Welcome to the Adirondack Park: 101 Communities

The Adirondack Park is more than just a vacation destination.  Over 3,600 businesses call the Park home with firms ranging in size from large manufacturers and resource extraction operations to local retailers and restaurants.  Major business sectors in the region include manufacturing, construction, forestry, agriculture, and tourism but the area’s unique quality of life attracts a diversity of firms in all segments of the economy.

Lifestyle - Why Live Near the Park When you Can Live in the Park?

Whether you are searching for a bustling micropolis or a quaint village setting, the Adirondack Park offers the quality of life and business location you are looking for.  Your employees will enjoy skiing the Park’s six ski resorts (and the numerous community ski hills), paddling pristine lakes, hiking the 46 High Peaks, strolling the Park’s 135 hamlets, and taking in the region’s rural beauty.

"When we decided to relocate, we considered quality of life as one of the most important factors. If our employees are not happy when they get to work their performance is affected.  Moving to the Adirondack Park was one of the best business decisions we could have made, especially with the greatly improved infrastructure, internet access, and services the Adirondack Park has to offer. I would encourage any business looking for a place to start up or relocate to consider the Adirondack Park." -Dan Wilt, Owner, Wilt Industries Inc. Lake Pleasant, NY.

Access - Get you and your Products to the Largest Markets

The Adirondack Park is convenient to some of the world’s largest markets including New York City, Montreal, and Boston.  Interstate 87 runs through the Park connecting the region’s enterprises to Montreal and Albany in just over two hours and to New York City in five.  International airports in Plattsburgh, Syracuse and Albany provide further access to global centers.

Shipping goods to markets is easy too. Canadian Pacific freight rail lines, combined with deepwater ports in Montreal and Albany, make exporting goods opportune and expedient.

Talent and Innovation - Leaders in the 21st Century

Cutting edge research and product commercialization is occurring across the Adirondacks.  Five major educational institutions have facilities in the Park and hundreds of thousands of students attend colleges within an hour of the Blue Line.  Tap into an existing network of established professionals and future leaders.  If the person you are looking for isn’t already here, the region’s high quality of life makes talent recruitment easy and exciting.

Business Climate - A New New York is Driving Growth

Since 2011, over 2.05 5 billion in State financing has been directed to the greater Adirondack region through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development initiative.  Thanks to this funding, a modern broadband network has been established, a new $35 million biotechnology research partnership was developed between Clarkson University and Trudeau Institute, and numerous small businesses have received the financial assistance necessary to expand. 

Additional initiatives including the State’s Innovation Hot Spots and the START-UP NY programs are connecting academia with private enterprise to establish a new culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. 

"The overwhelming interest from start-up and existing business owners for angel investment has far exceeded our expectations.  I firmly believe that we are on our way to creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region." - Melinda Little, Coordinator, Point Positive, Inc., Saranac Lake, NY. Point Positive is an angel investor group investing in scalable early stage ventures in the Adirondack Region.

"We started Adworkshop in 1977 with an incredible passion to live and work in the Adirondacks. Today we employ over thirty-two marketing professionals, are a certified women-owned company, and do business all over the world.  The scenic beauty of this area and the collaborative nature of businesses in the Park are key reasons we continue to enjoy our location here." -Adele Connors, Founder and CEO, Adworkshop, Lake Placid, NY