{"id":16373,"date":"2015-03-05T10:16:47","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T15:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/03\/sedc-prosperity-partnership-share-the-goal-of-boosting-economic-development.html"},"modified":"2015-03-05T10:16:47","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T15:16:47","slug":"sedc-prosperity-partnership-share-the-goal-of-boosting-economic-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/03\/sedc-prosperity-partnership-share-the-goal-of-boosting-economic-development\/","title":{"rendered":"SEDC, Prosperity Partnership Share The Goal Of Boosting Economic Development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"economic-dev.jpg\"\n<\/div>\n
SEDC helped attract GlobalFoundries, shown here, Quad\/Graphics, the Target Distribution Center in South Glens Falls and more, resulting in 5,500 local jobs, officials say\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY BARBARA PINCKNEY<\/p>\n

The formation of the Saratoga County
\nProsperity Partnership has created great opportunity–
\neven for the organization it replaced.<\/p>\n

The Prosperity Partnership was founded last
\nspring as part of a comprehensive strategic plan
\nthat called for the Saratoga County Board of
\nSupervisors to take more control over economic
\ndevelopment. It is now the county’s official economic
\ndevelopment organization.<\/p>\n

For 35 years, the county had contracted with
\nthe Saratoga Economic Development Corp., a
\nprivate, nonprofit membership organization,
\nfor those services.<\/p>\n

Although Saratoga County has been one of
\nthe fastest growing in the state, it never had a
\nstrategic plan before. SEDC–which is responsible
\nin a large part for bringing GlobalFoundries
\nto Malta, as well as attracting several other key
\nemployers to the county–generally took the
\nlead, but there were more than 40 organizations
\nwith a hand in economic development efforts.<\/p>\n

Jack Lawler, Waterford town supervisor
\nand chairman of the board of the Prosperity
\nPartnership, said the competition for business
\nhas increased in recent years, making it critical
\nfor Saratoga County officials to become more
\ninvolved in the game.<\/p>\n

“We were successful in the past because we
\nhad some advantages, but the rest of the field has caught up,” Lawler
\nsaid. “Saratoga County needs to become much more engaged in the
\neconomic development process if we are going
\nto be successful. And we can’t afford not to be
\nsuccessful, quite frankly.”<\/p>\n

As a result of the county’s decision, its contract
\nwith SEDC ended in 2013. But that has
\nnot stopped SEDC from continuing in its efforts
\nto attract, retain and support business in the
\ncounty. In fact, SEDC President Dennis Brobston
\nsaid it is doing even more.<\/p>\n

“Because they [cancelled our contract], we
\nhave found ourselves with more time for real
\neconomic development,” he said. “It has opened
\nus up to quite a bit of opportunity.”<\/p>\n

Since its formation in 1978, SEDC has worked
\non over 200 projects, with investments totaling
\n$12 billion and about 17,500 jobs created. According
\nto an economic impact report it issued
\nlast June, seven key businesses SEDC helped
\nattract, including GlobalFoundries, Quad\/
\nGraphics, State Farm Insurance and the Target
\nDistribution Center in South Glens Falls, are
\nresponsible for more than 5,500 jobs, $1.8 billion
\nin annual sales and $22 million in annual
\ntax revenue.<\/p>\n

“We started Luther Forest Technology
\nCampus,” Brobston said. “Our board actually
\ngave private guarantees on the loans. We can
\ndo things that other people can’t. In economic development circles around the region, we are
\nthe only one that is totally private.”<\/p>\n

Brobston said SEDC has not shifted its focus
\nsince severing official ties with the county. The
\norganization has three main concerns. First is
\nretaining the business currently in the county,
\nwhich includes supporting the creation and
\ngrowth of small businesses. It connects companies
\nto state and federal energy programs;
\nrefers entrepreneurs to organizations such
\nas the Service Corps of Retired Executives
\n(SCORE) for guidance and business plan assistance;
\nand helps businesses obtain financing
\nthrough member banks, community loan funds
\nand the New York Business Development Corp.,
\nan Albany-based lending consortium.<\/p>\n

