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Many factors will influence how the PCG site will be reused, such as: the extent that existing environmental contamination will be cleaned up on the site; whether selected clean-up levels are acceptable to the Gowanda community and to special populations that rely on Cattaraugus Creek such as the Seneca Nation; who will eventually own the site; and whether the resources will be available to redevelop the site in a manner consistent with the needs and desires of the Gowanda community. Section Five addresses another redevelopment factor, which is how overall how economic conditions in the Village and the Western New York Region might influence reuse of the site.
To help assess the local and regional economic forces that could impact the redevelopment of the Peter Cooper site, the project team sought the input of local and regional planning and economic development stakeholders. UB project personnel also reviewed the following three studies that were completed recently and concern themselves with the economic conditions of the Region and the Village, including:
1) Regional Development Strategy - Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and Areawide Action Plan – 2001. Prepared by the Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board.
2) 1999 Master Plan for the Town of Collins and the Village of Gowanda. Prepared by the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning.
3) Village of Gowanda Business Development & Downtown Revitalization Study 2001. Prepared by Camoin Associates and H. Sicherman & Company, Inc.
Summary of Findings
Several sources have noted that
the economy of Western New York, which was once based on heavy manufacturing
industries, has undergone dramatic changes over the last two decades. This
change is noticeable in the Village of Gowanda as its major industrial
employers have closed, and the area economy has become primarily dependent on
employment in the government sector. Based on the input of regional
planning/economic development stakeholders and the three studies cited above,
it is clear that there a strong need for the Gowanda community to reestablish
a diverse local economy. Economic diversity will help provide residents with
broader employment opportunities, and it will help the area survive economic
downturns that every employment sector experiences. Manufacturing and tourism
have been identified as two prime ways for the community to create wealth by
attracting resources from outside the region.
Manufacturing: There is not a current demand in the Gowanda community for sites to house large manufacturing facilities, nor is there likely to be in the foreseeable future given the change in the economic structure of the region. There is, however, a need to create “shovel ready” sites for light industrial uses and service oriented industries if the Village and region are to stay competitive with other communities in the Northeast. Due to its unique locational attributes on the waterfront, the Peter Cooper site might not be appropriate for placement of an industrial facility, however, the site could play a significant role in attracting commerce to the Village as an attractive asset for companies considering nearby properties.
Tourism: Tourism that takes advantage of the areas predominate natural resources - Cattaraugus Creek and the Zoar Valley - has been specifically targeted as an economic development strategy for the Village. The Peter Cooper Gowanda site is in a unique position to help the Village achieve its “nature-based” tourism goals by virtue of its location in front of a prime fishing area as well as a well-known whitewater rapid known as the “Grand Finale”. Additionally the site is directly across from the first bluff going upstream from the Village that eventually forms the Zoar Valley.
Meeting with Planning and Economic Development Stakeholders
Project personnel met with several representatives of regional/local planning and economic development organizations, non-profit organizations and local businesses in October 2001 to elicit input on redevelopment of the PCG site. The following organizations were represented at the meeting.
Gowanda Area Redevelopment Corporation
Western New York Land Conservancy
Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency
Cattaraugus County Department of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism
Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board
Healthy Community Alliance, Inc.
The full meeting minutes, a list of attendees, and handout materials from the meeting are included with this report as Attachment I. Highlights of the meeting discussion include the following.
Key Points about the Regional Economy
Many communities in the Western New York Region, including the biggest such as Buffalo and Niagara Falls to some of the smallest such as Gowanda, were originally settled for economic reasons. What they offered in natural assets such as plentiful land and timber; abundant water for manufacturing processes and hydropower; and their strategic location for transportation routes proved invaluable to a great number of industries and commercial concerns that established themselves in the region. Western New York was known for many years, beginning in the late 1800’s and extending past the mid-1900’s, as one on the most industrious and prosperous areas in the United States. Since the latter 1900’s, however, the region’s economy has undergone significant economic restructuring as it’s once predominate manufacturing industries closed or moved to other parts of the country and world.
In the Regional Development Strategy prepared by the Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board in 2001, the following weaknesses of the region’s economy were identified.
“Shifting of the region’s economy from manufacturing-based to a service- and commercial-based economy, reducing the region’s ‘net balance of trade’ with the world.”
“Increasing instance of non-local ownership of the region’s manufacturing community, draining profits outside the region with no true commitment to the region’s economic health at the corporate level.”
“High operating cost environment, including high tax rates, uncompetitive ness labor force wage rates, high electricity costs, high regulatory compliance burden and high workman’s compensation rates.”
