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2014 REDC Awards

NY History and Upstate Tourism Development Awards

March 2, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This post brings to a conclusion the series on the awards granted by the Regional Economic Development Councils in December 2014. The purpose of the series is to provide the history community with information about what actually is occurring in New York State funding.

It provides readers of these posts with the opportunity to draw on the primary source documents about what really is being done. It examines furthermore what Empire State Development is doing with the new money it has received and to determine if the Path through History has substance. Continue reading “NY History and Upstate Tourism Development Awards” →

REDC Awards Nurture Infrastructure, Ignore History

February 23, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This post is part of a continuing series on discerning the actual policies of New York State regarding promoting history by following the money it awards through the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) process.

The focus in this post is on where the State awards money in support of cooperation and collaboration. In other words, the awards here aren’t for a specific event or site but are more sweeping in scope. They seek to support multiple organizations and entities working together on behalf of a larger goal than any one group could achieve on its own. There are lessons to be learned here for the history community which is not the recipient of any of these awards. Continue reading “REDC Awards Nurture Infrastructure, Ignore History” →

The REDC’s Art Tourism Funding

February 17, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This is the seventh in a series of posts on the awards granted by the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC). The Path through History received short shrift in the awards process, but there were history-related awards nonetheless.

These awards tended to be issued by the New York States Council on the Arts and the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) in accordance with policies created before Path through History was launched. In this post, we focus on the awards for another type of tourism: Art Tourism. Continue reading “The REDC’s Art Tourism Funding” →

REDC’s Recreation Tourism Funding

February 9, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This post is the sixth in a series on the awards granted by the Regional Economic Development Councils. The series is intended to document what actually is being done, by following the money.

Empire State Development – Market New York (ESD MNY) is part of a new process applicants for state funding negotiate. ESD MNY has funded Path through History media projects, support for booze-related tourism, and some projects with “path” potential (although they weren’t identified as such). In this post, I’ll focus on another type of tourism touted by Governor Andrew Cuomo: recreation tourism. Continue reading “REDC’s Recreation Tourism Funding” →

REDC Tourism Awards Support Booze Destinations

February 2, 2015
by Peter Feinman

Empire State Development under the leadership of Ken Adams is the organization which includes ILoveNY (under Gavin Landry), which is responsible for the Path through History, but which has no full time staff. The mission of Empire State Development Market New York (ESD MNY) is:

The Market New York Grant program supports regionally-themed New York-focused projects that promote tourism destinations, attractions, special events and other travel related activities that help achieve the Regional Councils’ long term strategic goals for economic growth, which include attracting more visitors to New York State. Continue reading “REDC Tourism Awards Support Booze Destinations” →

State Parks, Historic Preservation REDC Awards

January 28, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This posts is the fourth in a series of posts examining the awards approved by the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC) from the perspective of the Path through History. In this post, we turn to the awards by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation as part of the Heritage Areas System (HAS).

This is for projects to acquire, preserve, rehabilitate or restore lands, waters or structures, identified in the approved management plans for Heritage Areas designated under sections 33.03 and 33.05 of the Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law, and for structural assessments or planning for such projects. Some of the funding is substantial. Continue reading “State Parks, Historic Preservation REDC Awards” →

The REDCs, History and the NYS Council on the Arts

January 22, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This posts is the third in a series of posts examining the awards approved by the Regional
Economic Development Councils (REDC) from the perspective of the Path through History.

Below is a list of projects which were found based on the term “history” for the search criteria. Although there are not many grants with a specifically historical-focus, the ones that do tend to be funded by New York State Council on the Arts as part of its Culture & Heritage Project Grant. Below are the awards for 2014 by the Council of Arts that are relevant to the history community. Continue reading “The REDCs, History and the NYS Council on the Arts” →

NY History And Economic Development Councils

January 14, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This posts is the second in a series of posts examining the awards approved by the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC) from the perspective of the Path through History.

In the first post we saw that in 2013 and 2014 there were only two grants directly connected to the Path through History and both were media-based awards. There also was a glimpse of hope in an award that could potentially generate a Route 28 Path through History. This awards hints at the unrealized potential of the Path through History project. Continue reading “NY History And Economic Development Councils” →

Economic Development Councils And Path Through History

January 4, 2015
by Peter Feinman

The Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC) awards for 2014 were recently announced. These councils were created by Governor Andrew Cuomo as a conduit for the disbursement of state funds among 10 designated regions. Each region holds meetings to discuss the economic development proposals which have been submitted for their region. The approved proposals are then submitted for statewide consideration and the results were announced in December. Now that the 2014 awards have been announced, it’s time to consider what it all means for the history community. Continue reading “Economic Development Councils And Path Through History” →