SEDC’s second top concern in attracting new
\nbusiness to the country, which includes marketing
\navailable sites and developing proposals.
\n“The third thing is–and this is probably
\nwhere the biggest change has occurred–we
\nwere always into building capacity,” Brobston
\nsaid. “What we are attempting to do now is be
\nmore visible and more hands-on in [doing that].”<\/p>\n

He explained that businesses looking for a
\nnew home cannot always wait out a long approval
\nprocess. If properties are ready to go, and possibly
\neven contain flex industrial space that can
\nbe adjusted to meet individual needs, businesses
\nwill be more likely to choose Saratoga County.<\/p>\n

“In the last three months, we’ve had eight
\npotential clients that needed between 90,000
\nand 120,000 square feet [of industrial space],”
\nhe said. “If we had something that was preapproved,
\nwe could have competed with those
\nother places who were vying for their affections.
\nAnd we would have a better product to market.
\nIf you don’t have something to market, you’re done.”<\/p>\n

Therefore, SEDC will be taking a bigger role
\nin that process, taking options on properties and
\nworking with its members to get those properties
\nas close to shovel-ready as possible.<\/p>\n

“That is huge, and being that kind of prepared
\nis what we need,” Brobston said. “So we’ve
\ndecided that that’s where we’re going, and the
\nreason that has changed compared to what we
\nused to do is that now we have time to do that, to
\nfocus on those issues when before we were doing
\na lot more work related to the country contract.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Prosperity Partnership is
\nstill in the formative stages. The organization–
\nwhich is controlled entirely by the Board
\nof Supervisors–has leased office space from
\nStewart’s Corp., at 2911 Route 9 in Malta. It is
\nconducting a nationwide search for an executive
\ndirector, which Lawler said should be completed
\nby the end of March. It has named a 14-member
\nboard, with the majority of directors coming from
\nprivate sector.<\/p>\n

“Economic development is crucial to the
\nfuture success of Saratoga County and having
\na robust and highly professional economic
\ndevelopment organization is the key to that
\nsuccess,” Lawler said. “And that is what we are
\ncreating here.”<\/p>\n

Although the partnership has yet to take
\non any projects, its primary mission will be to
\nenact the strategic plan adopted a year ago, said
\nDeputy County Administrator Ryan Moore, who
\nis currently handing its administrative functions.<\/p>\n

“The long and short of it is, we identified
\nthree legs to the economic development stool
\nhere in the county,” Moore said. “One is business
\nand industry centered on GlobalFoundries and high-tech manufacturing. Another is tourism,
\nwhich we’ve always had centered on the track.
\nAnd the third is agriculture, which is a huge
\nindustry here in the county.”<\/p>\n

The plan outlines some “catalyst projects,”
\nincluding the creation of a sports and recreation
\ncluster to leverage the county’s assets beyond
\nhorse racing and a Manufacturing Technology
\nEducation Center with GlobalFoundries as a
\npartner. It also lists some infrastructure projects,
\nincluding a regional gas pipeline, and initiatives
\nto improve the siting and planning process. A
\ncomprehensive, searchable inventory of available
\nsites would be created.<\/p>\n

The partnership also would support small
\nbusinesses and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Clearly there will be overlap between the
\nProsperity Partnership and SEDC. But will the
\ntwo ever collaborate?
\n“If the partnership has a desire to communicate,
\nand see how we can beneficially work together,
\nwe will have that conversation,” Brobston
\nsaid. “We are just going forward with what we
\nneed to do, and if they come to us and want to
\npartner with us on anything, we are always open
\nto having that discussion.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEDC helped attract GlobalFoundries, shown here, Quad\/Graphics, the Target Distribution Center in South Glens Falls and more, resulting in 5,500 local jobs, officials say BY BARBARA PINCKNEY The formation of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership has created great opportunity–…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":21623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[57,113],"class_list":["post-16373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","tag-business-news","tag-saratoga-county"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSEDC, Prosperity Partnership Share The Goal Of Boosting Economic Development - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/03\/sedc-prosperity-partnership-share-the-goal-of-boosting-economic-development\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SEDC, Prosperity Partnership Share The Goal Of Boosting Economic Development - 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