Agency funds 6 economic development efforts

The Ulster County Industrial Development Agency board on Wednesday agreed to provide a total of $135,000 to six economic development projects in the county.

The six were chosen from a field of 19 applicants, the agency said. The recipients and their award amounts are as follows.

• Hudson Valley Film Commission — $40,000 to promote the county as a location for movie and TV productions.

• Sunflower Market — $25,000 to expand its Woodstock operation to include locally produced food.

• Hudson Valley Agri Business — $25,000 to help farmers improve their landuse techniques.

• Stainless Design Concepts — $20,000 to upgrade equipment at its facility on Kings Highway in Saugerties.

• Elna Magnetics — $20,000 to meet federal government security requirements at its facility on Malden Turnpike in Saugerties.

• Hudson Valley StartUp Fund — $5,000 to pay interns who help proposed new business develop presentations for financing.

As in the past two years, Industrial Development Agency board members on Wednesday discussed whether the Hudson Valley Film Commission needs to begin looking elsewhere for funding.

“As I say every year, we get nothing but rave results, reviews, whatever from the Hudson Valley Film Commission, but it continues to ... seem we’re their only stream of revenue,” board member James Malcom said. “I don’t get it. If film projects ...a re increasing exponentially, I think it’s something good to do, but sooner or later, you kind of got to stand on your own a little bit.”

The $40,000 award to the film commission is $10,000 more than it received from the agency in each of the last two years. The commission was hoping to get $60,000 this year.

In the 2018 application, the Hudson Valley Film Commission said film and TV productions in Ulster County last year resulted in the hiring of 1,400 local actors and extras and 325 local crew members, as well as 9,000 hotel room rentals.