Plattsburgh and the North Country Chamber of Commerce have been recognized by fDi Magazine, a publication of the Financial Times of London, among the Top 25 Cities in the Americas for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Strategy. Plattsburgh was #14 among other North and South American cities such as Montreal, New York City, Bogota and San Jose, Costa Rica.

The Financial Times invited the North Country Chamber and Plattsburgh to be considered among cities in the Americas earlier this year and the Chamber provided extensive information on continued and expanded FDI strategies in March. The ranking in part recognizes the many efforts of the North Country Chamber to continue and expand its FDI strategies and activities during the height of the global pandemic in 2020, including its extensive pandemic related support services for the area's international manufacturers and supply chains; the launch of the Chamber's new FDI website and brand, NYMTL.com (Where New York Meets Montreal); the simultaneous redesign and relaunch of its workforce recruitment website at northcountrygoodlife.com; expansion of activities for the region's international transportation equipment and aerospace cluster through its cluster organization, NAmTrans; the continuation by virtual means of its unique FDI workshops and outreach programs in Canada; and its active advocacy related to international supply chains and the U.S.-Canadian border.

"The Plattsburgh area has been drawing world attention for some years now as a small place attracting an amazing array of international investments in manufacturing, punching far above our weight," notes Douglas. "For 2020, they chose to focus in part on those places which distinguished themselves in terms of stepping up for international business and investment during the pandemic when so much activity froze in the face of uncertainty and travel restrictions. With our local partners such as TDC and CITEC, among others, we chose to work with our many existing international companies to sustain operations and, in many cases, to support growth, with examples including Monaghan Medical, Schluter Systems and completion of the new Norsk Titanium facility. And we doubled down on the deployment of new web-based tools and on continuation of cross border partnerships and promotion to show we were very much open for business, ready to host new investment when the world is ready to invest."

The U.S. Department of Transportation has officially launched the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP) program!

The North Country Chamber of Commerce and NAmTrans were pleased to welcome word from Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to Broome County which will lead to another order for electric buses produced by Nova Bus in Plattsburgh.

 "This follows the recent contract with Milwaukee with more potential orders in the pipeline," says Garry Douglas, Chamber President. "We've had both Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand to Nova Bus, with regular interactions with them and their staff, and we appreciate their partnership in positioning our area at the heart of the upcoming transition to electric buses. It is especially gratifying that electric buses made in New York State will start to be on New York streets. Congratulations to Nova Bus and their BAE partners. Onward and upward!"

LC Drives recently announced the delivery of an electric motor to Bosch Rexroth for evaluation and testing. The companies are exploring its use for a variety of industrial applications where advanced hydraulic and motor technologies can be combined to generate manufacturing process improvements, operational efficiencies, and economic savings.

Norsk Titanium AS, a global leader in additive manufacturing of aerospace-grade titanium components, recently announced their expansion into the industrial application market in collaboration with the Hittech Group (based in Den Haag, Netherlands).