Allegany County staff outline economic development, planning and workforce updates

Ashley Smith, Allegany County director of economic development, and department staff briefed the Planning and Economic Development Committee on recent county economic and planning activity, highlighting demographic figures, labor-market trends, workforce-training incentives, planning work with municipalities and a set of Industrial Development Agency projects.

Smith said the county “hosted our first annual economic development summit” and that the county has implemented new software and a business-attraction, retention and expansion policy. She said early-stage outreach and a new pipeline tracker show five very early-stage attraction deals that, if they progress, represent roughly $14 million in potential private investment.

Rita Selbeck Lynch, Employment and Training Program director, presented labor-market data and workforce incentives. She reported that 2024 average annual employment totals for Allegany County were 15,700 nonfarm employees and 11,300 private-industry employees, both all-time highs going back to 1990. Lynch said the 2024 average unemployment rate was 4.1%, with the January 2025 unemployment rate at 5.5% (January 2024: 5.7%). Lynch outlined a Department of Labor–linked workforce training incentive and said, “If you have up to 250 employees, you will be reimbursed for 75% of their wages up to $15,000 per employee.” She and staff said about four to five local employers were pursuing the program and that the county had actively promoted the opportunity to area chambers and businesses.

Kira Durham, director of planning, summarized planning work across towns and villages: updated or newly created comprehensive plans for Wellsville, Belfast and Hume; completion of a multi-jurisdiction hazard mitigation plan covering 29 towns and 10 villages that has state and FEMA approval; and work to secure local sign-offs so municipalities can apply for FEMA hazard-mitigation grants. Durham said county planning services are provided at no charge to many towns and that “This is totally a shared service kind of thing.” Durham also described an aerial parcel flyover (EagleView) that is roughly 35–40% complete and will be re-flown to remove winter imagery and provide updated assessor tools.

Staff filling in for the Industrial Development Agency reported projects including a wind project referenced in the meeting as the “Ally Cat Wind project” with about $414 million in financial assistance, about 28 turbines (approximately 26 megawatts) and an expected peak of about 400 construction jobs; IDA-backed small-scale solar projects totaling about 90 megawatts across multiple 5-megawatt sites; a proposed microenterprise grant program (approximately $300,000 proposed this year after awarding 10 businesses previously); a roughly $1 million CARE grant distributed to 20 companies in 2024; an IDA-supported $35 million Alfred University sports complex financed with a $25 million bond; a half-million-dollar EPA brownfield grant with consultant selection pending; continuing work to attract tenants to the Wellsville Business Park; and a newly formed Allegany County Local Development Corporation planning a revolving loan fund for 2025.

Committee members asked about electric capacity for new solar and wind projects and whether utility interconnection datasets were available; staff replied that developers are using capacity datasets in their planning and that the county was following up where questions remained. Members also asked about a hotel commitment tied to infrastructure at the Gateway project; staff said an IDA representative had reported a hotel commitment that is part of the overall timeline for that project.

The presentation included demographic details the county used for context: a population listed at 46,651, median age 38.9, 17,057 households with homeownership above three-quarters of households, median household income $61,223, median property value $98,000 and median monthly rent $754. Staff emphasized programs and outreach planned for 2025, including industry workshops, a county business resource pop-up April 15 at the Belmont Library, and a small-business recognition event during Small Business Week in May.

No additional formal committee actions were recorded during the presentation portion of the meeting.