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THE WINNERS OF THE DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION INITIATIVE (DRI) ROUND seven HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED

Posted on by Admin in Blog, Business Development, Economic Development, Economics

Governor Hochul has announced the winners of the seventh round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) in a series of events highlighting the significance of the DRI program in revitalizing communities across the State.

Launched in 2016, The Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) has been envisioned as “a comprehensive approach to boosting local economies by transforming communities into vibrant neighborhoods where the next generation of New Yorkers will want to live, work and raise a family.”

The 2023 winners are as follows:

  • New York City: Long Island City
  • Long Island: Kings Park
  • Capital Region: Lake George
  • Mid-Hudson: White Plains
  • Southern Tier: Roxbury  
  • Mohawk: Herkimer
  • Central New York: Cayuga, Aurora, and Union Springs
  • Finger Lakes: Waterloo
  • Western New York: Tonawanda
  • North Country: Lowville

Roxbury is the second municipality in the Catskills to receive a DRI award after Tannersville had been awarded in Round 5.

Having served on the Steering Committee for Roxbury’s DRI application, I emphasize the importance of transformative projects in revitalizing communities.

Home to the renowned Roxbury Motel, Plattekill Ski Resort and historic Shephard Hills Golf Course, the Town of Roxbury builds on the legacy of financier and railroad magnate Jay Gould and naturalist writer John Burroughs. Its two distinctive hamlets of Roxbury and Grand Gorge, situated at the confluence of major corridors along Routes 30 and 23 in the scenic Catskill Mountains, are connected by a passageway alongside the East Branch of Delaware River, and serve a diverse population of full and part-time residents as well as tourists from all over the world. The quaint small-town atmosphere, rich historic character, vibrant creative economy, and abundant outdoor recreational opportunities make the two hamlets an idyllic place to live, work and vacation. The relative proximity to major metropolitan areas enables remote work while at the same time cultivates resiliency and sustainability that builds on a long farming tradition.

The official announcement of the award can be found at https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-highlights-fy-2025-budget-investments-southern-tier.

You can learn more about Roxbury’s DRI application at https://www.grandgorgeroxburydri.com/.

More information about the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) is available at https://www.ny.gov/programs/downtown-revitalization-initiative

SPEECHWRITING AND STORYTELLING WITH FELICITY H. BARBER

Posted on by Admin in Blog, business, Business Writing, content marketing, News, workshops, Writing
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Writers in the Mountains (WIM) presents Speechwriting and Storytelling with Felicity H. Barber, a weekend intensive held online Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23, 2023 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 noon. Once you register and pay, you will be given instructions on how to join the class.

Since the advent of TED, storytelling has become a buzzword. But it’s a trick speechwriters have been using for centuries to help speakers connect with audiences and persuade them of their message. In this intensive two-day course you will: learn the basics of speechwriting and how to use it to tell your story; learn how to take your story, structure it into something that works for an audience, and use language to make it more compelling; connect your story to a broader message that moves hearts and minds; practice telling your story to an audience. Join Felicity for this interactive session where you’ll learn the tricks of the speechwriting trade, tell some epic stories that share something important about who you are, and have some fun along the way.  

Felicity Barber is Founder of Thoughtful Communications, a consultancy doing thought leadership, speechwriting, and training. She has spent more than a decade writing speeches and managing the executive communications of CEOs in financial services. Prior to starting her own business she wrote for the CEO of BlackRock, two Federal Reserve Presidents, and the CEO of Lloyd’s of London. She has won Cicero Awards for her speeches on financial regulation and culture in financial services and she is an advisory board member of the Professional Speechwriters Association. Fun fact: Felicity once wrote a book that was given as a gift to the late Queen Elizabeth II. 

To register for this class, e-mail writersinthemountains@gmail.com. To register online, visit writersinthemountains.org. Class fee is $100. 

Writers in the Mountains is a 501 ( c ) (3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to provide a nurturing environment for the practice, appreciation and sharing of creative writing. For more information, visit writersinthemountains.org.

Highlights from the NYS 2022-2023 Executive Budget

Posted on by Admin in Blog, Economic Development
Photo by Karen W on Pexels.com

Earlier in April the New York State Legislature and Executive approved the 2022-2023 State Budget of $220 billion. The Executive Budget includes increased funding for the Department of State’s (DOS) programs that support community development such as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, NY Forward, Brownfield Opportunity Area, Smart Growth Planning, the Environmental Protection Fund, and Local Waterfront Revitalization Initiative. 

