Governor Hochul: “I can say with all confidence and truly a deep-felt belief that this area is shining once again, we have turned the corner on those difficult times from Utica to Rome, to Herkimer to Cherry Valley.”
Hochul: “Just like diamonds are forever, my commitment to this region is also forever. My commitment to the Mohawk Valley is enduring. And I thank all of you, for believing this.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Herkimer will receive $10 million in funding as the Mohawk Valley Region winner of the seventh round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, as well as Boonville and Richfield as this year’s Mohawk Valley Region NY Forward winners, receiving $4.5 million each. For Round 7 of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, each of the State's 10 economic development regions are being awarded $10 million, to make for a total State commitment of $100 million in funding and investments to help communities boost their economies by transforming downtowns into vibrant neighborhoods.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you. Thank you. Nick Laino, I want to thank you for the extraordinary job you're doing here at Herkimer Community College. Let's give him another round of applause.
Herkimer Community College. Anybody from Herkimer Community College here today? So many friends and partners, and now I've been coming to the Mohawk Valley most of my entire life. I know these communities personally, my family used to come here and travel through Old Forge as the gateway to the Adirondacks. We'd go on these little camping trips, eight people crammed in a tiny tent cooking on a Bunsen burner and having very wet pancakes when it rained. Great memories of coming through here. But no, it's a beautiful part of our State, and this region matters to me, and I know it matters so much to all of you.
And again, I want to thank everyone who's here. You've recognized a number of our state officials, elected officials, but as a former elected official at every level of government except for school board. And I don't think I have the guts to go run for school board. But I have served in local and county and Washington D.C for a while, but I also want to recognize my partners in State government. Senator Oberacker, I want to thank him for joining us. Senator Joe Griffo has been recognized. Marianne Buttenschon from the Assembly and all of our partners in local government. A special friend of mine here, Dr. Marion Terenzio, the REDC Co-Chair, she's involved in making decisions of our winners and I just had a chance to meet two brand-new rookie Mayors from Utica and Rome, Mayor Galime and Jeffrey Lanigan. I want to thank them for really sharing with me their vision for their communities, but also some of the challenges where the State of New York can be helpful.
So, I was thinking as I was coming here. I have been here to do everything from mine for diamonds, and it's great to tell everyone – I have diamonds from New York. You have diamonds in New York? I thought they're like from Africa. No, we have diamonds in New York and don't you question that. So, Herkimer Diamond Mines – and I was thinking about what you actually do when you're mining for diamonds. You have to hammer a little bit and shake things up and you have to cut through and you crack through the gravel and the rock and all of a sudden you find this incredible treasure.
And that's so fitting because I think about this little area of our State, this important area that punches above its weight. This whole region was once a diamond in the rough, it had a lot of challenges and it really didn't have the luster that it once had in the early glory days.
Now I can say with all confidence and truly a deep-felt belief that this area is shining once again, we have turned the corner on those difficult times from Utica to Rome, to Herkimer to Cherry Valley. I don't need to tell you what challenges look like especially those of you who — I don't see many of you as old as I am, but anybody out there who remembers the industrial decline when our manufacturing base scattered to the south, or they went overseas and we really got knocked on our heels for a long time all along this Erie Canal corridor. And factories and mills shut down and people moved away, and our downtowns became so desolate. I remember my mom wanted to start a little flower shop in our hometown right after Bethlehem Steel left and took 20,000 jobs. I mean it was all boarded up. The only place you could buy anything was the deli because they had Genesee beer on sale on the window all the time – handwritten sign because they didn't– couldn't afford a real sign. And my mom wanted to start a gift shop in that area and try to bring some new life and have flowers and bring beauty once again.
So, I know what it looks like to be in an area that has been, really hit through hard times. But I'll tell you, this area never lost its mojo, never lost its essential properties and everything that made it so special and brilliant and unique, they just need to be rediscovered again. People had to keep believing – and God bless you.
And that's happening right now for two reasons – why it's coming back. First, the determination of the people, the vision; the people who said, “I'm never giving up on this area because I was raised here. I have a business here. I work here, I love this area, and I want to make sure that we continue to focus on what makes it so special for our kids and our grandkids.” And it's reviving all the towns and villages. It's hard to do. It's hard to do when you're in local government. I know that because it just seems like all that is help you need is so elusive, and we'll talk about that in a couple minutes when I talk about two of my favorite programs. But I want to thank the people of this region for having the confidence and belief and love of this region to never surrender to the circumstances, their time.
