New York Announces Rural Cluster Development Initiative

Implementing successful technology-based development initiatives in rural areas is an ongoing challenge for many parts of the country. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer signed legislation establishing a new program to stimulate employment and income growth by promoting cluster-based strategies in rural regions of the state. Sponsored by Sen. George H. Winner Jr., chairman of New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, Senate Bill 3234 outlines the Cluster Based Industry and Agribusiness Development Grant Program, which will provide seed grants of up to $25,000 on a competitive basis to community-based economic development corporations.

 

The initiative will be administered by New York’s Rural Revitalization Program while the funds will be dispersed by the Empire State Development (ESD) Corporation, the state’s lead economic development agency as part of its comprehensive rural revitalization program. Clusters are expected to be organized around the existing strengths in certain regions, as well as the emerging technologies and research under development at the universities and colleges dotting the landscape of rural New York.

 

New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources produces Rural Features, a collection of articles reviewing legislation and news from New York, the U.S. and around the world, which may be of interest to many rural communities. The most recent edition, dated July/August 2007, can be found at:

http://www.senate.state.ny.us/SenateReports.nsf/Public_ViewReports?OpenForm

 

The text of S.B. 3234 can be accessed at: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S03234

 

Learn More About Rural TBED Initiatives…

New Strategies for Rural TBED will be one of the 19 breakout sessions at SSTI’s 11th Annual Conference in Baltimore, Oct. 18-19. During this session, we’ll investigate several tech-based initiatives producing employment growth within rural communities across the country, including the concept of “farmshoring.”

 

The discussion will include presentations by:

• Monica Babine, Rural Bridges Co-director, Washington State University Extension

• Keith Boswell, Team Leader, Security & Services Team, Virginia Economic Development Partnership

• Heike Mayer, Assistant Professor in Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech – Alexandria Center

 

More information is available at: http://www.ssticonference.org/