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tc_court120hAwards announced last week by Governor Andrew Cuomo through the Regional Economic Development Council initiative provide significant support for projects initiated by Tompkins County to help spur economic growth and job creation in the Southern Tier.

The Tompkins County projects were included as part of the regional plan advanced by the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council, which was awarded nearly $50 million for 58 projects throughout the region.  According to Ed Marx, the County’s Commissioner of Planning and Community Sustainability, the awards include about $6 million for Tompkins County projects, including a regional sustainability plan that the County applied for on behalf of multiple counties, and over $11 million to region-wide funding that Tompkins County projects may be able to access.

“The funding announced today will support several critical needs in this community,” Marx notes.  “The nearly $5 million in housing funding announced for projects in Tompkins County will create over 100 units of new workforce housing and renovate 37 homes of low and moderate income residents.  The $1 million for the Regional Sustainability Plan will allow us to work with our neighbors in the Southern Tier to advance a clean, sustainable energy future that reduces greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to a high quality of life; and the Rural Initiative Venture Fund, Shovel Ready Site Development Project and Southern Tier Community Revitalization Project will provide over $11 million to support economic development initiatives that strengthen both our rural and urban economies.”

Among the projects receiving funding

  • $1 million to develop the Regional Sustainability Plan for the Southern Tier that will develop a baseline, including greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, assessing sustainability indicators including economic assets, liabilities, and opportunities, as well as transportation, land use, and natural resources.
  • $3 million to support the Rural Initiative Venture Fund, to provide start-up and expansion capital through revolving loan funds and grants.
  • $400,000 for the Tompkins County Housing Rehabilitation program, to renovate homes of 23 low and moderate income residents of Tompkins County.
  • $2.5 million to support the Poet’s Landing affordable housing project in the Village of Dryden.
  • $1 million support construction of LEED-certified units in the Holly Creek Townhouses project in the Town of Ithaca, advanced through the Housing Fund.
  • $75,000 to the County Office for the Aging to conduct emergency housing repairs for elderly homeowners who may also have special needs.

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