Maritime ports in Upstate New York are well positioned to host offshore wind (OSW) facilities—and to consider the tradeoffs and required investments necessary to do so. Building and operating these facilities would boost local and regional economic activity, bring quality jobs to disadvantaged and environmental justice communities, and advance state and national clean energy goals. However, inflation and supply chain bottlenecks are inhibiting ports’ abilities to secure funding for these important projects, impacting the offshore wind industry at large.

A team comprised of the Center for Economic Growth, Advance Albany County Alliance, the Port of Albany, and Carver Companies retained Karp Strategies to quantify the potential effects of various projects on job creation and the OSW supply chain in Upstate New York, providing strategic advisory services to ensure key stakeholders understand the real benefits of supporting OSW facilities’ development in the region.

Karp Strategies’ Economic Impact Assessment involves a multi-step process designed to objectively present the cumulative impact of the projects under consideration. Our team developed a tailored methodology for the project at hand, starting with research and gathering publicly available and institutional data on the socio-economic, workforce, and supply chain conditions within each study area and the region. After clarifying the number and types of expected jobs at each facility, the team developed an economic model, the results of which demonstrate the impacts of these facilities within local communities, for the OSW supply chain, and for small and minority-owned businesses. Our team further explored other uses for the ports and developed a comparative assessment to help our clients better understand the trade-offs of one use over the other. Karp Strategies then consolidated our analysis into a presentation synthesizing job impacts; existing and potential manufacturing implications; and workforce and procurement considerations. A public-facing version of Karp Strategies’ analysis can be found here https://www.ceg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Offshore-Wind-Economic-Impact-Analysis.pdf.