Five Grants Awarded to Support Development of Shovel-Ready Sites in Four Regions - Schoharie County Receives Two Crucial Grants

ALBANY — Empire State Development (ESD) today announced that nearly $25 million has been awarded to improve five locations under the Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York grant program. The program, first announced in February 2022, is designed to prepare and develop sites across the state to further New York’s shovel-readiness and increase its attractiveness to large employers and high-tech manufacturing companies. Today's announcement highlights one piece of New York's commitment to reshoring jobs and manufacturing businesses in the state. The program helps to diversify New York State’s economy while generating new investments for businesses, communities and job creation. To date, FAST NY has awarded $200 million to 25 sites, with locations in every region across Upstate New York.

ESD President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, "Through the FAST NY program, our strategic investments are helping communities across Upstate New York develop shovel-ready sites to attract new and expanding businesses in key industries. These awards will support the development of five sites across Upstate New York, with the potential to attract businesses and manufacturers looking to establish or grow a footprint here, creating jobs and generating regional economic growth."

The latest awardees are:

Town of Schoharie – $2.79 million: This water and wastewater infrastructure project will upgrade and extend existing water lines; add a new well, connection piping and storage tank; and extend sewer lines. These improvements will double the wastewater capacity and increase the public water availability for the proposed site, enabling development of an additional 80 underutilized acres within the existing water and wastewater district while improving marketability. Funding will also help unlock the potential of the 350-acre commercial district.

Schoharie County IDA – $390,700: This involves the creation of a buildable lot in Cobleskill which will accommodate approximately 750,000 square feet of large-scale industrial space, including creating conceptual site design documents and plans for utility connections. The completed project site intends to create up to 450 short-term and long-term jobs, is adjacent to the New York State Thruway, and located less than five miles from the SUNY Cobleskill campus.

Village of Bergen – $1.26 million: This project will support electrical infrastructure upgrades, including improvements to the electrical substation and distribution lines, which will increase capacity to serve anticipated load growth.

Town of Liberty – $20 million: This project will support water and sewer infrastructure upgrades along the old Route 17 corridor by extending water lines and implementing a sanitary pump station and new force main sewer line. 

Town of Schodack – $366,000: This project will advance several necessary environmental studies, including State Historic Preservation Office consultation.