Here are some highlights from the Economic Development Programs:

  • Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC) will continue to play a key role in regionally-driven strategies for economic growth.
  • The Budget includes core funding of $225 million in grants and tax credits to fund high value regional priority projects to be made available throughout the year.
  • A robust package of workforce development initiatives (up to $350 million) is also included.
  • Downtown and community revitalization initiatives (up to $450 million) will continue to be coordinated with REDC-driven economic development strategies where appropriate.
  • The Executive Budget provides $100 million for another round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
  • Additionally, to support a more equitable recovery across New York’s rural communities, the State will create and invest in the NY Forward program, designed to help smaller downtowns. The Executive Budget includes $100 million for the rural and smaller communities. Like the DRI program, NY Forward communities will be selected in partnership with the REDCs. The Department of State (DOS) will lead the community through an abbreviated planning process to develop a slate of readily implementable projects.
  • ConnectALL initiative will invest in digital infrastructure, catalyzing over $1 billion in new public and private investments.
  • The Executive Budget also includes $250 million for a revitalized Restore New York program to rehabilitate vacant, abandoned, condemned, or surplus properties.

To learn more, visit https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy23/ex/index.html

Main Street America and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Share Ideas about the ARPA Fund Use

Posted on by Admin in Blog, business, Business Development, Economic Development, News
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Main Street America in partnership with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) hosted a webinar on February 10 titled “Small Business’s Big Moment” that highlighted ideas for communities on how to use the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for long-term economic development. Kennedy Smith from the ISLR and Kelly Humrichouser from Main Street America moderated the conversation, whose focus was on small business.

Some of the ideas presented include:

  • Strategic investments in small business training, coaching and finance, i.e. financial relief grants, loans, opening business incubators, and other resources;
  • Using the funds to develop and open full-service grocers;
  • Building a robust infrastructure to support small scale manufacturing;
  • Simplifying and streamlining the procurement process to make it easier for small businesses to bid;
  • Investing in “shop local” marketing campaigns;
  • Expanding broadband access;
  • Making improvements in commercial districts to enhance accessibility.

To read the full report, visit Small-Businesss-Big-Moment-Report.pdf.   

Destination Branding – What It Is and Why It Matters

Posted on by Admin in Blog, Branding, business, Economic Development, Marketing, trends
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A new era for tourism is emerging as we plan for the post-pandemic world with an eye on sustainability. At the heart of destination branding is a well-told story about what makes a place unique, welcoming, and memorable. A good story articulates a place’s distinctive traits while at the same time builds affinity and excitement.

As The Place Brand Observer notes, destination branding is more than just economic development, and it encompasses in fact a range of metrics including the local community’s well-being, the livability of cities and towns, and the general feeling that the stakeholders share about how well these initiatives are actually performing.

To successfully position a destination, one must certainly emphasize local landmarks and iconic attractions, but at the same time think strategically about what visitors might remember a week, a month or a year later. Also, since tourist attractions don’t exist in a vacuum, equal emphasis should be placed on investing in local communities. As one tourism authority once put it, a happy place will attract happy people or people who want to be happy.    

Heritage destinations have always been popular. In addition, visitors are also looking for off-the-beaten path experiences, and occasionally insider tips to make the most of the experience. Content creators, mindful of these trends, will have to keep in mind that visitors are interested not only in memorable moments but also in how the experience itself will make them feel.

According to Destination Analysts, a tourism market research firm based in San Francisco, when planning a trip, people do prefer to consult with family and friends, but also review websites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp, and travel business websites like hotels, attractions, and airlines.

GPT-3 WRITES POETRY

Posted on by Admin in AI, Blog, creative writing, Language, News, poetry
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In July 2020 the MIT Technology Review announced the development of a new language generator A.I. called GPT-3 and produced by OpenAI, a research lab founded by Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Because of its vast neural network, GPT-3 performs much better than its predecessors being able to write short stories, songs, press releases, technical manuals, computer code, but also imitate established writers, and translate to and from a variety of languages. GPT-3 even wrote an informative article about itself that one would not be able to guess it wasn’t written by a human.

Here’s an example of GPT-3 creative writing: “When you can look into the mirror and see a poem looking back at you. When you can hear music in the play of silence. When you can create a writing that leaves people stunned. When you can laugh and weep as you think and breathe and bleed and eat and sleep. When you can dream with the quill in your fingers, then perhaps you will be a poet, a Poet, an Uber Poet.”

GPT-3 is good at synthesizing vast amounts of data and generating text on demand, but is also erroneous at times, and even racist and sexist. Having been trained on a dataset of half a trillion words, GPT-3 is able to identify an array of linguistic patterns but doesn’t understand what the words really mean and also lacks a general sense of purpose and meaning.