But also, a lot of good things have happened because we've been able to track new businesses that people wouldn't have associated with this area for a long time. And when you think about creating a high-tech corridor along the I-90 we say, why not? Why not? Why is that hard to comprehend? We now— we have global anchor companies from Albany to Utica, the Mohawk Valley, all the way to Buffalo and what's happening is these companies are seeing that we have world-class universities in this area. That people are smart, they're educated they're motivated, and there's something else that you, it's an intangible, but I talk to so many companies when I'm recruiting, I talk to Wolfspeed about this – I talked to Micron about this. Embedded in Upstate DNA is this incredible work ethic that if you get that job at a great company that takes care of you, you'll stay, you'll be a lifer. You're not going to jump around from job to job. So, it's that strong work ethic and that sense of loyalty to your positions that really helps our employers make the decision to come here because they're getting something that you cannot take for granted in other parts of our Country. And that's something I can sell us on because I know it's real.
So, we're focusing on the larger businesses coming, our small businesses. Tourism is alive here and we've really made great progress. And I mentioned Wolfspeed. I was here, I think it was April of 2022 when we announced, and we're talking about the groundbreaking for the billion-dollar Silicon Carbide Fab. I said, this is now Silicon Carbide Valley. And I remember it had just snowed two days before, and this is April. So, I was just noticing that I was coming here, I was here in April and there was snow on the ground.
But I thought the fact that they came here and they're bringing hundreds and hundreds of jobs that aren't even all filled yet, it's just a sign of their confidence in this region. And that's why we invested just when I was here in November $44 million from the State in SUNY Poly because I committed to these companies. You come here, you plant your flag here, and I'll make sure that you have the highly educated workforce. And so, $44 million in a SUNY Poly gives them a new lease on life, but also serves an important need that we have, which is providing the workforce. We're funding a workforce development lab that can help train people for these high-paying jobs.
Also, investing in health care. I think the last time a hospital was built in this region was maybe 1895 or so. Think about that. I was so proud to be here for the announcement and the grand opening of Wynn Hospital. They built this during the pandemic and I'm proud that New York State could invest over $300 million to make that become a reality. So, access to high quality health care is available for everyone.
And then we had $64 million for the State and the Nexus Center, which is going to play host to the International Women's Hockey World Championships in April. So, people are discovering and coming – you want to give that a round applause? I think that's great.
That will draw tens of thousands of people here every day. And guess what? When they're not watching hockey, they're going to explore our downtowns. They're going to go out and see our wonderful tourist attractions. And so, this is a good boom for the economy because we have to make those investments to keep our facilities first-rate and it's working.
And first-rate facilities – you don't have to go too far down to Cooperstown to know the energy that surrounds Doubleday Field, we upgraded that. Yes. I can't assume something built back a long time ago is still going to be functioning. So, we invested money in that.
So, I want to keep investing in our tourist attractions, our businesses, our downtowns and our educational institution. And that's when you get the synergy that's so necessary to take us, yes, to that very next level. So, my Fiscal Budget 2025, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, okay? How are we going to make sure we maintain the Mohawk Valley momentum? So, let's start mining and see what's below the surface. This is a $233 billion plan. It balances growth with fiscal responsibility. We're increasing spending by $6 billion, but without raising income taxes. And that's something we're focused on, not driving businesses out of here.
We're going to keep fighting the right fights. We're going to keep fighting the right fights. And I know you've heard me say this. My number one priority is the Governor of the State of New York is keeping people safe. It's all about public safety. And since I took office two and a half years ago, we've done a lot of work to drive down gun violence across the State, and I insist on speaking to our mayors. They know that we send our state police literally embedded with the local PD to give them what they need to help get guns off the streets, and we're making a real difference. In fact, our gun crimes, gun violence is down to our pre-pandemic levels when people weren't even as worried about public safety.
So, we're down in gun violence, down by a third statewide. Shootings statewide are down. We always have a few instances that are deeply troubling, but we're focused on the overall numbers, which are good, but we have to keep going. Keep the $347 million that we invest – we’re going to keep that going. This was not a one-off. This is not a one-off. We're still very much invested in gun violence protection programs, but also, we have other crimes. Retail theft is up, domestic violence is up, hate crimes are up. So, we're making investments in every one of those. It's really important that we keep our foot on the gas and not stop these investments.
