NY regions to vie for $10 million grants to solve growth challenges

A Long Island council will compete with nine others across the state for millions of dollars in state aid to address designated impediments to economic growth, officials said on Wednesday. 

The Challenge Competition is among the new additions to the Regional Economic Development Councils’ contest, where more than $600 million in state tax credits and grants have been awarded annually since 2011.

In the Challenge Competition, each of the state's 10 regions will select a single impediment to growth from a list provided by Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency. 

The list includes blight, workforce readiness, population retention and attraction, sustainability, clean energy, housing, tourism and equity, according to Ashley McCloskey, who oversees the regional councils at ESD.

“Each council will develop a proposal that outlines creative and innovative solutions to address [one impediment],” she told a meeting of the Long Island council at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville. “Based on the proposals submitted to the state, three regions will be chosen to each receive up to $10 million to implement their proposal.”

McCloskey also said each council will update their strategy for economic development and job creation with the help of consultants hired by ESD. Consultants interested in working on the project should contact the agency by June 1, she said, adding that the strategies were last revised in 2015. 

ESD also has set aside $5 million to aid manufacturers of beer, liquor, hard cider and mead, and $5 million for nonprofits to make building improvements.

Applications are now being accepted for the REDC contest with a deadline of July 28 at 4 p.m. for many of the funding programs. The projects then will be graded on a 100-point scale with the regional council awarding up to 20 points and the state agency with the funding, up to 80 points. Ten state agencies participate in the competition.

More information is available at https://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/long-island.

The Island won $21.2 million for 33 projects in the 2022 contest. The largest award - $6 million - went to Water Lilies Food in Bay Shore, a manufacturer of Asian appetizers that plans a factory expansion. 

“We look forward to another really productive year,” said Linda Armyn, of Bethpage Federal Credit Union, who leads the Long Island council with John Nader of Farmingdale State College. “We were able [in 2022] to provide a lot of grants and assistance to help improve how we work and play on Long Island."

She also publicly introduced the council’s newest members appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul: Alicia McIlwain-Marks, owner of Marks of Excellence Child Care in North Amityville and Kyle Strober, executive director of the developer’s group Association for a Better Long Island.

Armyn added, “We are in the process of filling a few vacancies on the [22-member] council…and we will announce those vacancies and replacements at the next meeting.”

John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, is the longest-serving member of the local council, having been appointed in July 2011 when then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo established the 10 councils across the state, said Cara Longworth, the local council’s executive director.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.