Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced $4,399,500 in federal funding for 4 organizations in the North Country. The funding was allocated through the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) and will help construct a new primary health care facility in Lewis County, support business development for small farm businesses and food entrepreneurs, and modernize water and trail infrastructure. The NBRC is a federal-state economic development partnership that provides federal support for high-impact projects in 28 counties throughout Upstate New York that drive job creation and retention.
“This $4.4 million will fund projects that address some of the North Country’s most pressing issues,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I’m proud to have fought to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that provided funding for the NBRC and subsequently for these projects, and I’m working to pass my bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and modernize the NBRC so we can continue to make critical investments in infrastructure development, job creation, and more throughout the North Country.”
Gillibrand is a staunch advocate for the NBRC and leads the bipartisan Northern Border Regional Commission Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize the Commission and modernize its economic development programs by empowering the Commission to support projects focused on rural housing, child care and health care facilities, and disaster resilience projects to bolster Upstate communities.
Since 2016, the NBRC has invested more than $40 millionin over 70 economic development projects in Upstate New York. The Commission is empowered to invest in a wide range of public and nonprofit projects that drive job creation and growth in predominantly small, rural counties that can be overlooked by traditional federal programs. The New York counties the NBRC provides federal support to are: Cayuga, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Seneca, Sullivan, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Yates.
A full list of recipients is below:
| Recipient | Amount | Location | Purpose |
| Adirondack Land Trust | $3,000,000.00 | Essex and Franklin Counties | Provide Adirondack wildland experiences to underserved residents and visitors with disability by building universal access trails and amenities at two nature preserves spanning 425 acres close to the population centers and visitor hubs of Saranac Lake/Paul Smiths and Lake Placid. |
| North Country Family Health Center, Inc. | $549,500.00 | Lewis County | Expansion of rural primary health care in Lewis County by constructing a new primary care suite at the Community Health Center location. The Community Health Center serves all patients, regardless of ability to pay, and is the only provider in the County dedicated to low-income, under-served population actively addressing health inequities and social determinants of health. |
| Village of Granville | $350,000.00 | Washington County | Extension of an existing 20-inch water main to serve the community’s commercial corridor. These sites include many multi-use buildings that have the potential to provide much needed residential units for the community. |
| Essex Food Hub, Inc. | $500,000.00 | Essex County | Renovate an idle Main Street building in the rural town of Westport, for use by the Essex Food Hub (EFH), a vital institution providing business development support for burgeoning small farm businesses and food entrepreneurs in New York’s North Country region. |
“This award will enable our local food hub to build a more equitable and sustainable food system,” said Essex Food Hub Executive Director Lindsay Willemain. “With it, we will create vital, expanded retail, warehousing and processing infrastructure for small farms and value-added producers, as well as for our hub, which, annually, converts thousands of pounds of excess produce to nutritious food for children in our schools, and distributes more than 100,000 pounds of food throughout the North Country and beyond. We are thrilled and honored to receive NBRC support, and to have the opportunity to help our rural community to flourish.”
“We thank Senator Gillibrand and the Northern Border Regional Commissioner for this incredible investment in community vitality. In the Adirondacks, outdoor recreation is a primary draw for millions of annual visitors and a quality-of-life perk for year-round residents. Yet the region’s offerings for people with disabilities are minimal. This grant will help us change that by creating accessible wildland trails at two iconic conservation sites within minutes of the tourism and community hubs of Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. A broad range of people facing mobility challenges—and the businesses who serve them—all will benefit from access to universal trails,” said Adirondack Land Trust Executive Director Mike Carr.
“North Country Family Health Center is thrilled to have received the latest Catalyst Program grant award allowing us to expand primary care services in rural Lewis County. This grant award will allow the Health Center to construct a 4-exam room primary care clinic with a lab, provider office, and reception area. This primary care suite will allow for two healthcare providers to care for patients while addressing their health and social needs – focusing on health inequalities, social determinants of health, nutrition/food security, and disease prevention and management,” said North Country Family Health Center CEO Joey Marie Horton.