“Over-reliance in many businesses on outdated technology.”
“Inadequate access to debt and equity capital.”
“Failure of many businesses to enter the global marketplace."
As discussed above the local/regional planners and economic development stakeholders who were consulted as part of this project reinforced this view of the region’s economic history. They advised that future industry in Gowanda and the wider region would almost assuredly not be of the heavy manufacturing type that was once so typical in Western New York. Rather, they suggest that the Village concentrate on attracting more light manufacturing or service-oriented industries.
The regional economy is not without its high points. Regional economic strengths identified by the Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board in 2001, include:
“Established industrial base.”
“Productive work force.”
“Several strong industrial clusters with significant growth opportunities.”
“Ongoing upgrades to the region’s telecommunications infrastructure.”
“Adequate highway and rail transportation infrastructure.”
“Northeastern location, with proximity to Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh metro economics, proximity to Canada and an export market and proximity to the eastern seaboard for domestic and export markets.”
“High quality rural quality of life.”
“Low cost of living.”
“Good secondary and post secondary educational system.”
Key Points about the Village Economy
In economic and employment terms, the trends in the Village of Gowanda have mirrored those in the Western New York region discussed above. The 1999 Master Plan for the Town of Collins and the Village of Gowanda provides a detailed examination of the economic and employment conditions and trends in the Gowanda area. Key information from the Master Plan on the Village’s economy is excerpted below. (Note: Emphasis has been added to those points that project personnel feel have particular importance for the PCG site redevelopment effort.)
Overall Community Economic
Goal
“The overall economic development goal of the master plan is to preserve and
strengthen the economic base. The means to achieve this is to establish a
diversified community where money is brought into the community from external
resources, thus creating wealth for the community. This wealth
creation is the engine that helps support a community’s commercial and retail
base.”
Importance of Agriculture and Other Economic Engines
“Clearly, the Collins-Gowanda area has a strong agricultural component in its
economic base. One of the primary objectives of this plan, therefore, is to
protect as much prime agricultural soil as possible from development, since
this soil ultimately supports the agricultural economy of the community, and
to promote this very asset.”
Besides agriculture the Master Plan concentrates on three other ‘economic engines’ that create wealth in a community, which are:
“First, manufacturing, because the end product usually is exported out of the community, thus bringing outside money into the area.”
“Second, tourism, as it brings in visitors who spend money on local attractions.”
“ Finally, governmental investment, other than local government, that comes at a state or federal level for facilities such as prisons, army bases, or federal agencies.”
Economic and
Employment Diversity
“For the majority of the 1900’s, the
Collins-Gowanda area has actually had a diversified mixture of manufacturing
and governmental investment. Key manufacturers have included the Peter Cooper
Glue Factory and the Moench Tannery, which provided over 500 jobs in the late
sixties, and early seventies. The State’s investment in the Gowanda
Psychiatric Center provided about 985 jobs until 1991. However, the
diversified business climate that served the community well for most of the
century, has changed.”
“The Collins-Gowanda area is now clearly benefiting from the State’s investment in the Collins & Gowanda Correctional Facility. This is a strong generator of employment for the local economy. However, as can be attested to by other military (or government) based economies who have lost their main employer (i.e. Griffins Air Force base in Utica), over-reliance on government employment can devastate and destroy a community. In fact, the Collins-Gowanda area would have been economically stressed after losing the Gowanda Psychiatric Center if the correctional facility hadn’t been sited in Gowanda.”
At the time of the Master Plan writing in 1999, five of the area’s seven largest employers were government agencies, including:
“The number of public service jobs provided by the area’s top 7 employers totals 2,136 (90%), while manufacturing jobs totals 120 jobs (5%), and Construction totals 110 jobs (5%). The public service sector is by far the primary employer and economic generator in the Collins-Gowanda area.”
On-going Economic Development
Strategies in the Village and Region
Recognizing the changes occurring in the area’s economy, the Village of
Gowanda and other regional municipalities and organizations have sought to
plan for that change. Going back to the three studies that address economic
conditions in the Village and region, each of these make recommendations for
future economic development that may have a bearing on future use of the
site. The recommendations for the Manufacturing and Tourism sectors are
summarized below. Again, emphasis has been added to those points that project
personnel feel have particular import to the PCG site redevelopment effort.
Manufacturing Growth Strategies
A group known as the Commission for the Future in the Southern Tier West
region has come together to undertake “visionary strategic planning”. The
Commission has “identified certain industry clusters in the manufacturing
sector that it feels have particular potential for contributing to the
region's future employment, income and revenue. … The Commission's recommended
target manufacturing industry clusters are:
Tourism Growth Strategies
There has been extensive analysis, planning and recommendations for action
concerning an increase of tourism activities in the region as a whole and in
Gowanda in particular.
