A business accelerator in downtown Schenectady was proposed under a recently approved regional center in Cohoes that works to attract foreign investments and create jobs.
Jack Kelley, director of economic development at Prime Regional Center, which will oversee the new regional center, said a total of four projects have been proposed including a technology accelerator in Schenectady and Shelter Cove housing development in Colonie.
“There were four projects that were submitted with our application. You had to have projects in order to have an application,” Kelley said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security approved the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program on Friday.
The regional center was awarded $125,000 by the Capital Region Economic Development Council to attract foreign investors who will commit $500,000 or $1 million to a project and pledge to create 10 full-time jobs within two years.
“One proposal is an accelerator project for downtown Schenectady to basically provide support for second and third tier industries that are related to General Electric technologies,” Kelley said.
Kelley said the location of the tech accelerator in Schenectady would be “around Erie Boulevard.” Prime Regional Center is working to attract foreign investors to the site with hopes to land an investment and spur job creation.
Other proposed projects include the Shelter Cove housing development in North Colonie, which is currently under construction, along with two projects related to the dairy industry in western New York.
“These four projects were proposed and approved,” Kelley said. “However, when foreign nationals do decide to invest and make their applications there needs to be more information.”
