Friends of the Chautauqua County Greenways group awarded a $25,000 Strategic Partnership Grant

 A new public-private collaboration is forming to improve the network of recreational trails in Chautauqua County.  This collaboration, originally envisioned in the Chautauqua County Greenway Plan released in 2012, is finally coming to fruition with the help of a new type of grant awarded by the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation.  The Sheldon Foundation’s Strategic Partnership and Restructuring grant program was designed to encourage not-for-profit organizations, as well as public entities, to partner. Organizations often need technical assistance from facilitators, accountants, lawyers, information technology experts or facilities/maintenance experts before they can begin to structure agreements to work together. CREDC, the Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation, a not-for-profit arm of the Chautauqua County IDA, is the lead agency for this grant with representatives from the County Parks Department, the Western NY Mountain Biking Association, the Chautauqua Rails to Trails, the Chautauqua County Equestrian Club, and the Chautauqua County Snowmobiling Club. Noticeable improvements to the recreational trails are occurring because of the recent grants secured by the Western NY Mountain Bicycling Club, Chautauqua Rails to Trails, and by Chautauqua County, which allocated $250,000 from its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.