What Have We Been Up to Lately?

WHAT WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW:

Serving as the official Tourism Promotion Agency for Franklin County. We are focused on strengthening the county’s quality of life by promoting the communities of Malone, Saranac Lake, and Tupper Lake and other communities in Franklin County to enhance the positive economic impacts of the tourism.

New York State Empire State Development has 11 ‘I Love NY’ official tourism regions in the state.

Our region, ‘The Adirondacks’, is comprised of 7 counties: Warren, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Hamilton, Clinton, Essex, and Franklin. The Adirondacks is managed by the Adirondack Regional Tourism Council (ARTC) and promoted with the brand Visit Adirondacks (www.VisitAdirondacks.com).

As the Tourism Promotion Agency we:

• Represent Franklin County at the state and regional level.
• Represent Franklin County on the ARTC.
• Participate in the development of the ARTC budget and marketing plan.
• Apply for and administer I Love NY Matching Funds.

What else we have cooking right now:

• $20,000 New York Main Street Technical Assistance grant project in Downtown Malone to develop design guidelines and complete facade renderings.
• $100,000 Adirondack Park Community Smart Growth grant to renovate buildings on Park Street and Main Street in Tupper Lake.
• $400,000 in investment through loans and incentives to businesses and revitalization projects in downtowns across the county since 2017.
• $500,000 New York Main Street grant program to renovate commercial buildings in Downtown Saranac Lake and Park Street in Tupper Lake — 13 projects in total!
• $600,000 Energize Downtown Program funded through the Saranac Lake Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) to support building renovations and to provide commercial rent assistance in Downtown Saranac Lake.
• Creation and development of The Carry, a entrepreneurial business center and co-working space located in Downtown Saranac Lake.
• Member of Main Street America, the nationally recognized program focused exclusively on main street and downtown revitalization.
• Member of New York State Tourism Industry Association (NYSTIA), the organization bringing together New York State tourism industry interests.
• Member of International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the largest national and global organization serving economic developers.

We would love to hear from you! Feel free to call or email, we are here to listen and help.

Be well,
The Economic Development Team
Jeremy, Marcy, Russ, Maria, Phil, and Kelly