Proposals for transformative projects that would sustain and grow jobs by leveraging $11 in private sector investment for every $1 invested by the State are included within the plan.

The key goals of the strategic plan, encompassing Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Albany, Greene and Columbia counties, are to: leverage and collaborate, open new doors, prepare for tomorrow, build a superhighway, bring cities to life, celebrate and optimize surroundings, showcase regional beauty, and spotlight strengths.

The Council is recommending six broadly transformative projects and initiatives that would leverage $487 million in economic growth from an investment of $45 million in state resources ($11/$1 leverage ratio).

*
Having had a continued concern about how agribusiness was going to play a role in the council comprised of nanotechnological giants, Todd Erling, executive director, Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation, and CREDC member, said agribusiness has been key.

“Celebrate and Optimize Our Surroundings are very specific goals and outcomes relating to our region’s farms and agribusinesses,” Erling said.

The strategy plans to increase collaboration among farmers, distributors and the chain of those involved in the food industry with attempts to create a more efficient distribution network.

It is expected that the Farm and Food Coalition will query local business schools about next-generation concepts related to the business of agriculture that might enable local farms to leapfrog other agribusiness communities in their ability to deliver value.

“It’s giving a voice to an area that in the past doesn’t usually hit the radar screen for regional economic development plans,” Erling said. “We appreciated the consideration and full dialogue of the council.”

Throughout the new plan agriculture is given its own goal in various areas while it specifically works on rural assets and working landscapes. Agriforestry, natural resource-based industries like mining, timber and agriculture are examples Erling offered.

“There are very dedicated strategies for Columbia County and the rural communities of our region,” he said.

Capital Region Collaborative Procurement Portal — Agribusiness is one such strategy

“Hudson Valley Agribusiness and the Regional Council as a whole are going to be working on opening up those procurement policies to local foods,” Erling said. “We want to start with school districts and heath care institutions, hospitals, senior centers, making that market accessible to the local food system.”

Columbia County has been specifically targeted in the plan as a place seeking grant money for economic development under Transformative Initiatives including “The Catamount Ski Area an Adventure Park.” The park will transform the current facility into a full-service, four-season resort. The project will create 200 new jobs and include a new hotel, lodge, restaurant and retail space.

Additionally a transformative initiative known as Transloading Facility in Columbia County is mentioned in the plan as a project that would develop a new trans-loading facility to serve businesses in the Capital Region that presently lack rail access. The project will allow businesses to transfer products from trucks to rail cars for outgoing purposes and to move incoming products from rail cars to trucks.

“We’re proud of the product that came out,” Erling said, “and look forward to implementing this over the next five years.”

Erling said the leadership of the council was very adamant to think about how they wanted the region to look in five years, considering what success would mean for the region in that time span. It was with that in mind that Erling said the strategic plan was shaped.

“We are focused on building a Capital Region economic ecosystem that is locally collaborative, globally competitive, and economically vibrant,” CREDC Co-chair and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson said in a press release. “Council members worked diligently to finalize the five-year strategic plan by reviewing the input we received from across the eight-county region, assessing transformative project proposals, and compiling the data to support our initiatives. Given the extraordinary assets, resources, and potential in the region, we are confident of success.”

Michael J. Castellana, Co-Chair and President and CEO of SEFCU agreed and stated the process was fascinating with community leaders coming together to develop the plan

“Collaboration has been key to the process,” Castellana stated, “and it is the foundation of our strategic plan as stakeholders have come together to redefine the economic development process in our region.”

Both Jackson and Castellana agreed that the process does not end with submitting the plan and that the council has only just begun to develop the region’s ecosystem that will make the Capital Region the first destination in New York.

These transformative projects, designed to position the region for sustained economic growth and long-term job creation, include:

New York Capital Research Alliance
High Performance Computation
Capital Region Access to Solutions Program Center/Foundation for Success Loan Fund
Capital Region Collaborative Procurement Portal
Capital Region Access to the World
Enhancing Tourism

The council deemed the four elements necessary for a vibrant economic ecosystem as: strategic focus; transformative ideas; translational pathways that bring those ideas into the marketplace; and, the capital to make the system run, including financial, infrastructural, and human capital.

A copy of the plan is available at www.capitalregionopenforbusiness.com. ***

“Hudson Valley Bounty creates events that highlight a good variety of local food producers, and this grouping is a unique combination for Father’s Day. The event will give people a chance to experience food as an art form and see the people who make these products as true artists and craftsman,” says Kristin Roca, Program Director of the Hudson Valley Bounty.

