Southern Tier Re-invests in Rural Initiative Fund

At a meeting of the Southern Tier Economic Development Council in Binghamton last week, the council discussed re-funding the Rural Initiative Fund.

Steve Craig, Commerce Chenango President and CEO said that initiative would be a good thing for Chenango County.

"When the regional council says we want to stick more money into that fund, that's kind of like a weigh station for that money, and our folks here can go apply for it," Craig said. "That was very successful the first time around. The council has said they want to put more money into that fund."

Craig says the type of system  is where you apply for money, put it into a fund and then let the applicants go to the fund for a dedicated purpose such as rural development and downtown revitalization.

The system has been so successful in the southern tier, it is being used in other parts of the state.