But closely tied to all these societal challenges is mental health. This was not talked about for many years. People just swept it under the rug. It really took the pandemic and how so many people, whether they're kids in grade school or high school, they were so disconnected from their normal anchors, seeing their friends and teachers, and if they were getting any kind of mental health services or support at school, it was all gone, done remotely. This really took a toll on our kids that if you don't know a teenager or maybe you have a niece or nephew, don't have one of your own, you'll see it in them. And it's the confluence of those challenges from the pandemic, but also the rise in the influence of social media where when the kids have nothing to do, they're being bombarded with algorithms pushing negative images toward them, and it's really taking its toll on our kids.
And this is something that normally you wouldn't expect Governors to be talking about, but I'm so proud that working with our Legislature, we said, no, no, this is affecting our people; we care about them and we have to help them. That's why we invested over a billion dollars. Other governors were stunned at the scale of what we're doing here in the State of New York, but I've said all along, every dollar we can invest in helping young kids survive and thrive now is money we won't have to invest over a lifetime, and I'm really concerned about our rural areas. It's harder to get support, it's harder to get the professionals to live in those areas, and that's a challenge that we're dealing with, but we're very much aware of it.
And I said, we're no longer going to stop this disinvestment. We increased funding over 45 percent we're up to $3.3 billion. We went from 3.3 billion over to $4.8 billion. And it's not just about the dollars, it's the kind of programs that we're funding here. And that's why I keep talking about the kids in schools. We're putting $45 million dollars to get kids school-based services because if you're a working parent and you're supposed to go get an appointment – it might be an hour drive for a child to go get help once a week and you have to pull them out of school – it doesn't work. It doesn't work.
I'm a parent, I know this. So, we're going to have mental health services, peer-to-peer programs, but also the scourge of the opioid epidemic is unrelenting. We just don't seem to be getting ahead of this, and more and more criminals are bringing the drugs to our country, they're getting to our streets and too often they're getting in our kids' arms and we're losing too many.
So, the Mohawk Valley has not been spared this level of pain. That's why I'm directing $22 million right here in the Mohawk Valley to help with addiction treatment and recovery prevention and harm reduction. Because I need more residential treatment beds, I need more outpatient treatment clinics, I need mobile medication units to help in those rural hard-to-reach areas. That's how we start making a difference. And we'll have a State-operated addiction center and deliver counseling and transportation resources for those who need to get it. That's how we can start getting our friends and our neighbors back down their feet, and that's what we have to do.
We've also dedicated $600,000 to the Mohawk Valley to expand services for veterans and law enforcement who are struggling with mental health. It is about time. It's about time that we recognize – especially those who are on the front lines, our law enforcement or those who served in armed conflict – what they see and experience is what the rest of us will never quite understand or comprehend. They see humanity at its worst. And how does it not take a toll on them?
It was actually the head of a PBA down in Nassau County who brought to my attention the fact that we are losing members of the law enforcement community at a dramatically higher rate due to suicide – a 60 percent higher rate of suicide from law enforcement than the general population. So, we have to keep making these investments, $13 million extra just for the law enforcement side of it and also helping our veterans. So we're spending that money here because this is an area that has a large number of veterans, which we should all be proud of, but also they need our help. Just like they were there for us, we have to be there for them.
We're also making commitments, not just the mental health, but the physical health. Our budget has $38.3 billion, I’m sorry, $38.3 million for the Mohawk Valley. I didn't, I can't give you $38 billion dollars, I'm sorry. But $38 million is not bad either and that's for transformative healthcare projects in the Mohawk Valley and health our outcomes here. So, we're making those investments right here in the Mohawk Valley.
So, we talk about people's health care, mental health, let's talk about education. We are making, and we'll continue to make historic investments in helping our children get the best education possible. Now we have increased school aid by the largest amount ever, I mean if you look at this graph, look where the numbers were. Over the last two years, we've gone up over $5 billion more – that's not the total, that is more – fully funding Foundation Aid forever. We've done that for the first time.
