis
Mohawk Valley Regional Council
 

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Public Funding/Grants

Serving the community in a public developer role provides opportunities for our organization to seek significant public funding and grant support. Since the IDA and establishment of Otsego Now, we have enjoyed significant support and success in securing funding to help implement our transformational vision and support of the local business community. Provided below is a summary of the over $16 million of achieved financial success, including the DRI partnership with the City of Oneonta, to date:

2014: $305,500
2015: $1,300,000
2016: $14,606,500

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A LOOK AHEAD

With the closing on the Oneonta Rail Yards, and the anticipated option on the Schenevus site, it is anticipated that SEQRA and the local approval process will begin shortly. This will enable a significant public participation process and sharing of information. The next 9-12 months will be very busy.

Also, with the Market Street vision becoming a reality, the Mohawk Valley Food and Beverage Innovation Center is moving forward as well as other related projects, important discussions with the City of Oneonta Council and planning board will begin to proceed.

As the many details are clarified with the exciting projects proceeding, they will be shared in many forms along the way including this CEO E-Newsletter.

Also, anticipated shortly in the spring, will be the kick-off of the 2017 CFA Grant Round. Those wishing to submit an application for funding and support, please contact our office so we can pro-actively support and help coordinate your effort.

VIDEO

Video Provided for your enjoyment is the recent DRI Announcement of the City of Oneonta’s $10 million victory!

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Next CEO Newsletter July 1, 2017






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County of Otsego Industrial Development Agency · 189 Main Street, Suite 500 · Oneonta, NY 13820 · USA

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