The event will include tastings from Harvest Spirits, Tuthilltown Spirits, Amazing Real Live Cheese, Acorn Hill Farmstead Cheeses, LynnHaven Cheeses, Chatham Brewing, Hudson-Chatham Winery, Tousey Winery, Brookview Station Winery and more. There will also be an assortment of appetizers to partner with tastings, provided by Terrapin Catering.

“In association with Terrapin Catering, we have been able to create a tasting gallery,” Roca continues. “We have brought together a select group of food craftsmen and have created an event for their work to be experienced and enjoyed in the beautiful setting of Dinsmore, overlooking the Catskill Mountains.”

“The Art of Local” will take place at June 19 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm at Terrapin Catering at Dinsmore Golf Course Banquet Hall. Dinsmore is located on Route 9, south of Rhinebeck, NY Tickets are $25 dollars per person for adults, $6 for ages12-21, and children 12 and under are free. Bounty members can purchase tickets at a discounted rate of $20. Visit www.hudsonvalleybounty.com for additional information.

Sustaining this trend in the Valley is critical to both farmers and food consumers alike, and a key motivation for the release of “Understanding Food Systems: Identifying Business Opportunities for Hudson Valley Farmers and Food Entrepreneurs.” This “How-To-Guide” is being made available free of charge to farmers and food entrepreneurs in the Mid-Hudson by the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation (HVADC). The Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation is a regional economic development agency dedicated to supporting growth in the food and agriculture sectors in Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster Counties.

This guide provides a basic understanding of the economic relationships in the food industry ,the stretch from farmer to consumer that provide the underpinning of both local and regional food systems. The guide offers practical ways for farmers and food entrepreneurs to analyze the local food system structure and provides a set of direct and intermediated marketing tools to evaluate next steps in business development. Examples of how these tools are used both locally and nationally are included so entrepreneurs can explore how these options are functioning in the current marketplace.

“HVADC continues to serve as a valuable partner in agriculture and food processing as a viable part of our region’s economy.  From growing, to processing, to distributing, selling and eating, HVADC’s new report will further assist Hudson Valley agriculturally-related businesses to understand how to make strategic partnerships and get their products to market” said March Gallagher, Ulster County Deputy Director of Planning for Economic Development.

Todd Erling, Executive Director of HVADC, states “This guide is designed to help those in the local food network expand and grow their businesses. With more than 18.5 million dollars of direct market sales in the mid Hudson region, the increased interest in fresh, local products, the farms and local food businesses are well positioned to take advantage of the area’s market potential.”

The publication is available in print from the HVADC office by calling 518-828-4718 or electronically by clicking here to download. (PDF, 5.9MB)

HVADC is the only economic development agency in the Hudson Valley with a specific focus on the viability of the agricultural economy in the region. HVADC’s mission is to enhance the agricultural sector in the Hudson Valley by assisting both new and existing agri-businesses, and supporting policies and regulations that recognize and support New York State’s agricultural economy.

IDA supports agri-business initiative — The Ulster County Industrial Development Agency voted unanimously at its recent meeting to approve a $25,000 grant to the Hudson Valley Agricultural Development Corp. The IDA is a public authority governed by a seven-member board appointed by the county Legislature. It provides tax incentives, bonding and selective grants that create jobs and enhance the quality of life in Ulster. Agency CEO Lance Matteson said in a statement: “(Hudson Valley Agricultural Development Corp.) has been running hard to keep up with the demand for agri-business development support. We’re very happy to partner in this ongoing effort.” The agricultural organization supports growth and reinvestment in Ulster’s 500 farm enterprises, which produce $66 million in sales and operate on 75,000 acres of county land, according to a press release. To read the full press release, click here.

By ARIEL ZANGLA-GIRARD
Freeman staff

ECONOMIC development has not traditionally focused on agriculture and the needs of farmers, but one group in the Hudson Valley has been working for several years to fill that gap and help make farming viable.

Formed in 2006, the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp. has worked on the development, promotion, enhancement and retention of the agricultural industry and its associated economic and environmental benefits within the region. The group, working in and funded by Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia and Orange counties, promotes the Hudson Valley as an attractive viable region for agriculture and offers technical assistance, business development services and coordination of financial and other resources.

Executive Director Todd Erling said the agency approaches agriculture from an economic development perspective.

“We’ve developed a suite of services and experts that focus specifically on local foods and agricultural entrepreneurs,” Erling said.