But what we have to talk about is you see all the numbers, all the years where the numbers were lower, even going down, I don't think that anyone would've really expected that that same level where you see that spike in 2024, because they're making up for lost time, making up for disinvestment, and we had the resources from the federal government and tax receipts were strong. We were able to make those investments. But I don't think there's anybody who realistically thought that high level of investment could continue on and on.
Now we're not going to go back to those levels of cuts, we're not going to go back to those lower levels at all, I'm not suggesting that. I'm just saying that the amount of increase which you're looking at right now, it's impossible to sustain at those levels.
Now, I am committed to public education: I'm a product of public education, my kids went to public schools, I have more teachers in my family so I hear all about this. But I want there to be truth in the telling of this and we increased Foundation Aid over 33 percent, 33 percent increase since 2021.
So as people are talking about damaging our kids, frightening our kids, turning on our teachers, I'm focused number one on our kids, on our teachers and on our taxpayers in that order, I'm focused on everybody. But that's why this Budget includes another $15 billion — million dollars for Foundation Aid. So, our total education commitment to the Mohawk Valley alone is $1.2 billion. That is significant. That is significant.
So, I want to have the conversations with our Legislators in a thoughtful way to talk about the fact that our funding formulas are based on a plan that was put in place over 16 years ago, not accounting for population decline or shifts, or that some areas might need more help than they did before. So, let's go at this without a lot of noise and a lot of exaggeration of what we're talking about and just have an honest conversation about where we're going.
But also, we are going to continue our investments in our colleges and universities – $207 million in SUNY and CUNY operations because we have to keep investing in them and $1.2 billion in capital projects.
Now let's look at where we're going to spend that. $18.7 million for infrastructure enhancements at SUNY Oneonta. Nearly $2 million for SUNY at Cobleskill. And $12 million for Herkimer Community College. That's right, $12 million for Herkimer Community College, where we are today.
And $37 million for SUNY Poly to renovate its campus center and pool. So we want to make sure everyone has the best chance and giving people the great educational opportunities is how we do that. That's how you get, that's how you transform people and families and people who've come here looking for a fresh start in life.
Transportation infrastructure. Now, if you're not in local government, you don't usually get real excited about these things, like water and sewer and roads. I actually do, so forgive me for my enthusiasm level when it comes to this, because I knew what it was like in local government for 14 years, putting together budgets, trying to balance them, making sure we had reserves.
But then all of a sudden, the potholes are so bad and you have to spend the money and you're waiting for Albany. You're waiting for Washington. You're waiting and waiting and waiting. And I knew when I became Governor that I was going to let localities know that we will be your best friends because we want our roads to be maintained.
We want our bridges to be safe. So, we're continuing to make those investments. And we're committing $73 million to fix the roads just across the Mohawk Valley because we know the winter brings the potholes or every flood that comes here compromises the integrity of our roads and bridges that residents use every day to get to work.
We're going to pave Route 12B and 412 in Oneida County on Maple Street in Oneonta, and also facilitate intersection safety at New Hartford. So, there's a long list. I'm not going to go through them all, but I really like these lists. But also, you think about infrastructure, we're talking about modern infrastructure. Let's talk about one of the most phenomenal engineering feats in the history of mankind, and that was the building of the Erie Canal 200 years ago.
This is why this region blossomed, manufacturing and textiles and bringing people here to upstate New York because they had no access before. Unbelievable what was achieved by people 200 years ago in this region. And that's the energy that we still thrive right here. That energy still drives us today.
So, I know that we have to make sure that for the next 100 to 200 years, we have a moral responsibility to make the investments now so this incredible asset is never degraded because we didn't have the courage to put the money where we needed to. $50 million we're investing to improve the canal system.
We talk about water. The canals are great. I love the water that flows through our canals. I'm a boater. I come through here all the time, but then there's the water that comes from the heavens. Our region has been subjected to historic amounts of flooding from torrential rains, and it is really taking a toll in this area.
It is from places like Middleburg and Fort Plain. They've been ravaged by flooding. With climate change, this whole valley is so vulnerable and we now have to take the steps to equip our communities to be ready for the new normal. And our budget sets aside money to do just that. This is something we have to do, $435 million statewide to build up our climate resiliency, and also for the watershed modeling for the Mohawk River Basin.
But also, there are people who live in areas that are going to be vulnerable for decades to come, if not forever. And it's difficult because you plant the flag. You want to live here, this is your home. We also have to deal with the realities of our time. And so, we're setting aside $250 million for voluntary buyouts in flood-prone areas, and it's not going to help if just one neighbor does it and the rest don't.
