Support for entrepreneurs and targeted real-estate development are critical building blocks for economic development. Ensuring those resources and investments reach historically marginalized and disinvested communities is necessary to drive greater shared prosperity. This month, CenterState CEO’s community investment team, part of our economic inclusion portfolio, joined neighborhood partners and private and public-sector leaders to celebrate the […]
Support for entrepreneurs and targeted real-estate development are critical building blocks for economic development. Ensuring those resources and investments reach historically marginalized and disinvested communities is necessary to drive greater shared prosperity. This month, CenterState CEO’s community investment team, part of our economic inclusion portfolio, joined neighborhood partners and private and public-sector leaders to celebrate the successful completion of two important projects — the Salt City Market and the Northside Women’s Wellness Center. Both projects highlight the broad impact of this work as we strive for inclusive growth.
The Salt City Market, developed by the Allyn Family Foundation, opened late last month transforming an underutilized corner of the city into a mixed-use building that includes a food hall, mixed-income housing, and office space for nonprofits, including the Allyn Foundation. The $25 million project features a food hall including eight merchants that participated in CenterState CEO’s Up Start program. The training program provided these small-businesses owners and entrepreneurs with business-plan development support, concept testing. and technical assistance. CenterState CEO is proud to partner with the Allyn Foundation’s Community Prosperity portfolio and is grateful for Allyn’s support of our work to drive economic solutions within low-income communities.
The long-awaited Northside Women’s Wellness Center also recently opened with assistance from CenterState CEO’s Northside UP program. The need for a Women’s Wellness Center was identified after a series of health and wellness conversations between St. Joseph’s Health and neighborhood residents revealed an alarming trend in which women felt isolated and unable to access outlets of exercise. Operated by the YMCA, the center now offers a welcoming, safe, and empowering place for all women to improve their health and the health of their families. The project was completed in collaboration with St. Joseph’s Health, the YMCA of Central New York, M.S. Hall and Associates, and several neighborhood partners. It is an example of how CenterState CEO’s Economic Inclusion team convenes community stakeholders to implement strategies and programs that empower residents and revitalize neighborhoods.
If you have not already, I strongly encourage you to visit these new vibrant Syracuse assets and support the entrepreneurs and communities they serve. The opening of these projects are important milestones in our economic-inclusion efforts and we will continue to work alongside our partners to ensure their success. To learn more about CenterState CEO’s community-investment work, contact Dominic Robinson, VP of economic inclusion, at drobinson@centerstateceo.com.
Robert M. Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This article is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on Feb. 11.
