The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council is submitting their application for the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.
The economic competition will award three Upstate regions with $500 million each. In a public meeting, the council unanimously voted on their final draft of the plan, which included input from both a consulting group and members of the community.
Co-chairman Joel Seligman says this the process has been thorough, but rewarding.
"It's all been worth while. It's led to a stronger plan, and it's led to what we most wanted, which was a plan which gave us a chance to learn from each other."
Seligman says they have identified opportunities within the region that he thinks sets the Finger Lakes apart from its competitors.
"We think we're focusing on three absolutely critical industry clusters: optics, photonics, and imaging; agriculture and food production; and next generation manufacturing. And we think we've identified some great individual projects there, which can really move the dial in our community."
These industry clusters make up the foundation of the proposal.
Seligman says they'll be making their case to Empire State Development in person in October. In the meantime, the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council is asking for community support for the plan. They'll be circulating a petition and asking members of the public to sign.
