In the last half of the 1980’s, Fulton County had the highest unemployment rate in the State of New York. In fact, it was the seventh highest in the nation. Thousands of our citizens were unemployed. Doing business in Fulton County seemed hopeless, but our community leaders knew better. Through partnerships with the public and private sectors, the Fulton County leadership created the very best environment to attract and retain businesses. They re-invented the only economic development program the county had which was formed in the 1960’s days of Urban Renewal as a housing entity. Soliciting the help of Governor Mario Cuomo and his staff, local leaders put together the necessary tools to develop shovel ready, state-of-the-art, industrial parks, the necessary infrastructure and the monies to react to the needs of business. A combination of local, regional, state and federal assistance brought these dreams to fruition.

By the end of that decade, FCEDC had developed the new Crossroads Industrial Park in Gloversville. And in 1987, Fulton County was rewarded with one of only eleven Economic Development Zones in New York State. We battled intensely to secure federal and state grants to establish loan pools, which would assist new and existing businesses in their growth. The original incubator building was born. The effort to diversify our county’s economic base was underway. By the dawn of the 1990’s, we put the Johnstown Industrial Park, a beautiful rolling expanse of almost 200 acres on line to join the Crossroads Industrial Park in Gloversville.

Today FCEDC has a multi-million dollar loan pool, secured in excess of 2000 jobs and diversified our portfolio to include an office park, an office building and an upscale apartment complex. The last two projects were the adaptive re-use of a 1920’s era hotel (Johnstown Hotel Professional Complex) and a former high school (Estee Commons).