By: Jill Giocondo - Staff Reporter Cortland Standard

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has nominated the Cortland County Business Development Corporation and the Industrial Development Agency for 2003 Excellence in Economic Development awards consideration.

Clinton nominated the agency and its executive director, Linda Hartsock, in the category of Rural Economic Development for the agency's work on retaining and attracting business and industry to Cortland County. For the rural economic development awards, counties had populations less that 50,000. The awards recognize innovative economic development programs and strategies from across the nation.

Hartsock said it is an honor to be nominated for the award by a state senator. "The nomination suggests that within New York we're creating a model for small town development," she said.

Hartsock added that nominations and awards like this attract attention to the area, which also helps to spur further economic development.

In her letter supporting the nomination, Clinton praised the BDC and the IDA for its work in identifying the challenges facing the county.

"The source of the BDC/IDA's real success lies in its ability to pinpoint and focus on the major issues facing the county. Whether preserving the downtown historic district, adapting older industrial buildings for new uses, or implementing brownfield redevelopment projects (in former industrial sites), the BDC/IDA had built a sense of community pride and common purpose for job creation and retention," Clinton wrote in her nomination letter.

The letter also cited the BDC/IDA's ability to work with $90 million in new investment programs over the past two years. The agency has managed about $10 million in federal and state economic development projects, as well as $8 million in Small Business Administration work to expand business opportunities in the county.

Paul Slowey, chairman of the BDC/IDA, said the nomination is testimony that state and local leaders like what they have seen so far from the community. "I am pleased with what we have accomplished, and that we have gotten through the most recent downturn with few major announcements (of bad economic news) shows that we have managed to diversify the business base in the community," he said.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration presents the Excellence in Economic Development awards. The award recipients will highlight their successful strategies at the EDA's National Conference in May for the following categories: Excellence in Urban and Suburban Economic Development, Excellence in Rural Economic Adjustment Strategies, Excellence in Technology-led Economic Development, Excellence in Community and Faith- Based Social Entrepreneurship and Excellence in Innovation.

The competition is open to non-profit organization, non-federal government bodies and universities and colleges. An independent panel of economic development practitioners, academies and government representatives will make the award selections.