The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. has announced a new mission, a new board of directors and is embarking on a nationwide search for a new CEO. It is also seeking new support from the private sector.
But HVEDC is likely to still have the same problems in attracting economic development to a far flung region with no large city to provide a centralized political base to wield clout in Albany. Â
“Given the global economic crisis and the new economic reality in New York state, the Hudson Valley needs a well-coordinated, well-funded regional economic development effort more now than ever before,” according to a June 4 statement from Steven V. Lant, chairman, president and CEO of CH Energy Group Inc. He will continue to serve as the chairman of HVEDC”™s board of directors.
“While the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation has made significant strides in creating quality jobs and in promoting our region as a business location, it is time to take the effort to the next level.”
Lant was vacationing in the Adirondacks, said Central Hudson company spokesman John Miserjian and was unavailable for additional comment last week.
Anthony S. Campagiorni, who resigned as CEO of HVEDC in February and now is an employee of Central Hudson, said that the unifying constant is economic development and in particular, he said, “It all gets back to creating jobs.”
The HVEDC is closely tied to Central Hudson, which provided it some $11 million since it was founded in 2003, Miserjian said. About $7.5 million of that money came from company benefit funds received as part of Central Hudson”™s sale of their profits from sales of their power generation facilities as required by state deregulation of the power industry in the late 1990s. He said an additional $3.5 million was sent to HVEDC to help attract and retain jobs in the region.
Miserjian said the goal was to attract or retain 10,000 jobs and said HVEDC officials claim they have attracted or retained 9,100 jobs.
Central Hudson is also seeking to attract investors for HVEDC.
“We know that some of the most successful economic development organizations around the country have one thing in common ”“ a big commitment by their private sector,” Lant said in his statement. “We need to have that same level of commitment here in the Hudson Valley in order to remain competitive in the global marketplace.”
The board already includes utilities, financiers and banks. In addition to Lant, the HVEDC board includes William Longhi, president and CEO, Orange & Rockland Utilities Inc.; Robert R. Dyson, chairman and CEO of the Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp., a privately held investment firm; and Michael T. Keegan, regional president, Hudson Valley North and Albany Divisions, M&T Bank.
The public sector is also represented with William R. DeCota, director of aviation, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as well as economic development officials from the seven counties in the lower Hudson Valley.
“Each of our seven counties and a number of our leading companies have stepped up and invested in HVEDC at levels that far exceed previous contributions,” said Lant, although he provided no figures. “Now we need other private sector companies in the Hudson Valley to follow suit. The success of this organization ”“ and the future of this region ”“ depends on it.”
At an Orange County business meeting last fall, Campagiorni provided a demographic thumbnail of the working population in the region. Low-paying retail employment provides some 16 percent of the jobs in the region, public sector and government jobs provide 15 percent of the jobs, health care and social service related employment provides 13 percent of the jobs, tourism related jobs account for 6 percent which is the same figure as manufacturing jobs.
Campagiorni also noted that government sector jobs pay, on average, about 40 percent more than private sector jobs, which he called “a troublesome trend.” And many of the most highly paid workers who live in the area do not work in the area. Of the roughly 1.5 million people in the local work force, about 230,000 of them must commute out of the region to work.
The June 4 statement said that HVEDC will change its mission from a self-described “marketing organization” to become “an aggressive advocate for the Hudson Valley in Albany.”
The goal is to create “a unified regional agenda and speak with one voice for the valley” in seeking state support for economic development projects. “Because our region lacks a central city, we are at risk of getting lost among all the other competing interests upstate and in New York City,” Lant said. “We must advocate for ourselves as never before, especially our region”™s superior attributes and prospects.”
The group will continue to seek shovel-ready sites. Under Campagiorni, the HVEDC sought to identify the top three parcels throughout the Hudson Valley where the region would focus on attracting hi-tech business parks for the region to rally around. But as an indication of the difficulty of uniting a region with numerous political boundaries, no agreement has ever been reached on sites to support.
Although HVEDC has been conducting a regional search for a replacement for Campagiorni since his departure on Feb. 1, the organization is now broadening its search nationwide to find the best possible candidates.Â
