The Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs) support the state’s innovative approach that empowers regional stakeholders to establish pathways to prosperity, mapped out in regional strategic plans. Through the REDCs, community, business, academic leaders, and members of the public in each region of the state put to work their unique knowledge and understanding of local priorities and assets to help direct state investment in support of job creation and economic growth.
Recognizing the importance of the academic community to economic prosperity, the REDCs facilitate collaboration between business and academia to ensure employer workforce needs are being met, and business support services are being provided to start-up companies seeking to commercialize academic research.
Each Regional Council has become the voice of the region, advising agencies on the programs and projects most valuable to the region. What started as an initiative focused on economic investments has blossomed into a program that invests in people and communities. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the State is continuously improving the REDC process to continue to maximize impact throughout the state.
Since its inception, the REDC Initiative has awarded over $9 billion to more than 11,000 projects. The REDCs have also played a critical role in selecting the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) communities and New York Forward communities to receive $1.24 billion for transformative projects to revitalize their downtowns. The DRI is a community planning and implementation process where each participating community develops the key ingredients needed for successful downtown revitalization. The REDCs will participate in the DRI and NY Forward initiatives, supporting the $200 million in state investment provided this year through the ninth round of DRI and the fourth round of NY Forward.