The important work of the Center for Rural Regional Advancement at SUNY Fredonia is timely and pertinent especially at this critical juncture in our history. As New York State faces a massive budget deficit and as County Government, local municipalities and school systems struggle to address budget shortfalls, discussions pertaining to centralization, consolidation, shared services and regionalism have come to the forefront.
The Center for Rural Regional Advancement is a local tool available to help direct these discussions and provide research based support. The Center for Regional Advancement (CRA) at SUNY Fredonia, formerly the Center for Rural Regional Development and Governance (CRRDG), was founded through a grant from the Gebbie Foundation of Jamestown, in 1997. The leadership at SUNY Fredonia combined with the efforts of Dr. Len Faulk and Carol Lorenc put the Center in motion. The center's mission is to promote regionalism (the sharing between municipalities, or consolidation of municipal services) and find ways to energize the local economy. In the words of SUNY Fredonia President Dennis Hefner, "The goal is to keep the agenda of regionalism moving forward in Chautauqua County.”
The center is providing an extremely valuable service to the region by offering the rich, intellectual and analytical resources of SUNY Fredonia faculty to the community. The Center has produced more than 25 regional studies and consultations which have provided blueprints for regional governance and development actions. The Center provides direct technical and strategic assistance to local governments seeking inter-municipal cooperation and has secured grants that total in the millions of dollars. In recent years the Center coordinated the creation of the SUNY Fredonia High Tech Incubator.
Today, under the leadership of Chuck Cornell, the Center continues to drive forward a regional vision for our area. The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier appreciate the work of the Center and the positive impact it is having on our region.
As businesses and citizens we must support efforts that regionalize government services, create efficiencies, reduce costs and make our region more competitive. As we watch our schools cut academic program offerings, in some cases eliminate sport programs and cut teachers positions, we have to recognize that we can and must do better. As municipal governments struggle to make ends meet as they try to continue to offer services and repair infrastructure we have to recognize that we can and must do better.
We encourage you to take the time to attend an upcoming event coordinated by the Center titled the Healthy Neighborhood Conference. The focus of the conference is on successful strategies for building healthy neighborhoods and bolstering neighborhood confidence in weak markets. The conference will begin at 9am, 8:30 am registration, and will end at 1pm. It will feature Charles Buki of czb, a neighborhood planning practice based in Alexandria, VA and United States Congressman Brian Higgins, Co-Chair of the Congressional Older Cities Task Force.
To register for this event you can either call the Center for Rural Regional Advancement at 716-673-3808 or go you can on-line to www.fredonia.edu/regionalism/
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SUNY, Fredonia, Center for Rural Regional Advancement, CRRDG, business, chamber, Gebbie Foundation |
