Mayors promoting region on Mideast trade mission
Kelly, Mccarthy talking tech, energy, chips on Uae-financed junket
Add Dubai and Abu Dhabi to the growing list of desirable places Mayor Gary Mccarthy has visited in the name of making Schenectady a “smart city ” and more high tech.
The Democrat, running unopposed for a third term, is part of a certified trade mission delegation of about 15 business, political, and educational leaders currently in the United Arab Emirates.
“We’re here looking at things they ’re doing for Smart Cities, looking for relationships that we can build in the Capital Region,” Mccarthy said from the UAE on Tuesday. He said he’ll share details of the trip when he returns.
The trip, which cost about $10,000 per person, was arranged by the Albany-based Center for Economic Growth,
and is being paid for by the UAE consulate general’s office.
Mccarthy, who chairs CEG’S local government council, said while “the sales pitch is for the Capital Region” he wants “Schenectady to be considered.”
Schenectady Development Director Kristin Diotte, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, and Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly are also part of the delegation.
Kelly, running for her second term this November, said she was excited to be invited on the trip. She said she is focused on advanced manufacturing, equipment development, alternative energy and the emerging technology market. She said she was especially interested in the Globalfoundries connection.
“Their expansion could move into our industrial parks with some nice smaller manufacturing and greater opportunity for our community,” Kelly said at a Sept. 3 City Council meeting.
The group, which left for the UAE on Friday and is slated to return home Thursday, also includes administrators from Schenectady County Community College, University at Albany, Clarkson University and Hudson Valley Community College.
Over the summer, McCarthy and John Coluccio, his point man on the initiative who also serves as the city’s signal control bureau superintendent, traveled to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Honolulu to discuss Smart Cities.
In 2017, Mccarthy and Coluccio traveled mostly at taxpayer expense to Barcelona, Spain, for the two-day Smart City Expo World Congress.
In the last few years, the city has allocated millions of dollars for the Smart Cities program, money that Schenectady City Councilman Vince Riggi said Tuesday could be better spent to address more pressing needs in the municipality.
“We have a lot of problems around Schenectady that Smart Cities is not going to solve,” added Riggi.
Mccarthy said last week that as part of the Smart Cities effort National Grid will soon be installing new energy-efficient LED lights that will allow the city to reduce energy costs and the city’s carbon footprint.
He also said the technology will in the future allow the city to detect gunshots through acoustical sensors, improve traffic f low, and lead to improved access to public Wi-fi.
Tim Holmes, Kelly’s Republican opponent for mayor, said that he thinks that cultivating ties with the UAE, at no cost to the taxpayers, is a good thing.
“There are interesting ties already. Sheik (Mohammed bin Rashid Al) Maktoum is a major force reviving Fasig Tipton and the racing industry here,” Holmes said. “I don’t know how worthwhile the results will be, but it is it definitely a world class financial center and center for innovation.”
Andrew Kennedy, president and CEO for the nonprofit CEG, said Tuesday the goal of the trade mission is to help leaders in education, business and politics, forge new relationships and build on ones with companies like Mubadala, which owns Globalfoundries.
The busy agenda includes meetings with UAE government leaders and ministers for energy, science and technology, Smart Dubai, and artificial intelligence.
“A few of the meetings that we set up in particular are clearly aligned with what the mayor of Schenectady is trying to do as well as the mayor of Saratoga utilizing smart technology,” he said.
“They’re meeting with members of the UAE government that are very focused on alternative energy and smart city development.”
Kennedy said the impetus for the trip dates back to last year after a meeting between officials from CEG and Globalfoundries at the United Arab Emirate Consulate Office.