Page 22 - 2023 Westchester County Economic Development Guide

Cultivating and Advancing Talent Westchester County Office of Economic Development Here For You
Westchester offers resources, assistance and expertise to help businesses across diverse sectors to thrive.
WESTCHESTER COUNTY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
www.westchestercatalyst.com
e Westchester County Office of Economic Development attracts and retains businesses and talent, offering business resources and financial assistance through the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), the Local Development Corporation (LDC) and a range of business services.
Westchester Office of Economic Development Director Bridget Gibbons highlights the office’s current initiatives geared towards supporting Westchester’s economy and business community.
Westchester Office of Economic Development Director
Bridget Gibbons
What are the main priorities for the Office of Economic Development in for 2023? We’re making great progress in
our Sector-Based Economic Development Strategy. ese
key sectors include Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Technology and Clean Energy. It has served as
a great framework for aligning and deploying our resources.
Talk about your work in the Life Sciences Sector.
We are gearing up for our fourth cohort of the Westchester County BioSciences Accelerator program, including 12 startups in the Life Sciences. We’re also piloting our first “road trip” from New York City, which will include a range of key stakeholders, including scientists,
real estate developers and investors. ey will travel by bus to visit several significant life sciences destinations here in the County, such as Westchester Medical Center, BioInc@ NYMC and Regeneron. e day will be capped with a reception at e Opus in White Plains.
What’s new in Advanced Manufacturing?
For Advanced Manufacturing, we are raising awareness about career paths at an Engineering Expo on March 26. Attendees will include high school students who are considering a career in engineering, along with their parents. e event will take place at White Plains High School and anyone interested can learn more at www.beanengineer.org.
What’s happening on the Clean Energy front?
We are working with Sustainable Westchester to build a task force
to bring together key stakeholders, including solar, wind and geothermal businesses to understand the
distinct challenges each face, and to determine how the County can help them grow and arrive at solutions. Our first Round Table is slated for March 22. Read more about Westchester’s commitment to Green Energy solutions on page 46.
What’s the latest with Technology?
In the past year, we pivoted Element 46 to be a tech accelerator program and are working with John Lynn, Founder of Cela Innovation, and it’s been a great partnership. (Learn more on page 40.) We had our most recent cohort graduate in late 2022 at a Demo Day, where the participants met key stakeholders and investors.
Anything else you’d like
to share?
We are pleased to have distributed $17 million in grants to small businesses, including non-profits, minority women, service-disabled, veteran- owned and disadvantaged business enterprises, as part of the American Rescue Plan. Participants completed an application process and the funds were granted to help organizations recover from the impact of COVID. Local religious organizations were
also awarded grants for services that were above and beyond in caring
for the community, such as pop-up vaccination sites and soup kitchens.
How can a business reach out to seek assistance from the OED? It’s easy! Call me at 914-995-2900 and we can discuss how we and our partners can help you.
OTHER ENTITIES
THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY www.westchestercatalyst.com/ Programs-Incentives
Created to promote and encourage economic development in the County, e IDA is an agency focused on helping to create and retain high- quality jobs, by offering mortgage recording tax exemptions, sales tax exemptions and taxable or tax- exempt bonds.
Annually, the IDA supports projects which account for hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment in housing, Life Sciences, mixed-use development, historic building renovation and reconstruction. e IDA has financed nearly $4 billion in projects and created 22,739 jobs since 2010.
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE