WEAKNESSES

Structural population and labor force changes

Population loss

Aging of the population

Outmigration of the population, especially the younger demographic

Smaller, less skilled regional labor force

Inadequate regional educational attainment

High level of attainment on individuals with associate’s degrees

Too high a percentage of individuals with a high school diploma or less

Too few individuals with bachelor’s or advanced degrees

Inadequate supply of a highly skilled, technically trained workforce in many job titles

Labor force productivity issues

Low per capita income and high poverty rate

Physical infrastructure constraints to development

Lack of service in rural areas

Aging systems / costly to maintain

Capacity issues

Cost of service

Capital market constraints to development

Private equity capital (both entrepreneurial capital and venture capital)

Private debt capital

Public debt and equity capital

Inadequate global linkages

Need for more private sector connection to global economy

Less-than-optimal rates of collaboration and participation of regional businesses with the region’s university community with respect to export activities

Less-than-optimal participation of the foreign world at large with the region’s universities and colleges with respect to research and business development activities

Inadequate regional innovation capacity and activity

Inadequate research and development enterprise capacity

Inadequate technology commercialization competence and activity

Inadequate innovation culture

Inadequate networking opportunities

Inadequate regional entrepreneurial capacity

Barriers to entry

Productivity and competitiveness issues

Quality of life forces and issues

Need to preserve and reinvigorate main streets and downtown business centers (Community
Centers) to avoid sprawl, improve quality of life, and reduce the cost of service provision. Includes:

• Redevelopment and repair of downtowns

• Enhanced commercial and services provision

• Increased availability of housing stock in downtowns

• Address high commercial vacancy rates in downtowns

• Create and improve creative districts within communities

• Increase amenities within communities

• Increase the walkability of communities

• Increase the relationship within communities of the built environment and the natural environment (e.g., public parks space and green space, trails, etc.)

Need to improve many community institutions, including hospitals/emergency care facilities, schools, fire departments, community buildings, religious organizations, housing and housing organizations, social service organizations, libraries, parks, cultural institutions (e.g., museums and community arts centers), community foundations and other locally-focused philanthropies, volunteer associations, cooperatives, primary private sector businesses (e.g., groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, etc.), man-made and natural recreational assets, and even virtual organizations and networks

Need to further develop the region’s recreational infrastructure and make older communities walkable to facilitate healthy activities and lifestyles

Need to increase public and private support for the region’s cultural assets and cultural life

Need to improve housing and building stock, including:

• Addressing Increasing housing and building stock age

• Increasing new housing and building stock construction rates

• Addressing substandard and non-code-compliant housing

• Increase variety of alternative types of housing options

• Address the Increasing prevalence of manufactured and/or mobile housing

• Address the increasing conversion of large homes to apartments

• Address housing stock affordability issues

• Address absentee ownership of rental properties

• Address the need for architectural preservation

• Increase the rate of adaptive reuse

Need to promote energy conservation improvements

Need to improve public education through investment and, in some cases, consolidation and sharing

Need to improve health care throughout the region, including

• Improving health care outcomes throughout the region (e.g., high teen pregnancy and smoking rates, chronic disease, and childhood and adult obesity)

• Need to transition from a disease management focus to a prevention focus

• Address obstacles to recruitment and retention of doctors and other health care workers

• Address access issues in smaller communities (e.g., access to hospitals, emergency care facilities, specialist, and even local doctors)

• Need for improved transportation options to help people travel to appointments

• Address the shortage of funds to improve aging and out-of-date hospitals and nursing homes

Marcellus and Utica shale gas extraction may prove problematic to local/regional water quality

Overuse or inappropriate land development and certain business practices may threaten the carrying capacity of the natural environment

Need for conservation of natural resources and agricultural lands

Social capital (the resources of the “social infrastructure” of community organizations and volunteer groups engaged in activities to benefit the community) may be becoming stretched

Negative and divisive community attitudes – political, geographic, ethnic, racial, attitudes toward government and business communities, public apathy, etc.

• Other Structural Forces and Issues

Coronavirus pandemic economic downturn, leading to business downsizing/suspensions/closures, and ultimately layoffs

Burdensome business climate – corporate and personal income tax burdens, regulatory and compliance requirements, workman’s compensation burdens, utility costs, winter heating costs, high transportation costs, rising health care costs, etc.

State and local government issues, including:

• Too many layers of government

• Need to reduce/consolidate/share services

• Inadequate government service delivery, in part a function of a shortage of local government financial resources and staff capacity

• Governmental operating costs, including rising health care costs, State pension fund costs, etc.

• Unfunded State mandates

• Regulatory and compliance requirements

• Slow rates of government innovation and adoption of technology

• Inadequate level of collaboration in the region between government and other sectors of the economy (including collaboration between government and the educational community, economic development organizations, workforce development organizations, and the business
community).

Labor force climate and legal environment, i.e., the perception that the statewide labor force and labor legal environment (unions, labor laws, regulations, etc.) both may be obstacles to business development

Need to identify market failures or gaps and to institute innovation-based business incentives that address these market failures / gaps.

Need to externalize entrepreneurial/innovation support whenever it is practical so as to grow the innovation support community and catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship

Macroeconomic issues (general macroeconomic conditions, global competition, the transition away from manufacturing, the downturn in agricultural prices, global political and financial instability, etc.) constrain economic development

There are pockets of distress in the region’s communities, both large and small, which constrain economic activity and economic development

Perceived potential regional image problems (“an economically devastated rural backwater that has limited potential for economic development”) may contribute to the region’s difficulty in attracting firms, skilled workers, students, and visitors, and that discourages our own residents. The region needs to develop a better image, both externally and internally, so that it can move beyond this
defeatist external perception and self-image.

Inadequate levels of proactive (i.e., not reactive) government strategic economic development practices focusing on common long-term/sustaining goals

Shortage of local government financial resources and staff capacity to undertake economic development initiatives

Inadequate strategic economic development planning, resulting in the lack of a portfolio of prioritized economic development initiatives, and the lack of designation and appropriation of capital funds to implement these initiatives

Inadequate governmental focus (at all levels) on collaboration with each other and with other sectors, including larger and smaller companies; public, private, and philanthropic sectors; academia and industry; “old” and “new” sources of wealth within the region; and the broadest possible composition of community by several socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., diversity)