State of the Region: CAPITAL REGION 2021 Strategic Update e Ta r len o t C net ag M Ga tew ay Tech t - ex N CAPITAL REGIONAL ECONOMIC Jeff Stark DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL MEMBERS Business Development Specialist, IUPAT District Council 9 NY REGIONAL CO-CHAIRS Mike Tucker Ruth H. Mahoney President, Tucker Strategies, Inc. Market President & Regional Retail Leader, Joseph Wildermuth KeyBank, Capital Region Executive Vice President, Peckham Industries Roger Ramsammy Havidán Rodríguez President, Hudson Valley Community College President, University at Albany EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Rachel E. Seeber Melissa Auf der Maur Chairwoman, Warren County Board of Supervisors Co-Founder and Director, Basilica Hudson and Hudson River House Samuel Hal Chair, Washington County BOS James Barba President Emeritus, Albany Medical Center Anthony Jasenski Chair, Schenectady County Legislature Dennis Brobston President, Saratoga Economic Development Patrick Linger Corporation Chair, Greene County Legislature David Brown Patrick Madden President and CEO, Capital District YMCA Mayor of Troy David Buicko Gary McCarthy President and CEO, Galesi Group Mayor of Schenectady Joseph Dragone Daniel McCoy Senior Executive Officer, Capital Region BOCES County Executive, Albany County Todd Erling Steven McLaughlin Director, Hudson Valley AgriBusiness County Executive, Rensselaer County Development Corp. Matt Murell Bill Hart Chairman, Columbia County BOS Vice President, U.S. Business Operations, Irving Kathy Sheehan Tissue Inc. Mayor of Albany Michael Hickey Theodore Kusnietz Executive Director, Stack Center for Innovation and Chairman, Saratoga County BOS Entrepreneurship, Siena College Linda MacFarlane Executive Director, Community Loan Fund of the Capital COVER IMAGES Region, Inc. Albany County: Offshore Wind Cluster (Port of Albany) Philip Morris Columbia County: Magnet Community (Hudson) CEO, Proctors Collaborative Greene County: Magnet Community (Catskill) Matthew Nelson National Production Manager, Sabal Capital Partners Rensselaer County: Drug Manufacturing Cluster (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) Lauren Payne President, Spiral Design Studio, LLC Schenectady County: Cleantech Power Cluster (GE) Sinclair Schuller Warren County: Medical Device Manufacturing Cluster Managing Partner and Co-founder, Nuvalence (AngioDynamics) Washington County: Magnet Community (Greenwich) Table of Contents A MESSAGE FROM THE CO-CHAIRS....................................................................................................4 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................5 II. STRATEGIC UPDATE ......................................................................................................................... 14 REGIONAL STRATEGIES ...........................................................................................................................15 Talent ...............................................................................................................................................................15 Gateway ..........................................................................................................................................................17 Next-Tech ........................................................................................................................................................18 Magnet (formerly Lift-Off) ...........................................................................................................................24 Core (formerly Metro) ..................................................................................................................................26 SUMMARY OF CREDC’S UPDATED STRATEGIES ............................................................................................28 STATEWIDE PRIORITIES ...................................................................................................................................29 Life Sciences Cluster ...................................................................................................................................30 Regional Prioritized Cluster .......................................................................................................................31 Environmental Justice .................................................................................................................................31 Placemaking ...................................................................................................................................................31 Workforce Development.............................................................................................................................31 Opportunity Agenda ....................................................................................................................................31 STRATEGY-ADVANCING PROJECTS ............................................................................................................32 Table 1: Capital Region Key Industry Clusters ......................................................................................36 Table 2: Regional Strategies Support Key Regional Clusters ...........................................................37 Table 3: Magnet Communities and Next-Tech Cluster Cores ...........................................................38 Map 1A: Next-Tech Cluster Cores ............................................................................................................41 Map 1B: Magnet Communities..................................................................................................................42 Table 4: Capital Region Towns & Cities with Highest Poverty Rates ..............................................43 Map 2: Top 20 Capital Region Cities & Towns with Highest Poverty Rates ..................................44 III. PARTICIPATION .................................................................................................................................. 45 Workgroups ....................................................................................................................................................46 Public Outreach and Engagement ...........................................................................................................50 IV. PREVIOUSLY FUNDED CFA PROJECTS .................................................................................... 52 Overview of Previously Funded Priority Projects .................................................................................52 Overview of All Previously Funded CFA Projects .................................................................................61 V. APPENDIX ..............................................................................................................................................64 A MESSAGE FROM THE CO-CHAIRS As you will read in the pages of this Strategy Update, COVID-19 exposed many challenges for our region; at In many respects, the experience in the Capital the same time, it highlighted some equally significant Region over the past year has been similar to strengths. We are inspired by the incredible resilience other parts of the state and the nation: the most of our communities, and extremely confident that catastrophic public health crisis in a century led to our experiences and investments over the past year tremendous challenges for our communities in nearly have not only accelerated our recovery—they have every facet of residents’ lives. In addition to the tragic positioned us for a more inclusive and sustainable health consequences across our region, the negative economic future. impact on the economic well-being of individuals, families and businesses was unprecedented. With great appreciation, Today, thanks to strong leadership from Governor Cuomo and from local leaders and citizens across our region—and the availability of highly effective vaccines—we are emerging from the worst impacts of the pandemic. Ruth Mahoney While our Council had to pivot from our annual Market President & Regional Retail Leader, KeyBank CFA round and Progress Report, we adapted to the circumstances and embraced an opportunity to bolster existing projects while focusing on supporting the region’s recovery. The CREDC participated in the Capital Region’s Havidán Rodríguez, Ph.D COVID-19 Control Room process, serving as a President, University at Albany connector between government, the business community and higher education as the region navigated the complex needs and opportunities brought on by the crisis. The Council also developed the Capital Region Economic Recovery Strategy, setting forth a sector-based blueprint for post- pandemic success. Meanwhile, our Council members, workgroups and community partners worked individually and collectively to sustain our regional network and our progress. 4 State of the Region: Capital Region PART ONE Executive Summary Port of Albany 2021 Strategic Update 5 PUBG MadGlory, Saratoga Springs 6 State of the Region: Capital Region THE PLAN In 2015, the Capital Region Economic Development Council (CREDC) answered Governor Andrew Cuomo’s call for regions across the state to devise long-term, regionally based plans for economic growth. The result was Capital 20.20, a five-year plan that sought to promote inclusive economic growth and prosperity and that would guide investments in projects through the