The North Country’s regional economic development council has received $10 million in state funding to implement a plan to bring more soldiers from Fort Drum into the local workforce once they leave the military.

In an announcement on Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the North Country was one of three regions included in a $30 million grant disbursement. Long Island and the Mohawk Valley were the other two regions to receive $10 million apiece from the Regional Economic Development Council Challenge competition.

The REDC challenge competition is a competitive program, where the 10 councils across New York submit proposals for grant funding, and state officials select the best options according to their own rubric.

“New York’s REDC Challenge Competition is just one of the ways that our state is empowering local leaders to transform their communities and unlock their economic potential,” Hochul said. “This year’s winners crafted proposals to create housing, grow our workforce, and strengthen the talent pipeline, and thanks to state investment, REDCs in Long Island, the Mohawk Valley, and the North Country will get the resources they need to put those plans into action.”

The North Country plan seeks to build up the North Country’s workforce. According to the plan submitted by the North Country REDC, the North Country already has about 48,000 more jobs than workers, and the labor force is expected to drop by over 17,500 workers in the next decade.

At the same time, the REDC said there has been a drop in labor force participation, with only about 53% of people in the region working as of 2021, a slight improvement from a 51.5% participation rate in 2019 but still lower than the 55.9% participation rate seen in 2021. As more people retire in the local population, that rate may decrease even more.

Meanwhile, more people leave the north country for work than enter it, with about 7,000 residents commuting to out-of-region workplaces, and only about 3,100 people commuting into the region for work.

According to the council, an average of 3,630 soldiers leave military service from Fort Drum in Jefferson County each year, and an additional 1,000 family members, mainly spouses, accompany them. They are generally young, with skills developed from their time in the military, and often report seeking education or career opportunities. But at the same time, the council said these soldiers report a perception that there are few opportunities in the North Country for them, and Fort Drum officials report that a majority of soldiers leave the area after they leave the military.

“This indicates a new initiative is critical to better retaining and connecting transitioning soldiers with quality jobs and careers in the north country,” the council’s plan reads.

The council found that over 25% of soldiers leaving service at Fort Drum believe they need more education to seek a career in the civilian world, and 31% report concerns that a civilian career will be difficult to find. At the same time, less than 25% of soldiers leaving service at Fort Drum make use of the post’s transitioning soldier programs, which offer tips and connections to local and national education and career opportunities.

Under the program pitched by the North Country development council, called Next Move NY, the $10 million in grant money will be used to build up a program that works exclusively with Fort Drum soldiers and their spouses, connecting them with the industries in need of workers that soldiers are often already trained and qualified to work in.

Working with the Development Authority of the North Country, the Fort Drum Transition Center, a stakeholder advisory board and a hired program director, program staff and regional business liaison, soldiers would be given help in connecting with educational opportunities like degree fast-tracking programs, career training and job placement, business recruiters, and a transitional soldier entrepreneurship center to help soldiers establish their own businesses. The REDC would also establish a number of “live, love, stay” retreat programs aimed at showing soldiers the benefits of living in the North Country.

The plan has a four-year timeline to completion, with things like a regional employer liaison hired by year one, programs established in each North Country county within three years and brick-and-mortar transitional centers in most of the seven North Country counties planned for the fourth year.

The plan forwarded by the North Country Regional Economic Development Council has been formally endorsed by the Johnson Newspaper Corporation, owners of the Watertown Daily Times, as well as over 70 other local employers.

It also has the support of Advocate Drum, the regional organization aimed at boosting the profile of Fort Drum and facilitating connection and collaboration between military officials and the local community. David Zembiec, CEO of the Jefferson County Economic Development agency and chair of Advocate Drum, said the plan has some details yet to be established, but is on track to be an important part of the regional strategy to boost Fort Drum as an economic driver for the north country.

“It’s going to bring some funds, it’s going to unify the programs we already have dedicated to this kind of workforce development, and this will give some funding to enhance what’s already there and open up some new opportunities,” he said.

Zembiec said the program has been under development for about a year, through the REDC grant drafting process, and has relied on input from a wide variety of stakeholders. Local individuals involved in the process included Ryan Piche, the Lewis County manager, DANC executive director Carl E. Farrone, and Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization director Erika Flint.

The co-chairs of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council, Katheryn Morris, president at St. Lawrence University and James McKenna, executive director for the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Lake Placid, issued a joint statement lauding the award.

“Our goal now will be to work with all of our partners and New York state and put this plan in motion to help solve the workforce issue for the North Country,” they said. “Next Move NY will build the most robust transitioning soldiers and spouses workforce pipeline in the country.”