Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the latest round of investments in the Alliance for Economic Inclusion (AEI) through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. These 39 projects will advance efforts to fight poverty and create greater economic opportunity in Central New York, and include several CenterState-CEO-led initiatives. This investment in our work enables us, alongside our partners, to […]
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the latest round of investments in the Alliance for Economic Inclusion (AEI) through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. These 39 projects will advance efforts to fight poverty and create greater economic opportunity in Central New York, and include several CenterState-CEO-led initiatives. This investment in our work enables us, alongside our partners, to directly impact some of the most significant barriers to economic opportunity.
Among the projects receiving funding is Commute CNY, a new program developed by CenterState CEO to create a vanpooling service in parts of four counties (Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, and Cayuga). The program was awarded $646,800 and will connect workers from underserved areas to workplaces in remote locales. We know that for low-income job seekers the lack of reliable transportation is a persistent impediment to job attainment and retention. Often, businesses that offer good jobs and career pathways are located away from population centers or are disconnected from public transit. In fact, more than 67,000 jobs in the Syracuse metropolitan statistical area (MSA) are located outside of one half mile of transit, and more than 57,000 jobs in the Syracuse MSA are located within a 30-minute transit commute. This reality creates an overreliance on personal vehicles for job seekers that do not have the means to buy a car. Through a partnership with Centro and “Commute with Enterprise,” this new program will put 49 vans into service, enabling about 350 workers across the region to access employment.
Additionally, CenterState CEO’s Work Train initiative will receive $519,000 to launch Syracuse Build in partnership with the City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, Syracuse University, and many community partners. Syracuse Build will build a robust and inclusive workforce pipeline for lower-income residents aligned with upcoming opportunities in Syracuse within the construction field. Since 2014, with the support of the Work Train Funder Collaborative, industry and training partners, nearly 900 people have been placed in jobs through the Work Train initiative.
Several of our partners and members also received AEI funding to advance impactful projects to holistically address our community’s challenges. They include funding for important projects led by the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance, Jubilee Homes, OnPoint Career Services, Syracuse Urban Partnership (Allyn Foundation), and Hack Upstate, among others.
We are grateful to Gov. Cuomo for acknowledging this critical work in our community, and to Onondaga County for its leadership of the AEI. We look forward to working with AEI partners to further drive meaningful change through these investments.
To learn more about how you can be involved in these initiatives, contact Dominic Robinson, CenterState CEO’s VP for Economic Inclusion, at DRobinson@CenterStateCEO.com.
Robert M. (Rob) Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This viewpoint is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on Feb. 13.