Governor George E. Pataki today announced that Cortland is one of 26 sites in 22 counties that will receive $75,000 in matching grants under the second round of New York's innovative Build Now-NY program. The award was made to the Cortland County IDA to develop a 263-acre parcel in the Town of Cortlandville as a multi-tenant business and technology park.

Last week, Congressman James Walsh announced a proposed $500,000 HUD earmark to help bring infrastructure to the site to support its development under the Build-Now-NY program.

"Build Now-NY is a common sense approach designed to help local communities attract new industries, new companies, and new jobs for the future," Governor Pataki said in making the announcement. "With Build Now-NY, we invest time, energy and resources in potential development sites upfront, so that when a business arrives we are ready to step in and help them create new jobs without delay. Initiatives such as Build Now-NY help send an important message to the national and international business communities that New York State is a great place to invest, to grow, and to create new jobs."

Established in 1999, Build Now-NY is coordinated by  ESD and GORR. ESD will strategically market the shovel-ready sites to companies in search of new business locations and GORR will assist with the pre-permitting process. 

Cortland's selection as part of the Build Now-NY program is important for several reasons, according to IDA Director Linda Hartsock. "The program not only provides important seed funding to help undertake necessary site preparation and permitting, but it equally important, puts the technical resources of New York State to work on development projects, through partnerships with agencies such as the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform (GORR) and Empire State Development (ESD)."

The Cortland IDA submitted an extensive proposal under the category of Multi-Tenant Business & Technology Park. Such a project would include a variety of uses, ranging from light industrial, R&D, warehouse/distribution, commercial offices, data and call centers, and back office operations. It could also support other related activities such as banks, hotels, health clubs, day care centers and community amenities. The project would be designed to have more sophisticated land use planning, higher quality architectural and landscape design, and additional design, environmental and land use controls.

David S. Bradley, Acting Director of GORR said, " The sites selected in this program are among the best in the world for growing business." The Cortland IDA worked closely with GORR and ESD through the application process, with representatives from both state agencies visiting Cortland several times to meet with local government officials and business leaders. The IDA, working with the Cortland County Planning Department, prepared the comprehensive application which included USGS data, GIS maps, topographic maps, transportation networks, infrastructure capacity, utility information, environmental information, and soils descriptions. Also included was extensive economic and demographic information about the County and the region.

Applications from across New York State were reviewed by Lockwood Greene, one of the world's foremost business site selection consulting firms. Communities with sites best matching Build Now-NY site selection criteria were selected. According to Hartsock, Joan Herron, Lockwood Greene project manager for Build Now-NY, gave high marks to the Cortland proposal when she made a site visit in September. "She indicated to us that ours was an exceptionally well put together application, and that she was very impressed with the site." Joining Herron for the site visit were David Bradley and GORR staff, and Jim Jacob, Director of Industry Development for ESD's Strategic Business Division. Also participating were Tom Gillson and Tony Kolinski, Central New York Regional staff of Empire State Development, as well as Town of Cortlandville board members and Dan Dineen, director of the Cortland County Planning Department.

Build Now-NY's strategy, working with local government, is threefold: 1) develop land use profiles and site selection criteria to meet expanding business location needs; 2) provide seed money to local communities to undertake necessary site preparation and permitting for these types of sites (including environmental review, zoning changes, and other site preparation and approvals); and 3) strategically market these shovel-ready sites to companies in search of new business locations.

"The Build Now-NY designation is a great boost for this project," said IDA Chairman Paul Slowey. "It puts the marketing power of Empire State Development behind Cortland County, and pushes us to the forefront of available sites in New York State. We look forward to working with ESD, GORR and the Town of Cortlandville to make this program a huge success."

Find more information on line at:

• http://www.gorr.state.ny.us
• http://www.buildnow-ny.org