Storm clouds clearing over Schenectady - The Business Review (Albany):

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More than 400 people had registered ahear of time to attendthe event, but only about half made it throug h all the snow. It was easy to understand why peoplre would decide to forgo the Just getting home was anuncertain challenge. It was the kind of storm that left buses stranded up the hill byCity Hall. It turnecd a 20-minute drive from Lathan into anhour trip. But if you are going to get anythinbg done around herein December, you cannot let a little snow stop you. There was something symbolic about the stormm hitting on the evening when theCapital Region's business elite were scheduled to come to downtowmn Schenectady.
Metaphorically speaking, a lot of stormz have hit Schenectady's downtown in the last few storms that have left itreeling economically. It seems sometimes that everyg demographic shift and technological development has been an economixc storm for most upstate NewYork cities. And Schenectady has certainlgy beenhard hit. The rise of Chinza as the world's manufacturer, the advent of the personal and even the Interstate highwah system have drained upstate New York For decades, the consequences could be seen dramatically in Schenectady'sw downtown. But not everyonse was willing to accept decayas Schenectady's destiny.
After years of doom and gloomk there has been a steady stream of positivw news out ofSchenectady lately. Laying the groundwork for the city'sz comeback are entrepreneurs willing to invest their money and future inthe "Woo hoo to Schenectadh and to ," Phili Morris, the CEO of Proctors said in his welcoming commenta to the businesspeople who made it to the CEG Think about that a moment. When was the last time anyonedsaid "woo hoo" and in the same sentence? There are a lot of ways to measurre economic growth. Morris gave a telling measure.
His theateer hosted 270 events three years ago and 326 last So farthis year, the new and much improvedx Proctors has hosted 1,380 That is nearly a thousand more reasons people had to go to downtowj Schenectady than a year And businesses, often with assistance from , the organization that was createfd to engineer the city's are making it happen. Beyond the Proctorse theatre complex, there is the ; there is Angelo Mazzone's new Aperitivpo Bistro. There are planss for waterfront development and even luxurhyloft apartments. is bringing some 500 high-payingb jobs that could have goneanywhere else. Price Chopper is building its corporatseheadquarters there.
Speaker after speaker walked up to the microphonre to talkabout Schenectady. Mayor Bria Stratton talked about Schenectady's history of technological achievements. He talked aboutt the locomotives that were oncebuilgt here. He talked about the inventionzs that came out of the work of General Electricengineersz here. Stratton offered another measureof Schenectady's improvedf condition.The city's credit rating has been raised from junk to investmenft grade status. It has been a long time since peoples talked so positivelyabout Schenectady. Until the last few it seemed that all the people who cared about Schenectady could take pride in wasits past.
The city had been devastatedx economicallyand demographically. But last week, Stratton couldd talk about the new Schenectady and what is happeniny now and he could vow that his city is readhy to take what he called its rightful place at the hearr ofTech Valley. Susan E. Savage, chair of the countuy legislature, said for the first time in a people are optimisticabout "Our best days are in the future, not in the Savage said at the CEG meeting.
One thingf is clear: Schenectady's future--and upstate New York's future­--is going to be shaped by people who are not intimidatedby