The Southern Tier Economic Development Council (STEDC) presented its strategic five-year plan in Albany yesterday to a state panel that will determine the allocation of $200 million to STEDC and nine other regional development councils around the state.

STEDC and the other development councils, which represent regions like the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, Mid-Hudson, New York City and Long Island among others, was launched in July this year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He has made $1 billion in state resources available, the first $200 million of which is now up for grabs.

The 10 councils have submitted proposals to improve the economic outlook of their respective regions to the five-person Strategic Plan Review Committee, which includes members from the public and private sectors: Dall Forsythe, senior fellow at the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU; Walter Broadnax, professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University; Bruce Katz, vice president at the Brookings Institution; Joan McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation; and Cesar Perales, New York State’s Secretary of State.

The four councils with the best plans will be rewarded $40 million each, and the remaining six councils will have to divide the remaining $40 million.

The governor’s office is expected to announce awards for the 10 regional councils in December.

David Skorton, president of Cornell University, and Tom Tranter, CEO of Corning Enterprises, serve as co-chairs of STEDC. The other members of the council, which includes Binghamton University President C. Peter Magrath, are leaders of businesses, universities and unions in the region or elected officials.

Skorton and Tranter presented STEDC’s strategic plan to the Committee in person yesterday.

“Our Council is confident that the execution of this plan will recharge the Southern Tier into a competitive economic region,” Skorton and Tranter co-wrote in an official letter detailing the Southern Tier’s Strategic Plan.

STEDC has had meetings in recent months to discuss economic strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in the Southern Tier, according to Candace Vancko, president of SUNY Delhi and a member of STEDC.

“We developed a comprehensive five-year strategic plan for the economic revitalization of the Southern Tier and reached consensus on criteria for assessing specific proposals intended to meet the plan’s goals,” Vancko said.

Tranter said unique circumstances in the Southern Tier set it apart from other regions.

“We had the most flood damage that occurred with Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, as a result made the top priority community and Downtown revitalization,” he said.

Tranter authored a letter along with Skorton that accompanied STEDC’s strategic plan and highlighted several of the plan’s aspects.

The strategies outlined in the plan are “designed to increase employment, facilitate the growth and expansion of industry and business, improve the quality of life of all residents, grow the tax base, further promote and develop the region and position the Southern Tier as a great place to live, work and increase economic growth,” Skorton and Tranter said in the letter.

STEDC’s strategic plan focuses on five strategies for the Southern Tier, which include renewable energy technology, improving transportation, health care provider integration, shoring up agriculture and strengthening the “Southern Tier’s Economic Development Backbone.”

Tranter said he believes the Southern Tier’s Strategic Plan will be able to address various weaknesses in the local economy.

“Only 70 percent of unemployed have a high school degree,” Tranter said. “[We need to] do more in education and training to meet the needs of employers and workforce requirement. Both workforce and housing issues are integrated throughout the plan.”

Vancko said he believes that Gov. Cuomo’s region-based approach to economic development in New York is a step in the right direction.

“The Southern Tier Region certainly knows best what it needs to grow,” Vancko stated in an email. “This is a bottom-up, rather than a top-down approach requiring widespread participation by stakeholders. I applaud Gov. Cuomo for initiating this progressive approach.”