If the village of Marathon wants to win a NY Forward grant — either $4.5 million or $2.25 million — it helps to understand what the grant is meant to do. It’s just a ball to chase.
The NY Forward program gives communities the money to fund a package of improvements meant to take a community on the edge of excellence over the top, to excellence itself. The program, like the larger, $10 million, Downtown Revitalization Initiative, has its origins in the era of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. During his tenure, economic development awards weren’t simply a state handout to communities. They were meant to reward communities that had learned all the steps necessary to make their communities thrive.
It started with the original Regional Economic Development Council awards. Each region in the state (Cortland and Marathon are both in the Central New York region; Dryden and Groton are in the Southern Tier region.) was going to get $80 million or $100 million, or even $140 million for a variety of projects. But in order for the big community to win the big pie, the smaller communities had to get a slice. Onondaga couldn’t win unless Cortland, Madison and Oswego did, too.
The process was often referred to as “Upstate Hunger Games,” but it worked. We have friends in several regions in the state who told us the REDC awards system forced entities that had never cooperated — in fact, often competed with each other — to sit at the same table. They learned to work together.
A couple years later, the state rolled out the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Same process, different focus: a small city or a larger village, rather than a region. In order to win, communities had to bring many players to the table. Municipal officials, sure, but also major employers, private developers, school districts and colleges, non-profits, cultural groups — all the people who make a good community a great place to live. That, by the way, includes just about any resident with a vision for how the community should work and look.
We’re beginning to see the fruits of that cooperation now, as both Cortland and Homer have won the $10 million grants, and pursue very different visions with the money.
The NY Forward program is just a smaller version of the DRI program, meant for smaller communities, such as the villages of Groton and Moravia, who have won grants, already.
In Marathon’s case, its next application should involve as many people as possible to create a large, spectacular vision of how $4.5 million can transform the community.What should that transformation be? That’s for all the constituent players to say, rather than us. But let us suggest that the applicants should include Square Deal Machining and Marathon Boat Group in the scoping sessions. Maybe they know how to use the village’s municipal power authority to better advantage. The Marathon Central School District should be involved — the high school is in the heart of downtown Marathon. The restaurant and small-business owners should be there, as should the real estate developers. Perhaps the Marathon Historical Society has a role, given the community’s interest in preserving and fostering its history.
The list can be long, very long. The point is to have them all learn to work together to create a vision for Marathon’s future.
The village will have an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the village civic center, 16 Brink St. Go. Share your vision. Learn what your neighbor has in mind and work together to make them both happen.
Once Marathon learns to do that, the NY Forward grant is just the first ball they can catch.
