Cortland Standard .net

By HOLDEN B. SLATTERY
Staff Reporter
hslattery@cortlandstandard.net
CORTLAND — Local business owners, government officials and students and faculty at SUNY Cortland all were enthusiastic about the benefits they expect the Jets will bring after New York Jets owner Woody Johnson announced Monday the team will hold preseason training camp at the college.
The training camp will begin July 31 and last 24 or 25 days, Johnson said during a news conference Monday. About 20 practices will be held, Bruce Speight, senior director of media relations for the Jets, said in an e-mail.
Admission to the practices is free, but SUNY Cortland will charge a fee for parking. Speight said the team will also hold an interactive event around the practices called Jets Fest.
SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum said the $410,000 being provided by the state and the money the Jets are paying should cover the entire cost of the training camp.
“That’s our belief and hope,” he said.
He said Monday that he expects the Jets will pay $1.2 million to $1.3 million to the college for preparations and renovations to prepare for the camp.
Bitterbaum said he will meet with the Jets to discuss looking for sponsors to generate additional revenue. This money could be used to advertise in cities throughout the state and influence more people to visit the training camp. It could also be used to sponsor student scholarships to help students pay for tuition, he said.
Bitterbaum said that although he is not sure what the economic impact on the community will be, he has heard that in Albany and Rochester, training camps have brought several million dollars into the community. He said he plans to ask an economist to study the local economic impact of the camp.
Bitterbaum said some of the $410,000 being provided from the state will be used to buy about 100 air conditioners and install them in each room of the West Campus Apartments on Route 281, where team personnel will stay during the camp. The players will stay in the college’s newest dormitory, Glass Tower, which is already air conditioned, he said.
Bitterbaum said the state funding will also be used to purchase asphalt and renovate campus parking lots for increased traffic flow and to prepare and paint the grass on SUNY Cortland’s football fields.
He said that the permanent investments in the campus could have many benefits, such as attracting conferences and camps, adding to the Empire State Senior Games, and possibly bringing the Empire State Games back to Cortland.
“It’s probably going to be the best thing that’s happened to this community in a long time,” Mayor Tom Gallagher said Monday. “It’s going to generate a lot of excitement.”
Gallagher said he will meet with SUNY Cortland officials in the next few weeks to determine what the city agencies will have to do to prepare for the training camp, such as using additional police. He said the training camp will have no cost to city taxpayers.
County Administrator Scott Schrader said the county will need to increase some services for the camp, but he does not envision a significant investment in these services and thinks the investments will pay off in economic benefits.
“Certainly there’s going to be an increase in services because of fans coming. That’s the cost of doing business,” he said.
Schrader said there have been no discussions about the county contributing to the training camp through extra occupancy tax revenue from hotel rooms. He mentioned the possibility of providing this money to SUNY Cortland last week.
“I have to assume that to a large degree their financial dilemma has been resolved,” he said.
Schrader said there could be additional help needed by the Sheriff’s Department for traffic control and additional services needed to run the Cortland County Airport. He said the airport was one of the reasons the Jets wanted to train in Cortland and that players and the owner are expected to fly in and out of it daily.
Richard Stock, assistant general manager of the Ramada Cortland Conference Center, hopes to generate business at the hotel and the Crown City Steak House, which is connected to the hotel, from Jets fans and members of the news media.
“I’m quite ecstatic ... I’m hoping to be able to get some business from it,” Stock said.
Stock said he sent an e-mail to Jets coach Rex Ryan a couple weeks encouraging him to visit Cortland and hold training camp at SUNY Cortland. He did not receive a response, but he hopes he helped influenced the coach to choose Cortland, he said.
Tony Caruso, owner of Hairy Tony’s Pub on Main Street, said he thinks everyone in the hospitality business will benefit from the training camp.
“I hope that everybody views this as not extra work, but something positive for the community,” Caruso said.
Joshua Frederick, a senior majoring in sports management at SUNY Cortland, said he is looking into the internships that the Jets training camp will create. SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum sent an e-mail Monday to students about the internship opportunities, Frederick said.
Frederick said he was planning to go home to Binghamton for the summer, but if he can land an internship working on the Jets training camp, he will stay in Cortland for the summer.
“It’s pretty important,” said Cole Leto, a senior majoring in physical education at SUNY Cortland. “It definitely helps bring school pride ... Not to mention all the revenue for the economy.”