LOOKING BACK

It has been an exciting time to be a part of TCAD when so many new initiatives were launched and so many positive things accomplished. - B.B.

After four years as the Chair of TCAD's Board of Directors, I relinquished my position to M&T Bank's Howard Hartnett in January, 2005. Those years, and especially 2004, were a period of great challenge and accomplishment for the organization, its Board and staff. The community is fortunate to have an economic development organization that is so effective and efficient; it gets an amazing amount of work done with limited resources.

While TCAD is most noted for stimulating private sector investment and for the quality jobs this investment creates for local residents, the organization's work on planning and infrastructure initiatives is less well known. Here are a few examples:

• TCAD partnered with the Chamber of Commerce in a major effort to solve a long-standing sewer infrastructure issue that had been hampering development in the northeast area of the County.
• The County Legislature relies on TCAD to create, update and manage a comprehensive economic development strategy for the community.
• TCAD manages a grant program that supports capital projects to improve and expand local tourism destination facilities. Past recipients include the Sciencenter, State Theatre and the Museum of the Earth.
• Our community's Workforce Investment Board, widely recognized as one of the best organizations of its kind in the State, was launched by TCAD and continues to be a critical ally in development projects.
• TCAD created the Airport Service Task Force several years ago in response to widespread concerns about high fares and poor connections from our airport. Now, in partnership with County government, the Chamber, Cornell, Ithaca College and the private sector, improved service in the form of Northwest Airlines will soon arrive to supplement service provided by USAirways.

It is obvious that one of TCAD's greatest strengths is forming productive collaborations with other key community organizations to deliver solutions to complex problems. With the support of its diverse members, an engaged Board of Directors and capable staff, I am confident TCAD will continue to take the lead in guiding our community to a bright and prosperous future.

Barbara Blanchard, Past Chair, TCAD Board of Directors

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

After devoting substantial resources during the last few years to high tech projects at the airport and large, mixed-use projects in the City, our attention in 2004 was redirected to the more rural areas of the County. And most of these projects were characterized by expansions of companies owned and managed by local entrepreneurs determined to stay and grow in Tompkins County.

Here are a few examples of 2004 projects:
Ongweoweh- This Town of Lansing company received incentives from the IDA and TCAD for a 2,700 sq. ft. addition valued at $380,000. The company currently employs 22 people and expects to add 15 more in the next few years. Ongweoweh provides comprehensive pallet management services to customers throughout the United States.

Ithaca Produce- TCAD took the lead in organizing a comprehensive incentive package that helped this long-standing Town of Dryden company finance a new 30,000 sq. ft. facility. The new building and equipment are valued at $1.7 million and will create 15 new jobs. The company currently employs 15.

IMR Test Labs- For the fourth time, TCAD helped deliver a package of incentives to this Town of Lansing company. This time the project was a 10,000 sq. ft. addition that, along with new equipment, is valued at $1.65 million. The company planned to add 23 new employees to its current workforce of 56.

F&T Distributing- In early 2004, TCAD delivered incentives to this Town of Dryden company for a new 19,000 sq. ft. food warehouse/distribution facility. The total project is valued at $1.36 million and will create 14 new jobs.

C & D Assembly-This subcontract electronic assembly company added 7,600 sq. ft. to its facility in the Village of Groton. The addition and new equipment are valued at over $500,000. The company projects that they will add 10 new people to its current work force of 20.
Global Phoenix-This computer equipment warehouse/distribution company is a first-time customer of TCAD. We delivered incentives to them for a new 16,500 sq. ft. facility in the Town of Lansing valued at over $750,000. This fast growing company will add 14 people in the next two years.

For most projects, TCAD usually partners with local, regional and State programs with whom we have long and productive relationships. These include the County's loan program, a regional loan program administered by the Broome County IDA, Empire State Development Corp. and the New York Business Development Corp. The Tompkins County IDA, managed by TCAD, not only delivers local property and sales tax abatement, but also can issue tax exempt bonds to manufacturers and non-profit corporations. In 2004, the IDA issued $32 million in tax exempt bonds to Ithaca College to help them finance improvements to their campus. IC is a first-time customer of the IDA.

This current year and the near-term future hold great promise for the community and local residents seeking quality employment opportunities. TCAD is already working with several companies as well as local developers on major projects. We expect continued investment in the City's urban core, expansion of high tech companies in suburban areas, and continued growth of homegrown light manufacturing and distribution companies in our rural towns and villages.

As it has always been, the challenge for TCAD is to match the needs of a project with the right combination of incentive programs. All of this must be done in a way that conserves scarce local resources and enhances our community's extraordinary quality of life.

Michael B. Stamm, President, TCAD

LOOKING FORWARD

With over four decades of rich history combined with its current resources,
TCAD is poised to do great things in the future - H.H.

Challenges and opportunities abound for TCAD and our community in 2005 and beyond, and I am excited to be the Chair of its Board of Directors during this time. When a small group of local leaders founded TCAD in 1964, could they ever have imagined the organization would accomplish so much and maintain such a prominent position in our region?

Over the past forty years, and even more so in the last ten, much has changed in our local economy as well as in that of the region, State and nation. The strategies TCAD uses to create quality jobs and strengthen our local tax base have changed too, adapting to the needs of local businesses and entrepreneurs and to the desires of the community and its residents. TCAD's ability to adapt, to reinvent itself, is clearly reflected in our 2005 Work Plan. Here are a few highlights:

v We have new, bold Mission and Vision statements that recognize the need for us to develop more strategic relationships with our customers rather than relationships based solely on a series of single transactions. This has already paid dividends with one project where, in addition to providing financial incentives, we helped deliver workforce and technical assistance to a company in a rapid expansion mode.

v For the first time, we will devote substantial resources to a business attraction campaign. But rather than the ubiquitous "shut gun" approach most communities employ, we will partner with Cornell and target companies that will benefit by a permanent presence in our community near specific Cornell research & development activities. Nanotech and materials science is our first target area, and we already have substantial first-year funding for the effort from NYSEG, Cornell Real Estate and the IDA.

v During 2005, we will be launching a much more aggressive membership campaign that will provide a solid foundation of financial support to TCAD for the next three years. The campaign will provide members with an opportunity to make an investment that delivers sound returns in the form of a stronger local economy and tax base, quality jobs and an infrastructure to support it all. Forty years ago, TCAD's founders started the organization with broad-based support from both the public and private sectors. That model holds great value for us today.

So, with this year well underway, TCAD is moving forward with an ambitious Work Plan that responds to the needs of our customers and to the opportunities and challenges the economy will provide. We have strengthened and diversified our Board of Directors, upgraded our offices and plan to hire additional staff in the first half of 2005. It is going to be an exciting year.

Howard Harnett, Chair, TCAD Board of Directors