... in the News

Economic summit talks bring light to need for Upstate development
by Heather Sackett, Adirondack Daily Enterprise
August 16, 2007

SARANAC LAKE — Several local representatives attended the 2007 Economic Summit: “Entrepreneurship and Growth in Upstate New York” on Tuesday at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga.

The summit, which was co-sponsored by Trudeau Institute and organized through the Public Forum Institute with Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand serving as honorary chair, included business, education, labor, government, environmental, and media leaders from throughout the region.

“The idea behind the summit, is that Kirsten wants to create good jobs in upstate,” said Kirsten Gillibrand’s Chief of Staff Jess Fassler.

Fassler also said a goal of the summit was to help the North Country position itself to be able to take advantage of new technologies, like renewable energy, as they become available.

“This is the first step in a long process,” he said. “We hope this will be an annual event that can grow.”

Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Trudeau Institute Terry Gach said he was invited by Gillibrand to attend the summit and participate in the panel discussion. He said some areas of economic development that are especially important for Trudeau are promoting science and technology, and moving innovations to the marketplace for regional growth. Gach said it can be difficult to move from the scientific research component of Trudeau to the marketing and selling aspect of their findings.

“When we find something of note,” he said, “we try to find a corporate sponsor and market it.”

Gach said about 250 people attended the summit and helped identify and focus on the most important priorities in the area of upstate economic development. He said they broke the summit up into smaller groups and discussed issues like smart growth, unleashing the power of entrepreneurs, workforce development and bringing science and technology to the area.

“I walked away thinking it was effective,” he said. “Everyone could speak and put ideas out there. Everyone I talked to thought it was great.”

The next step, Gach said, will be for Rep. Gillibrand to listen to the priorities that were determined to be most important by the group and begin to take action on them.

“What I came away with here, was that we could say to Gillibrand and anyone else who is able to affect change, ‘Here’s what we think is important.’ It’s highly valuable to her; it’s a huge tool.”

Sylvie Nelson, executive director of the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce said that one of the challenges to economic development in the Adirondacks is finding ways to implement the programs discussed.

“There’s no easy solution,” she said. “You have to go back to your own community and make sure you engage everyone.”

Nelson said after attending a panel on smart growth, she was a little disappointed that the focus seemed to be on the capital region, which, although still considered “upstate,” faces very different issues than those facing the Adirondacks.

“It didn’t apply to rural areas,” she said. “The focus was on the capital region as an example. It was interesting, but totally different than what we are facing. Their example of urban sprawl is a thousand times worse than what we are facing.”

Gillibrand’s congressional district encompasses much of the eastern border of the state and includes all or part of 10 different counties.

Learn more about the 2007 Economic Summit: Entrepreneurship and Growth in Upstate New York

...in the News

Media Releases

Graphics

eFORUM Results