The Economic Development Committee of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has approved the establishment of a new framework for economic development efforts in Saratoga County on a bipartisan basis.
The framework brings the efforts of two economic development organizations—the longstanding Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC) and the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership (SCPP)—into alignment, each with specific duties.
The new arrangement was approved by the supervisors on June 16.
When the partnership was formed, the county board stopped funding SEDC and staffed the new SCPP. Each operated independently. SEDC continued to operate after losing county funding because it is a private, nonprofit consulting firm that gets funding from other sources.
“In conversations with my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors and people in the business community over the past year, there was a strong, growing frustration with the economic development structure in Saratoga County and change was necessary,” said Kevin Tollisen, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “The important reforms and new structure for economic development in Saratoga County has majority support of my colleagues and the business community and we will work to present a unified and collective approach for economic development in Saratoga County.”
In the new arrangement, SEDC will lead, strategically plan and manage the marketing efforts and business retention and attraction activities for the economic development efforts in Saratoga County. Elements of this effort will include advertising, prospect communication, site selector visits, recruitment and trade shows.
Any project team seeking to pursue expansion or new project development will be referred to SEDC for project support and to handle all engagements with the Saratoga County IDA and other local IDAs to attract appropriate incentives.
Entrepreneurs and emerging-growth businesses will be referred to its SPARK Saratoga incubator and accelerator, which provides support to grow next generation companies and jobs. It is an affiliate with the region’s Innovate 518 network of accelerators and eligible to provide state tax incentives for new businesses.
The SCPP will focus its work on the Next Wave Communities Initiative, providing community economic development planning services by working with individual municipalities. The group will also lead, plan and manage marketing efforts for individual municipality’s community and economic development.
SCPP will continue its work in the marketing and promotion of the county with the semiconductor industry.
Officials said there will be a renewed effort to assist local municipalities to identify specific needs in their communities. Infrastructure, marketing, aesthetic improvements, planning studies or any other local improvement associated with current or future economic development will be prioritized working with local government officials. The SCPP will assist the municipalities in achieving these priorities.
The county’s Economic Development Committee is also researching the option of establishing an Economic Development Planning Fund to aid individual municipalities’ improvement efforts. The fund would be administered by the SCPP board and would provide seed funding for grant applications, planning studies and other related priorities established by local officials.
Funding levels for the economic development program will ultimately be established by the Board of Supervisors. The goal is to ensure all county partners have an adequate level of funding and to direct more funding to local municipalities. Additionally, it is the goal of the new framework to keep the level of funding for economic development at the same level as previous years.
Funding for the purposes of economic development and tourism is derived from the county’s bed tax receipts and the state I Love NY program. Per the legislation that created the SCPP, the organization receives 50 percent of the total amount of money collected through the bed tax.
Officials said funding will remain at that level, which would have totaled $543,000 for 2019. The agreement between Saratoga County and the SCPP states the relationship between the two entities must be approved annually. SEDC is recommended to receive $150,000 annually, which will be reviewed on an annual basis.
The proposed Economic Development Planning Fund is recommended to begin at $150,000.
The new structure will also provide increased oversight by the Board of Supervisors and ensure collaboration between SEDC and the SCPP.
“The SCPP Board has been working to fulfill our mission and more recently work cooperatively with SEDC to explore opportunities for the two organizations to work cooperatively in the future,” said Kevin Hedley, chairman of the Prosperity Partnership. “We will continuously work to ensure the SCPP has a valuable role in the future success of Saratoga County.”
Supervisor Phil Barrett, Economic Development chairman, said the new economic development reforms and structure for Saratoga County “will use allocated funding more efficiently, institute additional oversight and increase cooperation between the county, SCPP and SEDC. A clear definition of roles and responsibilities for SCPP and SEDC, now approved by both organizations, eliminates duplicative efforts and establishes clear goals for everyone involved.”
