ALBANY – The effort to get more information regarding a recently announced $200 million economic development project in for the north county.
On Tuesday the state legislature held another joint budget hearing, this time focusing on economic development initiatives that were laid out in the governor’s recent State of the State and Budget presentation.
Senator Catharine Young (R,C,I- 57th District), who’s district includes Chautauqua County along with the western half of the Southern Tier, had the opportunity ask Howard Zemsky about several projects that she says will be key to the future success and prosperity of the region. Zemsky is the President & CEO of Empire State Development and Commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development.
During her questioning, Young asked about the yet-to-be-detailed project for Dunkirk that was included in Governor Cuomo’s Executive Budget proposal. “A lot of my constituents in Chautauqua County were very excited to hear that there is a line item in the Governor’s Executive Proposal that would allocate $200 million to Chautauqua County,” Young said.
While he could not shed light on many additional details, Zemsky did say, “This is an exciting project. This is a commercialization center, so it is production oriented. It would be in the model of the CNSE, SUNY Poly model, where the state would own the assets and the facility. It would be, what I think you would call a 21st Century industry and innovation. I share your enthusiasm about it. We’ve been able to leverage the relationships Nano has developed with leading companies around the world. I think that will be another example of that.”
Young also called attention to the efforts by many in the Western New York region to push for progress on U.S. Route 219. And she thanked President Zemsky for his continued support of the New Forest Economy because of how the project will help grow the economy in the Southern Tier, especially Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties, and across the state.
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