Representatives from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation were in Chautauqua County Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 to learn more about the CCPEG projects funded through the foundation, as presented in the 2023 CCIDA/CREDC annual report. From left to right: Gary Henry, CCIDA/CREDC board president; Nathan Aldrich, Chautauqua County economic development coordinator and CCPEG manager; Eric Phamdo, Wilson Foundation Program Officer; Paul Riser, Wilson Foundation program officer; and Mark Geise, deputy county executive for economic development, CCIDA/CREDC CEO, and CCPEG founder and advisory board co-chair.
JAMESTOWN, NY – The Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth (CCPEG) had another successful year of assisting with and enhancing collaborative economic development initiatives across Chautauqua County.
On Tuesday, Jan. 23, Mark Geise, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and Chief Executive Officer of the Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC), and Nate Aldrich, Economic Development Coordinator, provided an overview of CCPEG’s work and accomplishments in 2023 during the monthly CREDC Board of Directors meeting. CREDC, an affiliate of the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA), oversees the CCPEG initiative.
Last year, CCPEG focused on advancing 26 priority projects in alignment with the county’s Economic Development Strategy, providing $459,000 in financial assistance and technical assistance to support partner-led projects and initiatives that support economic revitalization and long-term strategic investment throughout the county. In addition, CCPEG was awarded 11 grants totaling over $1.18 million to assist with funding the targeted projects, and also helped to leverage an additional $28,251,000 on behalf of its partners, including assisting the City of Dunkirk with being awarded $10 million from the New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
In addition, CCPEG worked in collaboration with CCIDA to roll out the nearly-completed talent attraction and retention marketing campaign (including new websites), which will help address population decline and supply businesses with much-needed labor. That campaign is expected to launch within the next few months. CCPEG also continued to be proactive in terms of business attraction and expansion.
When it comes to working with stakeholders, CCPEG held 40 meetings during the year, including more than 20 meetings with its various work groups focusing on Business Development, Placemaking, Workforce Development, Housing Development, and Infrastructure. In all, a total of 65 different partners were engaged during the year, coming from every corner of Chautauqua County.
“Once again CREDC, as the umbrella organization for CCPEG, was successful in obtaining and granting millions of dollars in economic development resources to advance a wide variety of priority economic development projects across its five priority Work Groups. I am really proud of the work we are doing in assisting our partners, including municipalities, in undertaking transformative and meaningful projects,” said Geise, who is also a founder of CCPEG and a Co-Chair of the Advisory Board.
“It’s been exciting to see CCPEG grow and continue to gain momentum during 2023 – especially in our ability to leverage state, federal, and philanthropic resources. The wide variety of projects and initiatives we’ve assisted with during the year illustrates the positive impact the partnership has had across Chautauqua County and we look forward to continuing that success in 2024,” said Nathan Aldrich, Chautauqua County Economic Development Coordinator and CCPEG Manager.
Staff from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, who awarded CCPEG a 3-year grant totaling more than $1,000,000 to advance the County’s inclusive economic development strategy, were in attendance during Tuesday’s presentation.
“We thank all of our supporters, especially the Wilson Foundation, for believing in our team and our model,” said Aldrich. “Our continued success in leveraging funding to implement this strategy and realize our full economic development potential depends on continuing these partnerships, and developing the resources and capacity to effectively advance the wide-variety of projects we’ve been able to spearhead since launching the Partnership.”
The CCIDA/CREDC 2023 Year-end Report & 2024 Work Plan can be found on the CCIDA website: CCIDA.com.
About CCPEG - The Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth (CCPEG) serves as the main convener of economic development partners and resources to advance key projects that achieve economic prosperity in Chautauqua County. It also serves as the catalyst and broker of resources for advancing economic prosperity efforts and is the central coordinating entity for the formation, retention, development, and attraction of quality jobs and advancements to the quality of life. It is an initiative of the Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC). For more information, please visit CHQPartnership.org.
