The county is seeking $11 million in funds for the project to augment the approximately $3 million The Olana Partnership has already raised, Partnership President Sara Griffen told ccSCOOP.

“We have looked at it [the Olana museum and visitors center] as a major tourist destination for the county,” Baer said.

The center had been a project without adequate funding and had been effectively put on hold until the announcement of the availability of federal stimulus funds.

Griffen said that she is hopeful about the possibility of securing the funding as a result of Wednesday’s trip. “It’s incredibly exciting. We have gotten consistently supportive responses when the subject has been broached with our various legislators, including Senator Gillibrand,” she said. “To have now Senator Schumer express such support is very encouraging.”

Baer described the funding requested for a broadband access study of the county as important to the future of the region. He said the county could be home to many more home-based businesses, such as private equity fund firms, if it were able to find a way to provide the high-speed Internet access.

“Columbia County—given the rural nature of it—has been handicapped because the private sector has not been interested in expanding broadband access to the Internet,” Baer said. “It’s sort of like building railroad access across the Great Plains—it’s not going to happen without government support.”

The $200,000 sought from the federal government for this project would fund a study of the county to determine the extent of the need and how best to deliver the service, he said.