More county money for UCDC, tourism, arts in ‘08
By LYNN WOODS

Ulster County Development Corp. will see its funding more than double next year, although the extra money has strings attached.

In addition to $200,000 in operating funds, UCDC will be able to tap into a pool of funds capped at $248,000, provided it matches the money with funds raised from the private sector, County Administrator Michael Hein said. It also must meet certain criteria for the creation or retention of new jobs.

The increase was revealed in the preliminary 2008 county budget.

In 2007, UCDC received $200,000 from the county, which basically covered its expenses. Under the proposed budget, UCDC would receive $25,000 for each business that it recruits with 10 or more jobs, $50,000 for a new business with 100 jobs or more and $48,000 toward any step taken to implement the economic development goals outlined in Ulster Tomorrow, the county’s plan for future growth. In addition, UCDC would receive $750 for each quality job that is retained and $1,000 for each quality job that is created.

“We’re saying, ‘Your role is to develop jobs in the county,’” Hein said, noting that in the past the accountability associated with UCDC funding was “woefully inadequate.” The budget is scheduled to be adopted in late December after review and approval by the Ulster County Legislature.

“We’re confident the Legislature will support us,” said Lance Matteson, president and chief executive officer of UCDC, who was hired earlier this year. Referring to a recent survey by the Dyson Foundation and Marist College, he said “people in the valley and Ulster County think more resources should be devoted to job retention and creation. We look forward to this experiment with performance measures. That’s a fair way to do it.”

Hein said that in addition to funding UCDC, the county had allocated approximately $1,315,000 in funds in 2007 for other economic development initiatives -- specifically, for building needed infrastructure at two shovel-ready industrial sites, one in Saugerties and the other in the town of Lloyd.

Still not clear was the fate of the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation, a not-for-profit business incubator that has requested $250,000 in county funding, which Managing Director Les Neumann said it needed to survive. David Donaldson, chairman of the Legislature, said the lawmakers still had to decide whether the money would be put back into the budget.

The preliminary budget also increased the amount of money available to Ulster County Tourism by $77,600, for a total of about $425,000. Hein said the increase was linked to the department’s “move to a more efficient, Internet-based operation” ­ a reference to the agency’s Web site, which has been revamped and is the centerpiece of its marketing, booking and tracking efforts.

Hein said the funding is linked to the department’s carrying out of two functions: working closely with the county’s tourism advisory board and measuring the effectiveness of its strategy against statistics, such as the vehicles coming off the Thruway, sales tax receipts, bed tax receipts and hits on the Web site.

The preliminary budget also includes $150,000 to be allocated to contract agencies by the Legislature, an increase of $50,000 over 2007. Donaldson lawmakers are in discussions with the city about establishing a $50,000 arts grant, which presumably would come out of that allocation money. In 2007, the county didn’t provide any money for the arts.

One idea is to establish a part-time position, with the county and city splitting the cost of the salary, which would oversee volunteerism on behalf of the arts and also write grants. “We want to leverage other money,” Donaldson said.

Susan Zimet, who chairs the Legislature’s Arts, Education, Tourism and Community Relations Committee, said the county has reached out to the Dyson Foundation to see if it would provide a matching grant. She is also in discussions with the Dutchess County Arts Council, a model county-funded arts group that administers New York State Council of the Arts grants for Ulster as well as Dutchess.

In a separate development, the executive director of the Ulster County Arts Council, Sherri Brittain, has resigned. The UCAC had planned to merge with the Highland Cultural Center to form a stronger, more effective county arts group this fall. That plan has been discarded, and UCAC board member Jennifer Schwartz, who is also deputy planner for Ulster County, said the organization is beginning the process of reinventing itself.

“Our approach is very strategic. We’re looking for matches outside to bolster the position of Ulster County and do things that raise the awareness of the arts and build support,” she said. UCAC plans to “create a phone tree to reestablish its connection with the arts community” and let it know “‘we advocate for you,’” said Schwartz. “The board should be representative of all the arts groups in Ulster County, large and small. It’s about branding the county.” One way to do that, she said, would be to sponsor a regatta on the river, with canoes, kayaks and other craft flying banners submitted by the different arts groups. Such an event could be part of the quadra-centennial celebration of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the river in 2009, she said.

 

 

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