Senator Seward Hosts Economic Summit

Business owners - large and small - and reps from the health care, education, and government sectors gathered on Thursday to discuss the economy of Otsego County.

Senator James Seward held an economic summit to bring the community together in order to grow the county's economy.

Senator Seward says he was disappointed when he reviewed the state funding Otsego County received through the regional economic development councils, set up to spur economic growth.

"$60.2 million came to the Mohawk Valley Region and Otsego County only received $3.6 million," he says.

Seward says he's hoping to up that number when the next round of funding comes around.  But that will only happen if the county works together and organizes itself, as area economic expert Linda Hartsock tells Eyewitness News.

"This is a shared process, no one organization drives it, it's really a community endeavor. Communities that are organized, that have well-constructed, well-thought out plans and have identified priority projects that will really change the community will be the communities that win at this game," she says.

She spoke with those who attended the summit about how to go about doing this, working to become relevant in the new economy and working with the opportunities the county has.

"It has an enormous amount of assets to build on from cultural venues, to educational institutions, to wonderful historic downtowns and still a rich legacy of manufacturing, so I think telling that story is the first step," says Hartsock.

One of the key parts of today's summit was breakout sessions where those in attendance discussed economic development from different points of view. 

Senator Seward says this is just the beginning of many positive economic development talks to come, and he was very impressed with the turnout and energy at the summit today.