Matthew Hamilton is reporting at Capitol Confidential the Capital Region has been awarded $83.1 million in the sixth round of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Program. The awards were announced at The Egg in Albany, Thu., Dec. 8. The Capitol Region, of which Greene and Columbia are a part, was the top recipient of funding this year, with almost half of the region’s allocation coming in the form of tax credits and $30 million in low-cost economic development financing. Projects in Columbia and Greene counties selected to receive the grants include the city of Hudson to update its draft Local Waterfront Revitalization Program ($45,000); the Hawthorne Valley Farm production expansion project ($600,000); the Hudson Opera House to hire a full-time, permanent Director of Development and Marketing ($49,500); Historic Hudson's Dr. Oliver Bronson House restoration project ($487,500); phase two of Greene County's Hudson River Skywalk project to create a pedestrian connection to the Thomas Cole Historic Site ($875,000); American Dance Institute's Lumberyard Waterfront rehabilitation project ($300,000); the Greene County Microenterprise Program ($200,000); and, the Greene County Mountain Bike Ride Center to promote a Ride Center campaign ($75,000). Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.