Elmont Online

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled more details about his administration's overhaul of the state's economic development process Wednesday.

The centerpiece: a consolidated approach in which 10 economic regions will compete for $1 billion in development funds overseen by a batch of state entities -- ranging from the Empire State Development Corporation ($270 million, including $130 million set aside in the enacted budget) to the Canal Corporation ($1.5 million from the Canalway Grant Program).

The current development structure has been criticized as often scattered and frequently unproductive in terms of job retention and creation.

"We're fragmented in our approach, we're balkanized, we're organized in silos," Cuomo said in a Red Room news conference. "The approach has to be horizontal."

The template for each region's proposal, the "Consolidated Funding Application," will be released in coming weeks.

As a hypothetical example, Cuomo said that under the new plan the Capital Region's council could apply to develop a second phase of local efforts to boost nanotech investment.

"And part of developing nanotech is bringing in this industry and this industry, and we're therefore applying for ESDC money to do this, and transportation money to put a new spur off the Thruway where we're going to access a new industrial park -- so there's a long-term vision that the region is driving towards," the governor said. (Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings watched the news conference from the back of the Capitol's Red Room.)

A selection committee will be made up of members of the agencies involved, plus the state Budget Division. The regional councils -- representing the Capital Region, Central New York, Finger Lakes Region, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley, New York City, North Country, Southern Tier and Western New York -- will be overseen by Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy.

The members of each council will be announced in the near future, Cuomo said.

The Capital Region zone includes eight counties: Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer as well as Greene, Columbia, Warren and Washington.

The governor insisted no industry sector would be favored over others statewide.

The plan drew praise from business groups including Unshackle Upstate and the state Economic Development Council.