ReCapitalize Albany Initiative

Capitalize Albany, the economic development strategy of the City of Albany begun in 1994 and revised in 2001, aims to create and develop an environment that attracts public and private investment in large-scale transformational development projects that will materially improve the economic well being of the City of Albany. The focus of Capitalize Albany has been on four primary strategy initiatives including Arts, Entertainment & Tourism; Business Development; and Riverfront Revitalization and Neighborhoods.

In response to changes in the local and world economy, Mayor Jennings has established a ReCapitalize Albany Strategic Advisory Committee to re-examine economic development goals for the City of Albany. This reassessment will take place against the backdrop of successes, challenges and current economic conditions.

The Mayor has invited a group of stakeholders from local business, educational, neighborhood and financial institutions to participate in a process of identifying a Capitalize Albany strategy that will ensure Albany’s competitiveness for the next decade and beyond. For this effort, Tom Geisel, Regional President of KeyBank, and Dr. R. Mark Sullivan, President of The College of St. Rose, have agreed to co-chair the ReCapitalize Albany Committee.

The goal and responsibility of the committee are o evaluate the current economic development vision, recommend necessary changes and marshal the consensus and resources necessary to implement the updated strategy for continued revitalization of the Capital City of New York.

The ReCapitalize Albany Committee has been divided into three subcommittees: Development, Education and Neighborhood Revitalization & Planning. The committee has recognized that quality-of-life issues play a significant role in attracting high-tech industries and workers. In addition to prioritizing transformational development projects, the committee is working to understand how to improve those quality-of-life issues that are vital to attracting the skilled, creative workforce needed to sustain the next level of revitalization. The overall committee focus includes leveraging local institutions of higher education, fostering high-tech business development and creating a more diversified downtown.

Since its inception in 1994, the Capitalize Albany Committee has been instrumental in bringing more than 200 development projects to the City totaling more than $2 billion in new investment. The result of the ReCapitalize Albany effort will be a refined vision, along with an action plan for implementing the goals for the new Capitalize Albany economic development strategy.