Andrew Cuomo

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo poses with representatives of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council during an awards ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. The Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier and central New York have each won $500 million in state funds as part of Gov. Cuomo's upstate economic development competition. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

(Mike Groll)

Albany, N.Y. — Central New York came up a big winner Thursday in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's initiative to pump up the Upstate economy with $1.5 billion in development aid.

The Cuomo administration selected Central New York as one of three winners in the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, a competition that pitted seven Upstate New York regions against each other for $1.5 billion in aid. The Finger Lakes region and the Southern Tier were the other winners.

The Central New York region will receive $500 million over five years — doled out in roughly equal installments of $100 million a year — to help fund development projects and programs designed to generate long-term job growth.

"It's going to mean jobs," said Rob Simpson, co-chair of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council. "It's going to mean investments in the neighborhoods that need them. It's going to mean an opportunity for people who perhaps haven't had it."

He said the state's $500 million commitment to Central New York was the largest single infusion of state aid the region has ever received and will greatly enhance economic planning.

"We know we have these resources now," said Simpson, who is also president of CenterState CEO, a Syracuse-based economic development organization. "We can plan for this."

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud, the council's other chair, said the council plans to implement its development plans for the region quickly.

"There is a lot of work to do and we're going to start on it tomorrow," he said.

Related: State economic development aid for Central New York to total $122 million in 2016

Critics have called the competition a sort of Upstate "hunger games," that pitted regions against each other. But Syverud said the competition forced the regions to come up with good plans to revive their economies.

"Competition does have the effect of bringing out people's competitive juices," he said.

In its 87-page proposal "CNY Rising From The Ground," the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council said it would use the money to assist projects that align with significant market opportunities and address persistent challenges.

It identified what it said were six "signature" investments that would create nearly 6,000 jobs over five years:

• A research and development center for unmanned aerial and ground systems, with special emphasis on the development of systems that will allow unmanned aerial vehicles to safely fly in the nation's commercial airspace.

• The development of indoor farms, also known as controlled environment agriculture, and aseptic packaging facilities. One proposed facility would be a 100-acre, $66.5 million indoor farm at White Pine Commerce Park in Clay.

• A global manufacturing and logistics hub, also known as an inland port, at an abandoned quarry near Jamesville. The 225-acre facility would cost $100 million to develop and create approximately 2,000 jobs when fully built, according to the council.

• A national veterans resource complex that would leverage the services of Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families and position the area as a national leader for veterans affairs, offering education, job training and other services.

• Consolidation and modernization of local governments to lower the cost of municipal services and better position Central New York to compete in the 21st century.

• Programs to fight poverty, including strategies to align worker skills with the needs of employers.

"This is going to be a game changer on so many fronts," said Ryan McMahon, chairman of the Onondaga County Legislature. "When you look at the overall plan, it was worthy of the $500 million."

The initiative is modeled after Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" program, under which the Buffalo area is receiving $1 billion in state aid to revive its economy. The Upstate Revitalization Initiative was limited to the Capital, Finger Lakes, Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley, North Country and Southern Tier regions.

Cuomo said Upstate needs the help because its economy has lagged that of the downstate area for many years.

"We were losing people and we were losing jobs year after year," he said.

The seven regions that were not winners in the Upstate Revitalization Initiative or were not eligible to compete in it will still receive funding ranging from $83.9 million to $100.3 million in 2016 under Cuomo's regional economic development council program. Cuomo said he will seek additional funding for 2017 for the regions that were not winners in the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

In total, his administration will dole out $999.7 million for 1,062 projects across the state's 10 regions next year.

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