The Rochester-Finger Lakes region is getting $96.2 million
in economic development funding and incentives.
The funding was announced today as part of the state
regional economic development council awards ceremony. The money is being
routed through the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, which is
receiving the largest award of any of the nine other councils across the state.
The award includes funding and incentives to help the
council implement its strategic plan, which it developed in 2011. It also
includes money from state agencies.
The award will be directed to 76 projects, though the state
highlighted only a few in a press release sent out this afternoon. The awards
include $5 million for a health computing collaborative between University of
Rochester and IBM; $5 million for RIT’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability
to purchase equipment; $4 million for the redevelopment of Midtown Tower; $4
million for University of Rochester’s College Town development; $2 million for
a regional small business revolving loan fund; and $600,000 to aid a Monroe
Community College job training program.
Absent from the press release is any mention of Eastman
Business Park, which the council and local officials consider to be the top
economic development priority.
This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2012.
College Town is a pie-in-the-sky project, no different than the Fast Ferry, “Renassiance” Square and all the other proposed projects over the years that cost us hundreds of millions and gave us nothing but empty holes. It is a shame we couldn’t have filled the empty hole in our head first and used our brains. The corner of Mt. Hope and Elmwood. Where are we going to put a Barnes & Noble? Do we really NEED another big box store? Do we really need “gentrification”? The traffic is horrendous there as it is. How about during the Lilac Festival, two blocks away? That entire area’s jammed up. This is why I detest the so-called “leadership” in this town. I bet that some power broker has a multi-million-dollar contract, whether for construction, security, technology, or some other angle. There always is. When are we going to stop wasting what little capital we have on grandiose ideas that don’t provide us with anything? Do we LIKE giving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars away to these robber barons? This is another unneccessary project that won’t provide us with the sustainability we need. So glad that the CITY is providing us with an “alternative” source to business-as-usual. If only that were true.