Editorial for January 18, 2019 Andela, Red Shed Show Entrepreneurial Mettle You may have noticed that Dec. 15 piece in the New York Times, “The Hard Truths of Trying to Save the ‘Rural’ Economy.” In it, reporter Eduardo Porter wrote: “I’ve lived most of my life in big cities. I don’t pretend to understand what it’s like to live in a small town or a family farm, or how it feels when all the jobs in a community seem to be…
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It’s Unanimous: Town Board Rejects Gas Decompressor By JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – At the urging of Otsego 2000 and 40 people who showed up at its monthly meeting, the Oneonta Town Board last night unanimously voted to oppose a $3.5 million state grant application for a gas decompression station at Pony Farm. “No member of the Town Board is in favor of the decompressor gas station,” declared Supervisor Bob Wood at the start of the meeting.…
Editorial for November 9, 2018 ‘Knowledge’ Is Our Future This week’s Tom Morgan column on the facing page, and former DEC Commissioner Mike Zagata’s column last week capture the Upstate dilemma: Upstate is rebounding more slowly than any other area of the country. First, let’s look at local bright spots. • Custom Electronics in Oneonta is planning a futuristic 250-job production line making self-recharging batteries. Andela Products, the Richfield Springs glass recycler, is likewise looking to expand. And Corning’s Oneonta…
Editorial for October 12, 2018 Uncreative? With Full Plate, That Might Be Just The Thing ‘I’m not creative,” Otsego Now CEO Jody Zakrevsky told the Otsego County Board of Representatives at its October meeting on the 3rd, as he began to deliver an “economic update” on the economic-development organization’s 2018 accomplishments. While lacking creativity, Zakrevsky continued, he said he has the capacity to embrace someone else’s ideas and carry them to fruition. Credit Zakrevsky with self-awareness and frankness, both virtues.…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski, October 5, 2018. Natural Gas Is A Bad Investment It’s obvious we have to get off fossil fuels, yet we keep hearing that fossil fuels – natural gas in particular – are essential to local economic growth. While “solar and wind would be a viable source for electric,” Otsego Now CEO Jody Zakrevsky wrote in The Freemans Journal & Hometown Oneonta in the Aug. 30-31 editions, “it (the solar and wind source) does not currently provide…
CORNING PLANS $11M EXPANSION, ASSURES 175 JOBS…
Editorial for September 28, 2018 Balance Today’s Energy Needs, Tomorrow’s Energy Wishes It’s a great idea. In a column at the end of August, Adrian Kuzminski – citing the Tompkins County Energy Roadmap, completed in March – wrote, “Let me suggest … that the Otsego County Board of Representatives, in a bi-partisan spirit, is the logical authority to establish an Otsego Energy Task Force. A large, diverse umbrella group is far more likely to develop a comprehensive, viable energy strategy…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski, Friday, September 21, 2018 Let’s Build On Sustainable Assets, Not Unsustainable Liabilities Otsego County needs a new direction for energy and economic development. An important step to that end was taken last week when the county board’s Intergovernmental Affairs Committee endorsed the idea of setting up an energy and economic development task force. Kudos to them! A county-wide task force would give us two things we don’t have now: long-term economic planning and a wide range…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski, August 24, 2018 Let’s Take Control Of Our Energy Future Recently, nearly 100 people crowded the Oneonta Town Hall to respond to a report by Otsego Now head, Jody Zakrevsky, about the controversial gas decompression station proposed for Oneonta. The backlash was overwhelming. A long series of speakers unanimously condemned the project and demanded instead a full-scale effort to transition to renewables as soon as possible. As the speakers pointed out, a myriad of solutions exist…
Editorial For August 17, 2018 Sensible Plan Surfaces To Ensure Energy For Industry When Otsego Now Executive Director Jody Zakrevsky was Schoharie County economic developer, a Canadian firm was a half-step away from buying long-vacant Guilford Mills, that rambling complex to the right of I-88 as you drive to Albany. All that was lacking was a letter from the mayor, assuring the company would be guaranteed sufficient power to conduct business. Such a letter was forthcoming, but the last line…