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By M. Lisa Monroe
Express News Staff
The Adirondack Eco-nomic Development Corp. has named Mike Conway as its new executive director. The AEDC is a non-profit organization founded in 1976 to further economic development in the Adirondack Park.
“We provide financial and technical assistance to existing and emerging small businesses,” said Conway.
Before taking the job with the AEDC, Conway spent some time researching the organization and speaking to people in the region about what role they felt the AEDC should play in the development of the area. He was also impressed with the organization’s interest in building cohesion between disparate groups.
“Particularly impressive is the work that is being done to build partnerships and commonalities of interest among groups that may have been somewhat antagonistic in the past,” he said.
Conway has worked in economic development for over 20 years in places as different as Buffalo, Cleveland and rural Maine. He knows there are challenges unique to the Adirondack Park, but he finds some similarities to the other regions he has served in.
“I have worked in enough communities to understand the complexities of economic development. Here, we have the Blue Line challenge; in Cleveland, an industrial exodus; in Buffalo, downtown disinvestment. I also hope to offset my inexperience in working in the park by hiring staff that are familiar with the area, understand the complexities, and are process-oriented,” said Conway.
Conway sees the environment as a magnet that attracts capital from outside the region to be spent in this tourist-based economy.
“That is why, in my opinion, it is so important to maintain the environmental integrity of the park as we facilitate economic development. The danger is that this magnet is subject to external forces that are out of our control, such as the price of gasoline. Collectively, we need be nimble and creative to react to the events that are imposed on us. Again, this points toward the need for strong partnerships and a consensus of vision,” Conway said. “The Board of the AEDC has completed a strategic plan, which calls for us to provide capital and technical assistance to small and emerging businesses. Within this broad goal, we will focus our efforts on green-oriented business activities, sustainable tourism, and technology-oriented activity.”
The Old Forge office of the AEDC is currently without a director and is being run in the interim by J.R. Risley. Conway is talking to two people about heading that office and hopes that the vacancy will be filled soon.
“We would be remiss in our efforts to serve Old Forge if we did not have a person based there with their finger on the pulse of the community,” Conway said.
Conway will be in Old Forge on May 15 as the guest speaker at a semi-formal banquet hosted by the Central Adirondack Association. J
