Schenectady, N.Y. – A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found that Schenectady County had the highest growth rate of any county in New York State increasing 5% over the previous year. The County’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) totaled more than $11.3 billion. Schenectady County saw strong growth in manufacturing and technology, plus other sectors of the economy including agriculture/food processing. Rounding out the top five counties in New York, Rensselaer County ranked second, Delaware County third, Warren County fourth and Kings County (Brooklyn) fifth.
“This new federal report is another indication that Schenectady County’s unified economic development team continues to produce outstanding results across the board in multiple sectors creating good jobs and boosting our GDP growth ranking to first in New York State,” said Gary Hughes, Chair of the Schenectady County Legislature. “Since our majority took control of the moribund economic development agencies in Schenectady County in 2004, economic development has been job #1 and today’s report is another validation of the good work being done by our team to boost our economy.”
The US Bureau of Economic Anaylsis report released yesterday provides information on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by county across the United States (Gross Domestic Product by County and Metropolitan Area, 2023 | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA.) GDP is widely recognized as a leading indicator of economic performance at the national and local level. Globally, GDP is a closely watched economic metric.
Schenectady County has unified all the planning and job creation functions of government in one centralized organization that manages different agencies that used to operate independently including two IDA’s, the County Business Center, Metroplex, the Capital Region Land Bank and the County Planning Office.
Schenectady County is also the only county in New York that invests a portion of its sales tax on a recurring basis to build capital projects that in turn create jobs, sales tax and property tax thus increasing the amount available each year for new projects that continue to increase jobs and revenues.