Cuomo appoints Upstate’s Laraque-Arena to co-chair CNY REDC, succeeding Syracuse University’s Syverud

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The leader of one institution of higher learning in Syracuse will succeed another in helping to lead a state group focused on regional economic development.

SUNY Upstate Medical University President Dr. Danielle Laraque-Arena will succeed Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud as co-chair of the Central New York regional economic-development council (REDC).

Laraque-Arena will serve alongside Robert (Rob) Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, as co-chairs of the REDC, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release issued Thursday afternoon.

Cuomo appointed Laraque-Arena to serve in the co-chair role. Laraque-Arena is the 7th president of Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.

“Thanks to the efforts of our regional economic development council, Central New York is currently undergoing an unprecedented transformation and revitalization,” Cuomo contended in the release. “Under the vision and leadership of Dr. Laraque-Arena, I’m confident that the region will build on its successes and drive continued growth through Central New York Rising. I thank Chancellor Syverud for his service.”

Cuomo appointed Syverud to the same role in May 2014, a few weeks after Syracuse University had inaugurated him as its 12th chancellor.

Laraque-Arena said she is “honored” that Cuomo appointed her to the co-chair role on the REDC.

“The Central New York region has benefited greatly from the work of the council over the past five years and I hope, in working with co-chair Rob Simpson and the entire council, to continue to strengthen the economic vitality of the region so that all who work and live here may benefit from our collective success,” Laraque-Arena said in Cuomo’s release.

In a statement posted on the Syracuse University website, Syverud said he was “honored” that Cuomo appointed him to serve in the role, but “now is the right time forsomeone new to step in and help lead” the REDC.

“Earlier this summer, the university advanced its new academic strategic plan and campus framework, along with the west-campus project, one of the largest construction and economic-development projects in Central New York history. As we pursue that project and other new capital investments that will be made in our campus facilities footprint during the next decade, it is the right time for me to conclude my service on the REDC,” added Syverud.

The CNY REDC is one of several such councils statewide that are part of Cuomo’s 2011 initiative to develop “long-term strategic plans for economic growth” in their respective regions, according to the regional-council website.

To date, New York has invested about $3 billion in Central New York to advance the region’s housing and economic-development goals.

The CNY REDC’s plan “CNY Rising” was also one of the winners of $500 million in state funding as part of Cuomo’s 2015 economic-development contest that some media outlet dubbed the “Upstate Hunger Games.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com