Mission
To promote economic prosperity for rural, Genesee Valley communities through a shared regional identity that encourages collaboration, inspires stewardship and improves residents’ quality of life.
Purpose
The purpose of our alliance is to foster long-term economic and environmental vitality through the preservation and promotion of our region’s unique natural, cultural and heritage assets.
Every year, nearly 1 million visitors pass through the small, rural communities of the Genesee Valley Region to visit one of New York’s top destinations—Letchworth State Park. Surrounding Letchworth are over 70,000 acres of State Forest, County park land and Wildlife Management Areas plus hundreds of miles of trails including the Genesee Valley Greenway, Finger Lakes and WAG Trails.
In response to these opportunities, the municipalities of Perry, Mount Morris and Geneseo joined forces in 2017 to establish Letchworth Gateway Villages (LGV) a municipal collaboration aimed at catalyzing economic growth and new tourism-related market opportunities for the communities serving as gateways to Letchworth State Park.
Over the past three years, the Letchworth Gateway Villages initiative has been working to build a collaborative network of municipal and community partners across the five-county Genesee Valley Region to attract new investment and create new, place-based market opportunities linked to the outdoor recreation and sustainable tourism industries. As neighbors and gateways to Letchworth, these communities have a special opportunity to promote their proximity to the park and the Genesee Valley’s agricultural and nature assets as the market for food tourism, outdoor recreation and off-the-beaten track experiences continues to grow.