He said the group uses a three-pronged approach that includes working with the Hudson Valley Regional Council and the four counties to develop a comprehensive economic development strategy; an “Incubator Without Walls” that helps entrepreneurs with things like developing a business plan, finding funding and networking; and helping identify sources of funding for agricultural projects.

“We try to pool resources to address agriculture as an economic activity,” said David Church, president of the board of the development corporation and commissioner of Planning for Orange County.

Church said the corporation started as an idea in Columbia County and quickly expanded based on conversations with similar players in Ulster, Dutchess and Orange counties. He said it was felt there were gaps in the business side of agriculture and the group wanted to improve the economic vitality of the industry.

Erling said the corporation’s short-term goals include continuing and enhancing its support programs while looking to a long-term goal of getting traditional economic development agencies to recognize agriculture as a viable opportunity.

Church said the corporation also is working to make more capital investment  available to agriculture.

“It’s been the goal of this group to improve access to capital for farmers,” he said.

In the past three years, Church said, the corporation has worked on 60 to 70 projects with existing or new agricultural ventures. One was Farm to Table Co-Packers at TechCity in the town of Ulster.

Jim Hyland, co-owner of Farm to Table, said the development corporation has been instrumental in helping with that business, as well as his own Winter Sun Farms, which works with local farmers to freeze their produce for distribution during the winter.

Hyland said the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp. helped him start Winter Sun Farms five years ago. At present, Winter Sun Farms makes distributions once a month and has been able to start winter farm markets and sell institutional-size packaging to places like SUNY New Paltz and other colleges.

“Winter Sun has been growing, and that’s directly linked to the help we’ve been getting from HVADC,” Hyland said. He said the corporation provided technical assistance and helped him create a business plan and secure grants.

The growth of Winter Sun Farms led to the creation of Farm to Table Co-Packers with Hyland’s business partner, Luc Roels, owner of Pika’s Farm Table, Hyland said. He said Winter Sun Farms was looking to produce more from local farmers but there was a lack of physical infrastructure where work could be done. Through the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp., that infrastructure was created at TechCity, Hyland said.

Hyland said the corporation helped him and Roels get their Small Business Association certification, which they needed to obtain financing through banks and other sources like the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm to Table now provides the kitchen where farmers or entrepreneurs can bring their products to be packaged under their individual labels for sale.

Hyland said the business employs 20 people full-time and another 20 seasonally, but he hopes to increase the workforce.

“The more people that want to do local products, the more we can grow,” Hyland said.

What is supporting the industry is the region’s emphasis on buying locally, Hyland added. He said people are discovering the quality of local products and are supporting the local economy at the same time.

Hyland, who admits he’s prejudiced toward the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp., said it’s “grossly underfunded” but that its small staff works efficiently to help develop local agriculture.

Earlier this month, the  Ulster County Industrial Development Agency voted unanimously to provide a $25,000 grant to the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp., part of its continued financial support for the group.

“HVADC supports growth and reinvestment in Ulster County’s 500 farm enterprises, which produce $66 million in sales and operate on 75,000 acres of county land,” the Industrial Development Agency said in a press release. “Local farms hold production assets of nearly $600 million and produce a wide array of year-round and seasonal products. These operations are a cornerstone of the county’s rural economy and a key contributor to Ulster’s high quality of life. In addition, Ulster County is home to a vibrant food industry cluster with nearly 100 firms producing $400 million in output and employing more than 1,000 individuals.”

Erling said the agriculture industry is under pressure, but it is surviving, developing and diversifying.

A number of farmers have diversified their product or focused on a specific niche, Erling said. Farmers still are working in the traditional sales market, he said, but they also are carrying out direct sales from the farms or farmers’ markets, as well as “green markets” in New York City. Many also are taking their raw products and turning them into something that brings more money in the marketplace and lasts longer, like dairy farmers producing cheese.

Church said agriculture still is the No. 1  industry as measured by gross value of product in Columbia and Orange counties, and still is important in Ulster and Dutchess counties. He said the challenge is helping agriculture meet current demands while complementing land-protection efforts.

The focus in this area has shifted from large-scale operations to buying from local and niche markets, Church added. There are more farmers ‘markets, he said, and a lot of local producers bring their products to the city’s green markets.

Part of buying local is supporting local farmers and the economy, Church said, but it also has to do with food security and knowing where food comes from. Statistics show, for example, that the Hispanic population is particularly conscious of buying local, fresh foods.

As part of its ongoing mission, the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp. recently released the first in a series of technical papers to guide both seasoned business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs toward a number of economic opportunities or to create or expand business.

In his introduction to the paper, Erling said the corporation’s goal in sharing the information is “to provide support for individual enterprises, policy makers and farmers to enhance local and regional food systems.

