SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO recognized 421 area companies and organizations during its annual Economic Champions event held Wednesday at the Oncenter Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center.
CenterState CEO uses the gathering to recognize their collective contributions “to the growth and vibrancy of the Central New York economy.”
The event was “sold out” with 800 attending, Elle Hanna, senior director of communications and media relations at CenterState CEO, told CNYBJ in an email.
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The recognition focused on the aggregate hiring of more than 5,000 employees, over 5.8 million square feet of expansions, and more than $1 billion in capital investments.
In addition, CenterState CEO recognized 121 businesses for opening new storefronts, offices and facilities; 76 were highlighted for celebrating a milestone anniversary; 102 were recognized for receiving significant awards and achievements and 52 organizations and firms were noted for companies advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplaces and community.
Companies were nominated as Economic Champions for their accomplishments throughout the year by CenterState CEO and the Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance, the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, peers, employees and staff, as well as self-nominations.
“Our community has more to celebrate at this year’s event than ever before following Micron Technology’s announcement that it will invest up to $100 billion and create 9,000 jobs over the next 20 years here in Central New York,” Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, said. “This investment is the result of the business community investing, hiring and taking a chance on our community year after year. Those commitments have positioned our region to be the kind of place that can attract one of the largest economic development projects in the nation.”
The Economic Champions event was presented by Fust Charles Chambers LLP, CenterState CEO said. The gathering also included recognition for Le Moyne College and a keynote address.
Community Visionary Award
The event also included CenterState CEO’s presentation of its Community Visionary Award to Le Moyne College “for embodying a vision of economic opportunity, and for its leadership and its strategic vision to creating greater access to opportunities for those across our community.”
“Wegmans proudly recognizes Le Moyne College, and its president, Linda LeMura, for its commitment to Syracuse and the Central New York community,” Evelyn Ingram, director of community engagement at Wegmans, said. “Le Moyne’s collaborative engagement with community institutions, business and government has enabled it to be at the forefront of the Syracuse Surge initiative with Erie 21, a program with a mission to support the innovation economy while addressing Syracuse’s persistent poverty issues and workforce needs. Le Moyne is also leading entrepreneurial-development initiatives through the Keenan Center of Entrepreneurship, creating pipelines for talent in our community.”
Wegmans Food Markets sponsors the Community Visionary Award, CenterState CEO said.
Keynote address
The event also featured a keynote address from Robert Simmons III, head of social impact and STEM programs at Boise, Idaho–based Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU), provided the keynote address during Wednesday’s event.
STEM is short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Micron Technology on Oct. 4 announced plans to build a semiconductor manufacturing campus in the town of Clay.
Simmons discussed the company’s vision for “ensuring its historic investment reaches all in Central New York.” Simmons also spoke about how Micron’s “unprecedented and nation-leading” community-investment framework — in partnership with New York — reflects Micron’s values and vision to “transform how the world uses information to enrich life for all.”
“At the Micron Foundation we believe that access to quality STEM education shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP code,” Simmons said. “This drives our consistent effort to center equitable access to our work but also aligns with Micron Technology’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion, and ensuring underrepresented groups have a presence in STEM, and more specifically at Micron Technology.”
