NORWICH – New York has more than one feather in its cap when it comes to lifting the state out of its fiscal doldrums, according to Donna A. Lupardo, Democratic Assemblywoman of New York’s 126th District.

Lupardo said as much while touring a group of agribusinesses in Chenango County last month. With the conversation focused on environmental protection practices and conservation plans on the farm and at Agro Farma’s Chobani yogurt plant, Lupardo’s recent appointment to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel – and the safety of high water volume natural gas drilling versus the prospects for economic development – inevitably come up.

But while the hoped-for windfalls from New York’s shale holdings have taken front and center position amongst investors and economic developers, the Assemblywoman pointed also to the state’s dairy industry and several micro-enterprises that could come down the pike within the electronics, wireless, nanotechnology and bio-pharmaceutical industries.

“I hope New York can commercialize some of the innovations we’re working on. Take them and turn them into start up companies. After all, New York is number one in the country in the amount of money we attract for research,” she said.