Competitive Advantage of Region
"The region’s
natural beauty and resources, the region’s man-made recreational resources,
the region’s cultural offerings, and the region’s proximity to major
population areas are the ingredients for a strong tourism (i.e. regional
export) sector.” Source: Southern Tier
West Regional Planning Board, 2001
Regional Marketing
IIt is recommended that the local Chambers and other business interest
groups consider a regional approach to marketing the assets of the
Collins-Gowanda area and the other communities … Collins, Gowanda,
Concord, Springville, Ellicottville, Cattaraugus, Little Valley and Dayton.
The assets which could be marketed by this regional alliance are quite
diverse, and include: hiking/rafting, camping, skiing, summer jazz festivals,
the Harley Davidson motorcycle shop and store, farm produce, historic
buildings, the Hollywood Theatre, and Amish goods.” Source: 1999 Master Plan
- Town of Collins and the Village of Gowanda
New York State
Multi-Use Area (MUA) in the Zoar Valley
“It is recommended that the Town of Collins request the New York State Office
of Parks and Recreation to review public access issues into the Zoar Valley
Multi-Use Area. This scenic area is largely inaccessible to the general
public, due to limited parking, poor roads, limited facilities, and the fact
that the trail in the MUA are best used only by intrepid hikers.
This state-owned facility on the Cattaraugus Creek is a unique and scenic attraction that goes largely unused by the public. It has potential as a scenic attraction, an environmental education center, a more developed park, or other such uses, which would encourage the public to appreciate this resource.” Source: 1999 Master Plan - Town of Collins and the Village of Gowanda
Importance of
Natural Tourism to the Village
“As area manufacturing jobs continue to wane, the service and tourism sectors
take on greater importance to the overall economy. While Gowanda's existing
tourism activity is not substantial, there are several channels, which the
Village can address to capitalize on local assets and increase tourism
activity.
A recent study cites Cattaraugus County as having one of the state's highest rates of tourism- related employment increases over the past decade. With Allegany State Park and Ellicottville anchoring a robust four-seasons tourism economy, the County-at-large is in a position to build on that base. Recreational activities associated with Cattaraugus Creek and the Zoar Valley, extension of the "Rails to Trails" Iroquois Recreational Trails from Salamanca to Cattaraugus and eventually to Gowanda, and tourism activities associated with the nearby Amish communities, combine to present opportunities for an expanded tourism economy in Gowanda. When added to ongoing local events and attractions, the potential positive impact on the local economy is strong enough to warrant dedicated efforts to effect it.
It is the activities associated with Cattaraugus Creek and the Zoar Valley that present the most promise for increased local tourism. Consistent with the Master Plan, fishing, rafting, hiking, and canoeing are all growth industries, which can be capitalized upon by the Village, although additions to tourism infrastructure and the development of regionalized efforts will be key to any substantial accomplishments in this area.
Gowanda’s ability to foster increased tourism will be to a large part dependent upon regionalized efforts to capitalize on the recreational efforts associated with Cattaraugus Creek and the Zoar Valley. While efforts focusing on other areas are warranted, activities associated with the Creek offer the best opportunity for economic impact. Activities that may be considered include the following:
Source: Village of Gowanda Business Development & Downtown Revitalization Study, 2001.
Current Natural Tourism Planning by
Cattaraugus County
At the September 12, 2002 public meeting held by the Cattaraugus Creek
Basin Task Force to discuss the Draft Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan, a
representative of the Cattaraugus County Department of Economic Development,
Planning and Tourism made a presentation on the Allegany Park Perimeter Study
currently being undertaken. The study is evaluating alternatives for a major
Regional Trail Network that would eventually connect two of the largest New
York State Parks – Letchworth (14,350 acres) and Allegany (65,000 acres) and
extend as far north as Gowanda (or even to Buffalo in the future).
Construction is beginning in the spring of 2003 on a major component of that
system, a trail connecting the communities of Salamanca-Little
Valley-Cattaraugus using an abandoned railroad right-of-way. The County
planning official expressed a strong desire to include the Peter Cooper site
in the proposed trail network as a major destination, since its size and
location would lend itself to providing services and facilities for hikers,
horse riders and extreme sport enthusiasts such as tri-athletes, whom the
extensive trail system would appeal to. The PCG site would also provide an
important link to the Zoar Valley and Cattaraugus Creek.
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