The Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council has some good news for the region as we continue to struggle through an economic downturn that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down and we have just been hit by the second 100 year flood in five years. After a recent meeting in Ithaca it appears that there are a couple of initiatives that have some real promise. The two that I really like are:

• Building an entrepreneurship center
• Investing further in the rail infrastructure

But the 1st item is really the most important. This area has great schools, is naturally beautiful, has three major highways running through it and is only a few hours from New York City and Albany. People can ditch their long city commutes, come out to the Southern Tier and build their technology driven businesses here. After all why not? We are the birth place of IBM, we have a lot of talented workers that can help start high-tech businesses and if we offer an incentive to stay in the area we have a fresh supply of smart young college graduates to continue to supply business with skilled workers. If we can generate enough of this type of activity then we might also be able to attract the one thing that is a major factor in growth which is a larger, more capable airport.

I think the area’s colleges and universities should also issue a challenge to their students to make a difference in their local communities during the four years they are here. We need these institutions to act like incubators that will grow ideas for business and fuel the economic growth that is so desperately needed. I’m sure this is all possible and all it will take is some time and effort from our educators, business leaders and chambers of commerce. So how about it? What can we do to grow this region? I challenge you our reader to put your best put forward to secure the Southern Tier’s economic future.