Public Power - May 2008 - (Page 38)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Base Closure Prompts Plattsburgh to Reinvent Local Economy By Cathy Swirbul In 1993, the federal government announced the closing of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base, a centerpiece of the community’s economy. The news brought dismay to the small community in upstate New York. At its peak, the base was home to 4,400 military personnel and their families, a 5,000-acre facility initially serving as a strategic air command base. However, when the Cold War ended, Plattsburgh advocates tried unsuccessfully to reposition the base as a hub for the Air Force’s East Coast airlift and air refueling operations. Closure of the base was slated for 1995. But Plattsburgh residents did not let their dismay overtake them. They marshaled resources, redefined their economic profile and moved forward. Their successful efforts earned Plattsburgh eight consecutive years on Site Selection magazine’s list of the top 10 small cities in the United States for successful economic development. Once the base closing became final, community leaders moved quickly, said Sue Matton, vice president of economic development at the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce. To analyze the situation, they organized the Plattsburgh Inter-Municipal Development Council, which consisted of 15 members from government, business and education. “The large group was a bit unwieldy but it was im38 MAY 2008 portant, initially, to have everyone affected by the closure represented,” said M a t t o n . “When it became time to create a strategic plan, then it was time to restructure and not have so many people at the table. We moved to a smaller group of people who could make economic development contributions to the process.” Eventually, the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corp. (PARC), a not-for-profit organization of economic development specialists headed by a sevenmember board of directors, replaced the council. “Our biggest challenge was gaining the community’s confidence,” said Dennis Doyle, PARC’s director of public relations. “Once we caught fire, though— by bringing in new tenants and new jobs, by moving properties, and by removing fences and gates that had restricted public access to the base for many years— the community began to believe in what we were doing.” PARC devised a strategy to tout the area to prospective companies. “Some people who aren’t familiar with this area in northeastern New York state might consider it relatively isolated, but our location is actually a huge asset,” Doyle said. Plattsburgh is just one hour from downtown Montreal and is promoted, particularly by its Chamber of Commerce, as a suburb of that thriving Canadian city. It is also just four hours from Boston, five from Plattsburgh International Airport is “Montreal’s U.S. airport.” It has a runway large enough to land a space shuttle. Photo courtesy: Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce. New York City, and Interstate 87 is less than two miles from the former base gate. The tricounty North Country area, of which Plattsburgh is the hub, is home to roughly 170,000 residents on Lake Champlain, near to resort mecca Lake Placid and surrounded by New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Vermont’s Green Mountains to the east. In addition, PARC is home to a two-square-mile Empire Zone, which provides financial incentives, such as wage and investment tax credits, utility rate reductions, income and real property tax credits, state sales tax investments and lowcost loans, to relocating businesses. After PARC subdivided the former base, exclusive of its aviation complex, it had 165 properties to sell. Hundreds of dilapidated structures had to be razed to create new build-to-suit sites. Today, fewer than 20 unoccupied properties remain. When tenants filled all usable former Air Force buildings (which required top-to-bottom rehab to bring them up to code), PARC constructed two new buildings on speculation, including one exceeding 76,000 square feet. Both were later sold to thriving businesses. Meanwhile, three additional new buildings have been erected on PARC sites by private business interests. PARC officials estimate that more than 1,300 new jobs were brought to the area as a result of the base redevelopment effort. Approximately 60 companies occupy facilities there today. The PARC property has two spurs and a turnaround on the main Canadian-Pacific rail line that runs from Montreal and points north to New York City and points south. An onpremises rail link serves PARC’s industrial complex. Many of the tenant companies, such as Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney, are connected with the railroad and aeronautical industries. Having a mix of industries as well as service, recreational and not-for-profit organizations represented among the tenants, though, has been important to long-term economic sustainability. “The idea from the beginning was to go for a diversity of businesses,” Doyle said. “We learned our lesson when the air base closed.” The PARC property also includes a childcare facility, high-end condominiums, a public golf course, an assisted living complex for senior citizens, a parochial high school, and a historic district dedicated primarily to the Battle of Plattsburgh—acknowledged to PUBLIC POWER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - May 2008

Public Power - May 2008 Contents Perspective LEEDing the Way Ontario Moves to Mandatory Time-of-Use Pricing Journey to the Smart Grid Right-Sizing Transformers Energy Audits for Large Industries Economic Development Community Broadband Reliability Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - May 2008

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