“Agriculture is an important industry in the Hudson Valley, and we are here to support the valley’s desire to preserve its agricultural heritage through the ingenuity and tenacity of the valley’s growers,” Erling wrote.

• Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 from 7 pm to 9pm at Cornell Cooperative Extension 479 Route 66, Hudson
• Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 from 10am to 12pm at Copake Town Hall 230 Mountain View Road, Copake
• Thursday, Mar. 3, 2011 from 7pm to 9pm at Kellner Activities Bldg 54 Palatine Park Road, Germantown
• Saturday, Mar. 19, 2011 from 10am to 12pm at Stuyvesant Town Hall 5 Sunset Drive, Stuyvesant

An old fashioned bucket brigade was put to an interesting use Thursday, as thousands of summer flounder were moved hand over hand, in ten gallon buckets, from the back of a truck into the incubation tanks at the Local Ocean indoor aquaculture fish farm in Greenport.

The young business, which took in its first delivery of 45,000 gilt head sea breams in July, recently received permits to raise flounder and three other species of fish at its facility from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

While support from the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation, U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, and the Department of Agriculture and Markets helped get Local Ocean their permits faster, the flounder couldn’t wait.

The dark colored flounder were bred at the Great Bay Hatchery in New Hampshire and grew larger and larger while the permits waited for DEC approval. Now around four to five inches, the flounder have to be delivered in two shipments, the first arriving Thursday. Workers scooped the diamond shaped flat fish out of tanks in the truck with a net, dropped them in buckets and ran them inside to waiting tanks.

Local Ocean Partner Raymond Mizrahi said getting their complex, one-of-a-kind business up and running so quickly is a testament to the support of community and local politicians and organizations.

“Bringing in summer flounder shows the versatility of our system,” Mizrahi said. “This marks the start of what will be a population of seven to ten species in the next year. “

With its new permits Local Ocean is now able to raise and farm sushi grade flounder, black and white sea bass and yellow tail tuna in its enclosed loop filter system. The technology in use at the facility, in an old Kaz warehouse, is only in operation in two locations in the world — Greenport, and the business’ first location in Israel.

Water goes through patented filters which break down waste and excessive nutrients before the water is pumped back into the large blue tanks.

“The big news is rather than just prohibiting things DEC worked to move this through faster,” Hudson Valley Agribusiness Executive Director Todd Erling said. “It will be ground breaking to establish these permits in this area for the first time.”

Local Ocean will raise 40,000 flounder for market and plans to receive its first batch of sea bass in early December. The types of fish being raised at Local Ocean were specifically selected for their desirability in nearby markets and there are plans to ship fish live to some locations, increasing their value by as much as 30 percent.

The closed system filtration pools keep the fish free of toxins like mercury, and makes consumers less reliant on depleted wild fish populations.

To reach reporter Jamie Larson, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269,or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.

The event was sponsored by Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia, Dutchess, Orange and Ulster Counties.

Thanks to the generosity of the presenters, powerpoint files from the conference presentations are available here. To view, click the name of the presenter, below:

The Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation (HVADC) is pleased to announce additions to the Board of Directors and the staff. Mark Doyle, a farm consultant based in Amenia, has joined the Board bringing expertise in farmland and habitat management, farm development planning and coordination and capacity building for emerging farm business opportunities.

Mary Ann Johnson, AICP has joined the staff has Project Manager for Orange and Ulster Counties. Ms. Johnson primary responsibility is to provide support for the Incubator Without Walls program, which provides comprehensive business assistance including access to qualified professionals, financing and networking. Ms. Johnson will also be coordinating business to business networks in both Orange and Ulster Counties. This program, known as the County Bounty, builds on our success is Columbia and Dutchess Counties where growers/producers and chefs/caterers have direct access to each other through a simple database.

Ms. Johnson has been active in farmland protection and economic development in Dutchess County for several years as both a volunteer and as a consultant. As a planning consultant, she has worked with communities in the Mid Hudson Valley addressing growth, development and preservation issues. She holds an undergraduate degree in business and a master’s degree in Regional Planning from the University at Albany. Additionally, Ms. Johnson is a certified planner in good standing with the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Ms. Johnson has office hours in Goshen on Mondays from 9:00 to 1:00 and is also available by appointment. She can be reached in the Goshen office at 845.615.3842 and the main HVADC office at 518.828.4718. You can reach Ms. Johnson via email at majohnson@hvadc.org. Additional information about HVADC can be obtained online at www.hvadc.org.