The founders included leading business people who saw a need for a regional organization that would address the following issues in the region:

• Better publicity for the entire area
• Promote the establishment and diversification of industrial and commercial activities in n those communities which desire them in order to establish a more stable economy
• Work with railroads, airlines, bus lines, and others to provide adequate means of travel
• Represent the Adirondack [North Country] people before governing bodies and policy-making groups
• Maintain and conserve the outstanding natural resources of the Adirondacks, including forest, water, fish and game

Since it received its charter from the State of New York in 1955, ANCA has provided nearly six decades of service to the residents, businesses, and communities of the Adirondack North Country region. We provide innovative, grassroots-based leadership and create strong and effective partnerships that provide direct support to program constituents.

ANCA has developed and managed programs across all 14 counties in Northern New York State, successfully ‘investing’ millions of dollars, from federal and New York State grants and private support, to build capacity and to foster community and economic development across the region.

“The regional perspective that ANCA brings to many different projects allows them to provide a level of integration that cross municipal boundaries. You often hear, “If it were not for ANCA….” *

“There is a level of innovation in the agency that captures specific interests and integrates that spectrum of public and private interests and brings a level of connectivity to the region.” *

* Source: ANCA Branding Survey, Technical Assistance Center, SUNY Plattsburgh, 2010

ANCA has been the primary player in spurring discussion about what economic approaches work in this region, and has led development of those approaches in a hands-on, user-friendly style that fits the local culture. This adaptation to fit the need has had strong impacts from the family-run storefronts of the region, thousands of whom have been assisted by ANCA programs, to the nation’s capital, where agencies trust the organization’s professional staff to manage complex projects and gain results.

There is no other organization that reaches all the counties of the Adirondack North Country and no other organization whose programs provide ‘boots on the ground’ for the region’s smaller-scale businesses and communities.