Picture this: The largest hangar at Griffiss Business and Technology Park, known as Building 101, transformed into the second largest multi-purpose indoor sports and recreation facility for youth sports tournaments in the country, just part of a multi-purpose space with lodging, restaurants and maybe even a distillery or brewery.
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. dropped that vision toward the end of his State of the County speech given following a luncheon at The Shenandoah Clubhouse at Turing Stone Resort and Casino on May 20.
In the past, the search for a new use for the 400,000 square-foot hangar (the size of 250 pickleball courts) has focused on aviation, Picente said.
“With the announcement of Chobani (building a $1.2 billion facility in Rome) and the ever-changing face of the entire Griffiss Business & Technology Park,” he continued, “there has never been a better time to think differently and think big.”
The Runway, as Picente proposed calling the facility, would draw visitors from across the country and around the world to play in lacrosse, soccer, baseball, softball, flag football, basketball, volleyball, pickleball, tennis, wrestling and gymnastics tournaments, he said.
“The Runway will build on the success of Chobani, Air City Lofts and the Griffiss Business & Technology Park as a whole,” Picente promised, “cementing the park as a multi-use work, live and play neighborhood that will drive growth in Rome and the county for years to come.”
Talking county success
In his speech, Picente talked about all the county’s successes since he took office — and about how the county is building on those successes and continuing tackle challenges and grow economically.
“Think back to 2007 or even before that,” Picente said. “Would anyone have imagined (the) Nexus (Center) and the (Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial) Aud(itorium) hosting world championship tournaments,” Picente wondered.
“Would anyone have thought we would have a state-of-the-art hospital? Did people really believe a semiconductor industry would exist here? A permanent agreement with the Oneida Indian Nation that is the best county/tribal partnership in the United States?
“I don’t know how many believed it then, but they can see it now.”
Here are some key points about where Oneida County is going, as laid out in Picente’s speech.
Workers to fill jobs
The county will work hard to make sure that there are enough workers to fill all the jobs development is bringing to the county, Picente said.
Here are elements of that strategy, laid out in his speech:
- A multimedia campaign and, working with Mohawk Valley Community College, the Workforce Investment Board and others, the creation of training programs “to make sure everyone who wants one of these jobs knows about them, can be properly trained for them and will be hired to fill them.”
- A housing plan with five goals, 14 strategies and 34 action items to make sure the county has the types of housing, including affordable housing, that workers will need. The plan includes a new housing tax exemption policy through the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency to develop new housing. And a countywide infrastructure development program, Build Ready Oneida County, will get housing sites shovel ready.
- Removing barriers to childcare that prevent workers from taking jobs. The county has already funded a child navigator to help families find daycare and the Family Daycare Startup Grant Program created almost 100 new daycare slots in six months. And MVCC just began a micro-credential program for childcare workers. A coming public relations campaign — Every Family, Every Child, Every Day — will advertise the childcare subsidy, which can help families of four making up to $96,000 and other child care information.
Everyone to share in growth
“As we build this bright new future together,” Picente said, “we must ensure everyone can take part in it. “That is why we keep working on society’s toughest issues; substance use disorder, mental health, homelessness and youth violence.”
Here’s some of what Picente said the county is doing or will do to address issues:
- Overdose deaths from opioid have fallen: 18 in the first three months of 2024 compared to three in those months this year. But the total number of overdoses, including non-fatal, only dropped from 63 to 60. So the Oneida County Opioid Task Force is continuing its works and has formed new workgroups focused on innovative ideas in education, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, data collection and public policy. Upstate Caring Partners will soon open a stabilization center. The Oneida County C.A.R.E.S. smartphone app connects people with mental health information and resources.
- A new Teen Accountability Court diverts teens facing gun charges out of the court system. And a grant program with the Community Foundation will give resources to organizations that specialize in working with youth.
- The county needs to strengthen its system of finding housing for the homeless and preventing homelessness, increasing the amount of emergency, transitional and permanent affordable housing available in the county as well the services available at these locations. If that sounds expensive, the work the county is already doing to place people who are homeless in emergency housing cost $7.1 million in 2024, he said.
Neighborhood revitalization
The City of Utica, Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties and the county are already working together on the Cornhill Revitalization Project to bring two impact centers to the neighborhood to provide many of the resources residents said the neighborhood needs, Picente pointed out.
The Cornhill Neighborhood Improvement Plan will do more to bring investment and grant opportunities, helping public spaces, facades, streetscapes, lighting and other things that will help the neighborhood take pride in itself, he said.
“Pride in your community means less crime, less vandalism, less recklessness and more investment,” Picente said.
He announced a new Oneida County Community Price and Place initiative. Municipalities will be able to apply for funding to address blight in places that municipalities own or for which they are responsible.
And he pledged that the county and the city would deliver what’s left of emergency funding to deal with the tornado that hit Rome last summer to help the hardest hit areas that haven’t yet recovered.
Artificial intelligence
The county uses innovative approaches to government and the delivery of services, Picente said. And, as technology rapidly changes, the county needs to leverage it, he said.
“Artificial intelligence must be understood, utilized and integrated into what we do and how we do it,” he said. “We have to embrace this future not only as a government, but as a community.”
He proposed an Oneida County AI Task Force to look at its” integration and impact on government operations, private industry and residents, fostering education, ethical implementation and proactive policy making to position our county as a leader in the AI-driven future.”
“This technology’s capabilities may well be limitless,” he continued, “and I refuse to have us left behind.”
‘Unless we try’
Picente ended his speech on an optimistic note. None of this is impossible, he promised, “unless we don’t try.”
Success at conquering challenges relies on partnerships, he said.
“It is never one person, one entity or organization; it is an all-inclusive partnership,” Picente said. “One that continues to grow and look at ways to be innovative, better serve our people and never stop moving forward.”
It’s time to capitalize, he said, on the opportunities all around — together.
