NCA news & updates
March 2022
NCA Board Meetings

The North Country Alliance Board of Directors meets monthly on the third Wednesday at 11:00am. All members are welcome to join.

Board meeting minutes and agendas are posted on the NCA website. The next board meeting is:
February 16, 2022 at 11:00am at this link.

Join the NCA: If you received this newsletter and are not a member of the North Country Alliance, please consider joining the NCA. For membership questions, contact Matt Siver at msiver@danc.org.

List your events in this space: Send your listings to info@northcountryalliance.org
Member Events

March 3, 2022 7:30am 
Butcher Block in Plattsburgh.

March 17, 2022 7:30am 

March 22, 2022 8:00am 
Quebec - NY Transportation Rendezvous & B2B. West Side Ballroom in Plattsburgh.

March 23 through April 28, 2022

March 24, 2022 8:00am
Jefferson-Lewis Manufacturers Alliance Breakfast. Zero Dock Street Restaurant, Carthage
NCA Education and Outreach Agenda Complete
For more information about the 2022 Agenda you can contact Jeremy Evans, Committee Chair, at jeremy@adirondackfrontier.com.

Photo credit: SLC Chamber
The NCA released its Education and Outreach Agenda for 2022. The Education and Outreach Agenda identifies issues important to NCA members in the North Country. The NCA is still fighting for investment in rural broadband and cellular service in the region; investment in training our workforce, as well as quality, affordable housing and childcare for our workers; investment in rural infrastructure; and investment in tourism related activities. We want to see the border with Canada opened and a normalization of U.S.-Canadian board crossings. Finally, we oppose any further prison closures in the North Country, even though they are not proposed in the FYE 2023 budget, and would welcome any financial assistance to assist local efforts in repurposing the closed facilities. 

The Agenda was shared with all regional state and federal elected officials as well as the Governor.
Member Spotlight: Shipley Center for Innovation
Photo of Prof. Michelle Crimi, founder of RemWell, a Shipley Center supported company working on new methods of eliminating PFA contamination from drinking water.
If you are looking to explore a new business idea or advance your current innovative venture, connect with the Shipley Center by emailing shipleycenter@clarkson.edu. 
The Shipley Center for Innovation at Clarkson University is an entrepreneurial support hub that provides students, faculty, and local innovators with services that can help transform business ideas into real products and companies. Some of the services we offer include general business consultation, connections to subject matter experts, patent advice, targeted assistance from Shipley Center interns (websites, prototypes, etc), and opportunities to develop real-world business skills through workshops and microcredentials.

In addition to these services, the Shipley Center also manages more than 10,000 sq ft of business incubation space on Clarkson’s downtown campus. This space offers community for inventors and entrepreneurs to launch their companies in a supportive and flexible workspace while tapping into additional Shipley Center resources. As the designated New York State Innovation Hot Spot for the North Country, the Shipley Center also coordinates annual workshops throughout the region and provides ignition grants ($500 - $2,500) to help startup companies navigate the early stages of their entrepreneurial journey.
NCA Strategic Planning Update
The NCA board launched a strategic planning initiative at the Fall Forum meeting in October, and has been working through the process for delivery at the June 22 Annual Meeting in Lake Placid. Eric Virkler and Rob Aiken co-chair the working group which meets every three weeks.

The group has nearly completed a revision of the mission statement which now reads: The North Country Alliance promotes economic and business growth in New York’s North Country region through collaboration, financing, and advocacy. High level goals around those three areas of collaboration, financing and advocacy, as well as engagement are the next step.
Tourism Return to Work Grant
The New York State Tourism Return-to-Work Grant Program was created to incentivize employment growth by providing financial assistance to businesses in the tourism industry that suffered economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants are open to for-profits and non-profits alike, in a tourism-related field. Details at this link. Please share with any businesses you know that may benefit from this opportunity.