We're talking about communities that are in harm's way and have been beaten and battered by Mother Nature over these last couple years who say, enough is enough. Our community can no longer thrive here, and we're going to go for the voluntary buyout. So, we'll work with communities. This is not mandatory, it's voluntary, but I think we have to start dealing with the realities of climate change because we're not going backwards anytime soon, my friends. I think that's really apparent.
So, people want to live here, that's great, but they also have to feel safe here and not worry about the next heavy rain that'll wipe away their home and everything that they cherish because I've been to too many of those homes. I've seen them wiped out and just, we had down in the Mid-Hudson area, a 1,000 year flood. 1,000 years. We've been getting 100 year floods every other year.
So, why are you calling them 100-year floods? I thought I had another 99 years, 98 years before it came again.
So, we just have to deal with reality, and we talk about our most precious possession other than our families is likely our home. I want to make sure that we continue making sure that everyone has access to living the American Dream, which has always been home ownership. And Upstate New York was always that promise land for you because housing was so affordable. It wasn't that long ago when you could get a house in Buffalo for $79,000, a four-bedroom house. Now it's probably $300,000.
So, areas all across upstate New York are really hurt by the fact that we have not been building to meet the demand. People want to live here. We have all these new employees coming – young people in their 20’s and 30’s coming for the tech jobs. They're understanding the quality of life here is second to none, but if you can't find that home or even that first apartment, you can't stay. Or if you were raised here and you wanted to come back here after college or stay here for college, have a family and there's nothing you can afford, you won't be able to stay here. You know where you're going? The top five places for New Yorkers leaving our State, two of them are Florida and Texas. Fine over here.
The other three are Northeastern States: Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. Same weather, same taxes. Why are they leaving? Because they built more housing. There are places for people to live, and that's what's holding us back, not just in New York City, but all across our State. And I think it's time we have the political courage and the foresight for future generations to make the decisions now that we will build more housing, let's just say we're going to do it. Let's build more housing.
And our rural areas are really struggling. We're trying to help with rural tenants who are not getting the help they need. They want to live where they're raised, and they can't afford it. We're going to have rental assistance for low-income housing here as well. But I'm not just talking about low-income housing. We also want to make sure that we continue our housing that's affordable plan. We have a plan right now, $25 billion, that's a lot of money for housing. You know how many units that gets us – 100,000, $25 billion gets you 100,000 units. My friends, we need 800,000 units in the State of New York to meet the demand.
So, I need to work with our private partners as well. Private developers have tostep up for this as well. Also, I'm trying to figure out what else we can do at the state level. I'm dedicating $500 million to bring in state-owned properties, space on campuses or near train stations or former prisons and psychiatric centers.
We’re so desperate to find space, I've asked my Office of General Services to give me every inch of space that the state has control over to figure out whether or not it lends itself to some form of housing there. So, we'll do that, we found ways to build 15,000 units, but we cannot solve this on our own. We need our communities to be on board with us. Our smallest hamlets, our towns, our villages, our cities. Do your part, help us out and build so you can be part of the growth that is coming here. Again, employers want to be here, and they ask me where the housing is and I'm starting to be able to say, I have to say, “We don't have what you thought,” and that's a real problem for us.
So, we initiated a program. Last year when I tried this, everyone says, “No, you have to give us some carrots instead.” So, I literally had a meeting last week, I brought the biggest bunch of carrots I could find, and I put them on the table. I said, “I've got carrots on the table, $650 million worth of carrots right there as incentives for the communities who says, we'll build – we'll build, but you have to give us some incentives.”
So, if a community applies to be a pro-housing community, goes to their Legislature, their town board, their city council, and certifies that either in the past and we’ll give you credit for what you've done in the past. That you've met these growth targets and my friends, it's only 1 percent a year. It's not even that much. If you've done that or you're willing to do that and make a commitment, then you are eligible for all kinds of resources like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, like New York Forward, like our Main Street programs. We have gathered together all kinds of programs, but in order to apply, you have to be a designated pro-housing community.
