DID YOU KNOW?

• Upstate New York once had major manufacturing-based economics but employment has now contracted.
   
• Thirty five counties in upstate NY lost population between 2010 and 2012 with the largest percent decline in the Southern Tier.
   
• Loss of young, working age adults in upstate NY has produced a population that is significantly older.
   
• Some areas of upstate NY are under served with DSL internet service, are relegated to using dial-up and costly satellite technology, or have no internet access at all.
   
• The sizes of upstate NY towns are generally large in area and small in population.

UPSTATE NY TOWNS ASSOCIATION JOINS COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL GAS IN THE SOUTHERN TIER

Southern Tier Residents for Economic Independence (STREI) today announced that the Upstate New York Towns Association has joined its grassroots coalition in favor of responsible development of natural gas resources.

“There’s a growing movement in upstate New York for government that recognizes and responds to the needs of people living in the region,” said George Miner, President of Southern Tier Economic Growth, Inc. and member of the STREI’s executive committee. “We’re pleased that one of the chief proponents of this movement, the Upstate New York Towns Association, will add its voice to ours in calling for greater economic independence for the Southern Tier.”

Carolyn Price, Supervisor of the Town of Windsor and President of the Upstate New York Towns Association, said: “We believe that residents of a community should be able to develop natural resources in a responsible way and not have their economic future be determined by the ideological views of people living in other parts of the state.”

Miner and Price said the top goal of the two groups was to do something about the struggling economy of the Southern Tier. The region has had the slowest job growth in the nation over the last decade and has seen an entire generation of young people move away in search of jobs. Responsible development of natural gas resources is seen as the region’s best hope for a sustained economic recovery.

Price said: “We’re pleased to join STREI’s growing coalition of union workers, farmers, landowners, local businesses and community leaders in advocating for a carefully regulated approach to shale gas development.”

STREI members point to nearby Pennsylvania, which has added 15,000 jobs in the sector over the last five years and has a booming economy.

STREI members cite President Obama and numerous other political leaders of both parties who strongly support natural gas development as beneficial to the nation’s economy, environment and national security.

STREI members express frustration that New York stands alone as the only state in the nation with significant reserves of natural gas that isn’t moving forward with some form of development. They say that environmental groups based outside the region have dominated the public debate on the issue and blocked establishment of a reasonable state energy policy.

STREI is a joint effort by Carpenters Local 277, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 112, Operating Engineers Local 158, Teamsters Local 693, Laborers Local 785, the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, Southern Tier Economic Growth, Inc., the Broome County Farm Bureau, the Chenango County Farm Bureau, the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, Walking Ridge Development LLC, Unshackle Upstate and Upstate New York Towns Association.

The coalition is not affiliated with the natural gas industry.

For more information about the coalition, see: www.STREI.org