May 5, 2006: “Spotlight on
Our Economy” Monthly Column for The
Palladium-Times
By L. Michael Treadwell, CEcD, Executive Director of Operation
Oswego County
Quality of Life Important Factor
in Economic Development
In order to attract businesses to Oswego County, Operation Oswego
County (OOC) focuses on attributes such as the availability of skilled
labor, transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, financial
incentives, and availability and cost of property. However, the
“quality of life” in a community is an equally important
factor in determining where companies choose to locate and invest.
In fact, Area Development, one of the premier economic development
trade publications, publishes an annual corporate executive survey
in which factors contributing to relocation and expansion decision-making
are ranked according to relative importance to executives. In the
2005 survey, factors such as housing availability and costs, health
facilities, cultural and recreational opportunities and universities
in the area rank as “very important” to “important”
to the majority of those surveyed.
The quality of life in Oswego County is what
makes us one of the premier places to live and work in New York
State. In addition to being strategically located within a two-hour
drive to Rochester and a 45-minute drive to Syracuse, Oswego County
also boasts a state university with more than 8,700 students, a
comprehensive healthcare network, affordable housing as well as
artistic, historical and cultural diversity represented by organizations
such as historic Fort Ontario, The Safe Haven Museum, Oswego Opera
Theatre and the Salmon River Fine Arts Center. In addition, our
surrounding rivers, lakes, and forests as well as community festivals,
national attractions and some of the most spectacular fishing in
the Northeast offer a bounty of recreational activities any time
of the year.
OOC helps to foster business growth that
also leads to an enhancement of the quality of life in our community.
Some of these businesses we’ve helped finance have included
Winter Harbor in Hastings, Lighthouse Lanes, Oswego International
Marina, Oswego Speedway, Oswego Hospital, Sunset RV Park and Little
Luke’s Children’s Center. Also in Oswego, OOC in connection
with the County of Oswego Industrial Development Agency (IDA), will
help finance the expansion at the Oswego Library and provide financial
help toward the development of the SUNY Oswego Campus Center project
that is underway. In Pulaski, help was provided to Northern Oswego
County Health Services and the attraction of WiseBuys. Other projects
assisted include hotels such as the EconoLodge, Best Western, Days
Inn, Scottish Inn, The Club at Caughdenoy Creek (an 18-hole golf
course in Hastings), and the Lower Falls Development’s renovation
of the historic Brickhouse Building in Fulton.
In order to bring attention to quality of
life resources that offer value to a potential business customer,
OOC utilizes a comprehensive marketing program which includes print
advertising in various national, international and regional trade
publications, participating in exhibitions and tradeshows and through
our website www.oswegocounty.org. In addition, our community partners
such as local chambers of commerce and the Oswego County Department
of Community Development, Tourism and Planning specifically promote
the recreational and cultural characteristics of the county to help
draw both corporate prospects and tourists to the area.
To remain competitive with other communities
and attract new businesses to our area, Oswego County must continue
to invest in and enhance the quality of our cultural and recreational
amenities, educational system, natural resources, health care facilities
and housing.
In other economic development news, Oswego
Recycling, LLC, a new wholesale recycling service center
in the city of Oswego, will acquire and install equipment and renovate
their 32,000 square-foot facility. The business will provide local
commercial recycling for fibrous products, plastics, glass, and
metals. The project will create 18 jobs and will receive funding
assistance from the IDA, a SBA 504 loan through OOC, the City of
Oswego Community Development Office and Oswego County National Bank.
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