And look at all the ones, even across the Mohawk Valley that are now committing to do this. And so, this is just in the last week, once we announced this, first we had 20 that were interested. Look how many communities have stepped up and says, “No, we want to do this.” Now, maybe because they didn't want the first 20 to get $650 million between them. I get that. So, this is a competition. Step up. If you represent a community that has not done this, go online, download the form, apply. And then we'll tell you if you get your designation and we're moving very quickly.
So, this is exciting to me. I think that entire map is going to be covered up before long, and I think that's a great testament to all the communities out there. So, we have, one of them was already certified right here, already done, not just given their letter of intent the Village of Canajoharie. I want to congratulate them for stepping up and doing that as well.
So, one of the reasons you want to do this if you're not a winner of a DRI or New York Forward, is that this is what you have to do to be eligible. So, I do want to talk about that next. This is, as I mentioned, one of my favorite programs.
When I was in local government, if someone had told me that our community could shape its own vision – bring together elected leaders and the planning boards and the citizens and the businesses and put all together and come up with the vision that they come up with, not Albany – but through public meetings and conversations. People said, “This is what we want to do. If we had $10 million or $4.5 million, this is what we would do.”
If someone came to me and said, “We could do that and shape our own destiny, and the State would fund it.” I would've fallen off a chair – that never happened. It took so long to piece together the little bit of money. “We want to fix this one building. It takes us, five years to get $50,000 out of one grant.” It was not working.
And so, to be able to piece all together once where you can start to see a transformation, this kind of money allows all these projects to go on simultaneously. So, then you get that bang for your buck. And what I'll tell you happens, it’s not just the physical landscape that changed – the downtowns are spruced up, new businesses come in housing above the retail connections to waterfronts, new street signage. All that's happening. But in the meantime, people start thinking about their community differently. They have a sense of pride. They walk around with this kind of this little bit of attitude. That's good. It's a positive attitude and it's contagious. I have witnessed this all over the State of New York. It is a beautiful experience when communities find out that because of all their hard work and staying with it and never giving up – that they are the winners and now the future is in their hands.
And so, I want to talk about three communities here today that have gone through the process, had come up with a vision, know what they want their community to look like in the future. Starting with the Village of Herkimer winning $10 million.
Stand up. Mayor Dana Sherry. This is like the Oscars. I love this program. Mayor Dana Sherry laid out— you and your team laid out an incredible vision to revitalize the community that you all just obviously cherish so much and let's start with by restoring the Grand Opera house. What a gem that's going to be.
Let's have upscale bistros, fix our diners, turn old, neglected factories into museums and give them new life, residential opportunities. People can live downtown and community centers. So, I want to congratulate all you. And I cannot wait to start showing up for all these groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings, but that's not all. Congratulations to Herkimer.
We also have another program because I heard from businesses and communities, and I like the leaders. They said, “That's a great program, but you have to be a certain size to be able to spend $10 million.” And I'll tell you, it's not just this $10 million. There's a ripple effect. All the private investment that follows. What about the smaller communities? Now, I represented very tiny communities when I was a member of Congress in Upstate, so I knew what they were talking about. Some communities are just like not much more than an intersection, but it still has value. It has charm in its character and just needs a little extra love sometimes.
So, I said, let's start a program for smaller communities called New York Forward. And it's $4.5 million similar to the objectives of the DRI. But this is why I am so proud to announce that two winners from this region are at the Town of Richfield and the Village of Boonville. Okay, now Richfield has ambitious plans to renovate old commercial spaces to create new housing. Music to my ears. Thank you, Richfield. And develop a playground, and a picnic pavilion and really beautify the streetscape. So that's going to be fantastic. And Boonville is going to remake its downtown dramatically. Increase walkability, expand farms in the area. They have a great vision as well. So, I do want to congratulate Richfield Mayor Rick Spencer, and Town of Richfield Supervisor Larry Frigault and Boonville Mayor Judith Dellerba. So, congratulations to all of you.
So, you heard it here first. We are back. We are back. That long journey, that bumpy road from the past to the present and I see the future. We've gone from a bustling industrial powerhouse to a region that was reeling in search of an identity. And now we found ourselves, we found that diamond. And I'll tell you with these major investments in our 2025 budget, we are continuing to keep that momentum going.
So, I'll tell you this – just like diamonds are forever, my commitment to this region is also forever. My commitment to the Mohawk Valley is enduring. And I thank all of you, for believing this. Thank you everyone.