By CHRISSY PRICHARD

Express News Staff

The 57th annual meeting of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) was held on Thursday, Sept. 27 at View. The meeting was attended by about 50 community members, business owners, and representatives from various organizations, associations and agencies from across the state.  

Serving the 14 northernmost counties in the state, ANCA works toward building vibrant rural communities and resilient local economies. These goals are accomplished through a variety of programs focused on business development, energy efficiency, byway routes, locally made products, and local food sources. The group also coordinates cross-organizational efforts such as the Common Ground Alliance Forum and the North Country Clean Energy Conference.

Kate Fish, ANCA Executive Director began the meeting by highlighting many of the groups accomplishments over the past year. She emphasized that all of ANCA’s projects serve the group’s three main goals, which are building resilient local economies by providing the foundation for business development that creates family-sustaining jobs in rural communities, building vibrant communities by fostering connections between communities and enabling visitors and residents to fully experience the region’s abundant cultural and natural assets, and creating a strong sense of place by recognizing and highlighting the exceptional assets that make this region unique and build the case for investment in the region.

In July, ANCA organized the largest Common Ground Alliance Forum to date, with over 250 leaders from around the region meeting in Long Lake to hear the results of a year-long scenario planning process which showed strong consensus on a shared vision for the region. Participants also shared progress reports on topics that the Common Ground Alliance had identified as priorities including the incremental build-out of  broadband capacity and service across the region, a cross-organizational effort to develop a recreation strategy for the entire Park, and the roll out of a new program under the Cleaner Greener Communities Statewide program – the Homegrown Sustainability Plan. 

In June, the first North Country Clean Energy Conference was held in Lake Placid at which educators, practitioners, community leaders, industry professionals and others were able to share information about clean energy opportunities in the North Country. The objectives of the conference were to share techniques, technology and project learnings as related to clean energy projects in the North Country; assist participants in identifying potential projects and lead organizations who would consider submitting projects in the next round of proposals that will be considered by NY State development process; share technical, staffing and regulatory issues as related to clean energy projects; and share funding sources and opportunities for clean energy projects.

ANCA has been working on byway projects, connecting communities in the North Country and showcasing their natural and historic resources. Through Byway planning, marketing, branding, interpretive, stewardship, and accessibility projects, ANCA empowers communities to reap the benefits of these important tourism assets. ANCA has published pocket-sized educational brochures on combating invasive species, a brochure highlighting wildlife along three byways, and an accessibility guide for those with physical challenges. They have also launched a website, www.BikeTheByways.org, featuring 1,500 miles of biking in the North Country and are working on installing a multi-media project on the Olympic Scenic Byway at Whiteface Mountain.

ANCA has also helped to secure $1.2 million in funding for a railside path between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake.

This year, the annual meeting was focused on economic development activity in the Mohawk Valley and ANCA’s Central Region, in an effort to dive deeper into the issues brought up at a meeting on demographic and economic change in the Adirondack North Country held by ANCA in 2011, which included an assessment of the State of the Region, from the perspective of Empire State Development and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Ken Tompkins, Empire State Development’s Mohawk Valley Regional Director, spoke about current conditions in the Mohawk Valley economy. He highlighted the various forces that have shaped the economy in the region and where it is headed in the future. He discussed ongoing projects in the region including the Marcy Nanocenter, Computer Chip Commercialization Center, emerging cyber security center, FAGE Yogurt, and Fort Tryon Business Park projects.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, President of SUNY IT and co-chair of the Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Develop-ment Council discussed the work of the Regional Economic Development Council as well as SUNY IT’s role in advancing economic change in the region. He discussed the opportunities for manufacturing and business growth in the region and the many factors that draw businesses and employees to the area.

The meeting also included a discussion of regional development issues, needs and opportunities with representatives from economic sectors such as tourism, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, technology and community development. The panel of presenters included Kelly Blazosky, President of Oneida County Tourism; Ann Melious, Director of Economic Development and Tourism, Hamilton County; Steven DiMeo, President of Mohawk Valley EDGE (Economic Development Growth Enter-prises Corp.); Chris Talgo, Owner of Nail Creek Pub and The Tailor & The Cook, in Utica; Patrick Hooker, Director of Agribusiness Development, Empire State Development; andNick Rose, Director of CAP-21 (Central Adirondack Partnership).

Each speaker highlighted the role that their economic sector and their organization in particular plays in the shaping of the economy. They discussed opportunities, strategies, accomplishments and challenges that come into play in the strengthening of the economy in the Mohawk Valley and ANCA’s Central Region.

For more information on ANCA, their projects, or to become a member, visit www.adirondack.org.