Category Archives: Economic Development

By Maureen Werther

The WJ Grande Industrial Park continues to be an economic driver in the region nearly 70 years after it was first developed by its namesake, William J. Grande.

In the early 1950s, Grande purchased approximately 550 acres on Cady Hill in Saratoga Springs, adjacent to the D&H Railroad. The lifelong developer and philanthropist envisioned Cady Hill Research and Industrial Park, as it was originally named, as a vehicle for creating sustainable employment locally, as well as creating a revenue base for the county.

Grande’s acquisition proved to be as beneficial for the region as he had envisioned, with a succession of businesses moving into the park over the course of several decades.

General Foods was the first company to locate in the park in 1959. They employed over 200 people for more than three decades. During the 1960s and 1970s, several small regional companies located in the park, and in the 1980s Guyson, American Tissue, Quad Graphics and Ball Corp. became tenants of the park. Ball, Quad and Guyson are still fully operational and have steadily employed more than 1,500 people since they located there.

A new brewery is part of a development  at 7 Stonebreak Road in Malta this year.

The brewery will occupy part of the 25,000 square feet of new commercial space being developed with $2.5 million of private investment by area commercial developer MJ Properties of Clifton Park Inc., according to the Saratoga Economic Development Corp.

The initial tenant, Unified Beerworks, will occupy over 6,000 square feet of space, supporting seven full-time jobs in its first year, SEDC said. The project is expected to grow to support 15 full-time jobs by year three. The brewer expects to create seven full-time jobs in its first year and 15 by its third.

Officials said groundbreaking is scheduled for March, with construction expected to be completed in July. It will support 50 construction jobs.

by Susan E. Campbell

“Our mission is to help the private sector secure jobs and capital investment,” said the new chairman of Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership (SCPP) board of directors.

Kevin M. Hedley, named recently to succeed Jack Lawler,  said the agency’s board “has entrusted me to make sure the mission is carried out by our hired team of professionals and that we hold them accountable.”

As a taxpayer, a resident and a business owner, Hedley appreciates the opportunity to lend his voice to decisions regarding the future of Saratoga County and its economic development, he said. He is founder and partner of Hedley & Co. Certified Public Accountants in Clifton Park.

SUNY Adirondack has been awarded nearly $2 million to expand completion initiatives and to establish an Educational Opportunity Program to aid more students in completing their desired degrees and graduating on time, in addition to making higher education obtainable for more students.

Earlier this month, the State University of New York announced a $4.6 million award from the Investment and Performance Fund benefitting North Country campuses. SUNY Adirondack is set to receive $1.8 million of that funding to be used towards three projects–the creation of a Student Success Advisement Center, the expansion of the Adirondack Completes initiative and the development of a web-based student tool called Adirondack Experience.

College officials said Adirondack Completes is an expansion of existing completion efforts providing additional academic support in math and other subjects, advisement and leveraging the degree works program to increase the number of graduates. The Adirondack Experience will be developed as a tool to help students plan and monitor their entire college experience, from application to graduation.

“The Investment and Performance funds will help SUNY Adirondack scale up its efforts to support student success and move us closer to our goal of increasing the number of graduates by fifty percent by 2020,” said SUNY Adirondack President Kristine D. Duffy. “We are excited about sharing our best practices with our North Country colleagues and will continue to work in collaboration to support the vitality of this great region of New York.”

The Center for Economic Growth (CEG) has a new program offering to regional employers who are in need of comprehensive support in recruitment and retention of valued talent.

Talent Connect will provide several different services to address the challenges that face today’s relocating professionals in a variety of innovative ways, including pre-hire consultations, dual career support, community integration and cultural transitioning, said CEG officials.

“Talent Connect provides a crucial piece to the puzzle for both employers seeking the right candidates as well as employees looking to relocate for work, and we are excited to add the program to CEG’s service offerings,” said Michael Hickey, CEG’s interim president and CEO. “Not only will this program benefit our investors, it ties into the region’s Capital 20.20 talent strategy, focused on attraction and retention of a qualified workforce for our local companies.”

The program will enhance recruitment and retention of professional talent for area employers, and break the personal and professional isolation often associated with transitioning professionals to a new location.

CEG officials said Talent Connect will provide substantive support, enabling professionals to integrate more quickly into a professional network, take root in their new communities, and connect to what’s important to them. It will also enable employers seeking talent with a competitive edge by giving them visibility to relocating talent.

While the Talent Connect program is a new offering at CEG, the concepts had its roots out of Tech Valley Connect (TVC), officials said. Tech Valley Connect was an innovative initiative that originally started as a pilot program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2009 and soon after transitioned into an independent non-profit.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute and GlobalFoundries announced plans to establish a new Advanced Patterning and Productivity Center (APPC), which will be located at the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in Albany.

The $500 million, five-year program will accelerate the introduction of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technologies into manufacturing. Officials said the center is anchored by a network of international chipmakers and material and equipment suppliers, including IBM and Tokyo Electron, and will generate 100 jobs.

“This advanced new partnership between SUNY Poly and GlobalFoundries demonstrates how Governor Cuomo’s strategic investments in SUNY are bolstering the system’s research capacity, leveraging private dollars, and creating exciting new opportunities at our campuses for students and faculty,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher.

“SUNY Poly’s nanotechnology expertise coupled with the governor’s innovative public-private partnership model has positioned New York as a global leader in computer chip research, development, and manufacturing.”