http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wxxi/local-wxxi-984216.mp3
With a distinctly college orientation-like vibe, the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council hosted a public input session at Monroe Community College Tuesday night.
Organizers say nearly 200 people - mostly members of the region's far-flung business community - showed up to throw in their two cents.
The question posed by council leadership: What should our priorities be?
Bob McNary, the regional director of Empire State Development (and, therefore, the executive director of the regional council) says the point of the so-called community workshop was to "make sure we're not way off kilter."
The councils are already charging ahead, working feverishly to meet a mid-November deadline for producing a strategic plan. Initially, the four winning plans will each take home $40 million in state funds. The losing six have to split the remaining $40 million.
"We've gotta make sure that what our council members are doing is consistent with what the public wants," says McNary. "That's a big part of tonight."
Brainstorming
After introductions from McNary and the council's two co-chairs, attendees broke into small groups and were told to come up with a list of the region's strengths, opportunities and roadblocks to success.
Graham Fennie, the founder and CEO of a Pittsford-based biofuel company called Epiphergy, described it like this:
"It's kind of like an exercise in finding yourself."
Fennie and the six or seven other people around his table bounced ideas off each other as facilitators helped move the conversation along.
"Not every idea is a great idea, but not every idea is a bad one either," Fennie said of the brainstorming session. "I think it's a learning process for us all to figure out what ideas resonate and [to help] move those [ideas] and prioritize those to the top of the list."
When it was all said and done, each table shared a strength or two, an opportunity and some obstacles.
- "Strengths" like "Abundant Water Supply," "Higher Education" and "Entrepreneurial Culture" were typed up and projected onto screens.
- Among the "Opportunities" were retaining college graduates, leveraging the region's advanced manufacturing sector, and commercializing university research.
- Some of the "Roadblocks" were negativity ("from within and without," as Fennie's table put it), limited access to venture capital, and burdensome regulations and high taxes.
Several attendees said they hoped the session will strengthen the state's billion-dollar economic development push - as well as the region's chances of winning big.
The council says the public will get another chance to help out soon. Executive director McNary says the council will go back to the public with a draft plan in the coming weeks.
What do you think the region's economic priorities should be? Let us know in the comments.
