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Economic Development Strategy Gains Momentum, Recognition April 30, 2008 - Implementation of the Saranac Lake Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) gained additional, significant traction recently, according to Keith Wells, Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors’ member and head of the CEDS core team overseeing the effort. As a result of its "Green Team-Creative Core" partnership with the Syracuse Center of Excellence, the CEDS group learned it soon will receive a key marketing report that details green industry opportunities and prospects for all of central upstate New York. "Once we obtain this anxiously awaited report we will be able to reach out to individual companies having strong interest in the environment and energy sector of the economy," Wells said. "Our intent will be to match companies with the assets our area offers consistent with company needs and the goals embodied in the CEDS vision for the area," he added. Wells and Greg Hill, Adirondack North Country Association Community Assistance Specialist, met with the Green Team a second time in March to hear the major findings underlying the marketing report. According to Hill, "the findings include the projection that the United States market for environmental and energy enterprise will grow by more than 150% to over $264 billion by the year 2011, representing tremendous job growth potential for regions that embrace emerging technologies in these fields." Terry Martino, Executive Director of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), added that "ANCA is quite impressed with the prospects for economic development and quality of life improvements the CEDS initiative holds for the Saranac Lake area." "ANCA is more than happy to provide staff support to the ongoing implementation effort," she said. Advancement of the village’s development strategy also is expected to occur as a result of representation on the task force created by the Green Team to evaluate the marketing report and recommend follow-up action steps. According to representatives, this will be a mutually beneficial effort to address major sub-sectors of the environmental and energy economy, including indoor environmental quality, green construction and materials, water quality, and fuel-cell, bio-fuel and wind energy sources. Keith Wells characterized the village’s participation as "a symbiotic relationship that will lead to overall, region-wide success." In a related development, the Saranac Lake CEDS effort was featured last week at a conference in Blue Mountain Lake sponsored by the Environmental Finance Center for EPA Region 2, another partner with the Syracuse Center of Excellence. Central New York officials, who gathered to learn more about planning for the long-term viability of community systems, heard from Wells, Hill, and Jeremy Evans, Development Director for Saranac Lake, about the process that led to the current development strategy for the Village and surrounding communities. The session involved extensive questioning and answering, with particular interest by conference goers in the wide range of community member backgrounds and interests involved in the Saranac Lake CEDS initiative. Mark Lichtenstein, Director of the Environment Finance Center, termed the Saranac Lake effort "a model from which other communities could learn much." For further information, contact Keith Wells at 518-891-7096 or at wellska@verizon.net. |
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