Given its versatility but also shortcomings, it remains to be seen how GPT-3 is going to be used by both academia and the business world to develop applications.  

How to Build a Small Town Sustainable Future

Posted on by Admin in Blog, business, Business Development, Economic Development, trends
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Last December I attended a webinar with Main Street America where Lindsey Wallace spoke about her organization’s approach to community transformation based on four pillars:

1. Organization

2. Economic Vitality

3. Design

4. Promotion

As we juggle multiple crises from health care to economic prosperity, climate change, and inequality, I believe this is a model that can lead to a sustainable future for communities that can rally together behind some common purpose.

The first pillar Organization calls for strong leadership and broad community engagement to identify priorities and forge partnerships across sectors.

Economic Vitality invites a diverse economic base, and smart investments that contribute to a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Design plays a critical role in creating an inviting and inclusive atmosphere that incorporates historic preservation, energy efficiency, and accessibility.

And Promotion is all about marketing the community’s defining assets and unique attributes while supporting “buy local”.

Business trends that will continue to shape our communities are the expansion of broadband, remote work, e-commerce, and lifestyle changes that are here to stay like for instance slowing down, investing in self-care, and developing contingency plans.

Read more about trends here.

The Winners of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) Round Five Have Been Announced

Posted on by Admin in Blog, Business Development, Economic Development, Economics

Governor Hochul and Lieutenant Governor Benjamin have announced the winners of the fifth round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) in a series of events that were held last fall to highlight the significance of the DRI program in revitalizing communities across the State.

Launched in 2016, The Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) has been envisioned as “a comprehensive approach to boosting local economies by transforming communities into vibrant neighborhoods where the next generation of New Yorkers will want to live, work and raise a family.”

The 2021 winners are as follows:

  • New York City: Chinatown ($20 million)
  • Long Island: Amityville ($10 million) and Riverhead ($10 million)
  • Capital Region: Troy ($10 million) and Tannersville ($10 million)
  • Mid-Hudson: Haverstraw ($10 million) and Ossining ($10 million)
  • Mohawk Valley: Gloversville ($10 million) and Little Falls ($10 million)
  • Finger Lakes: Rochester ($10 million) and Newark ($10 million)
  • Central New York: Oneida ($10 million) and Syracuse ($10 million)
  • Western New York: Buffalo ($10 million) and North Tonawanda ($10 million)
  • Southern Tier: Endicott ($10 million) and Norwich ($10 million)
  • North Country: Tupper Lake ($10 million) and Massena ($10 million)

The village of Tannersville in Greene County (Capital Region) is the smallest municipality to have ever received a DRI award (population 858), and also the first one in the Catskills area. Projects to be considered for funding include housing developments, as more people are leaving the City and relocating Upstate, and tourist attractions such as music and arts venues, as well as a trolley that will take visitors to the Kaaterskill Falls, a major source of inspiration for the Hudson River School of Painting, the first authentic American art movement. Tannersville is only 4 miles away from Hunter Mountain Ski Resort, a worldwide destination. To learn more about the Tannersville’s DRI application, listen to the interview conducted by Brett Barry from Silver Hollow Audio with Sean Mahoney, Executive Director, and Amy Scheibe, Board Chair at the Hunter Foundation, the economic development partner for the Village of Tannersville, which spearheaded the DRI process: https://anchor.fm/kaatscast

The DRI winners are selected every year in a competitive review process based on eight criteria (in 2020 the program was put on hold due to the pandemic):

  1. The downtown should be compact, with well-defined boundaries;
  2. The downtown is able to capitalize on prior or catalyze future private and public investment in the neighborhood and its surrounding areas;
  3. There should be recent or impending job growth within, or in close proximity to the downtown that can attract workers to the downtown, support redevelopment and make growth sustainable;
  4. The downtown must be an attractive and livable community for diverse populations of every age, income, gender, identity, ability, mobility and cultural background;
  5. The municipality should already embrace or have the ability to create and implement policies that increase livability and quality of life, including the use of local land banks, modern zoning codes and parking standards, complete street plans, energy efficient projects, green jobs, and transit-oriented development;
  6. The municipality should have conducted an open and robust community engagement process resulting in a vision for downtown revitalization and a preliminary list of projects and initiatives that may be included in a DRI strategic investment plan;
  7. The municipality has the local capacity to manage the DRI process;
  8. The municipality has identified transformative projects that will be ready for near-term implementation with an infusion of DRI funds.

To learn more about the DRI process, visit https://simonadavid.com/2021/09/01/downtown-revitalization-initiative-dri-a-quick-overview/.

For more information, visit https://www.ny.gov/programs/downtown-revitalization-initiative