Millions of dollars are headed to the Rochester-Finger Lakes region in effort to boost economic development.

New York’s Regional Economic Development Council doled out $86.5 million to the top-performing region at its award ceremony on Tuesday. It’s part of more than $700 million in spending set to highlight regional job creation.

State officials like Empire State Development's Howard Zemsky insist it comes as upstate New York's economy has turned a corner.

“It's a far different picture today than it was eight years ago. Upstate New York has come an awfully long way economically. The whole state has come a long way. Upstate is doing better than it has,” said Zemsky.

But fiscal watchdogs have disagreed, pointing to an outmigration of people in upstate communities. At the same time, a sinking stock market is leading to concerns of a recession in 2019.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul says the state is well prepared to handle any downturn.

“We have done everything we can to keep the business climate positive, keep taxes down on businesses so we don't drive them away and we feel we have the resources to handle whatever comes our way,” Hochul said.

New York's unemployment rate in October was at 4 percent, slightly higher than the national average. Economic experts have credited in large part the surging New York City economy has helping move the state forward.

Hochul said, “Certainly it makes sense for us to always have an eye on what's happening nationally, but because of the stewardship of our finances over the last eight years, we're in a good place.”

Oversight for economic development spending remains a delicate issue for Governor Cuomo's administration following a bid rigging scandal stemming from the Buffalo Billion, a signature job creation program for the state. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Tuesday in a radio interview suggested lawmakers may seek more oversight of economic development spending.

“It would be almost hard to imagine digesting more information than we provide at the moment. If anyone can't find information on a specific project, I'd be surprised,” said Zemsky.

One of the biggest economic development efforts for New York now is Amazon's plan to bring 25,000 jobs to Queens, linked to billions of dollars in tax incentives. Zemsky says the project makes sense for the area.