Walsh outlines recommendations for business restart

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse and Onondaga County economic resiliency task force has developed a series of recommendations for the business community for when local companies are able to restart after the state’s coronavirus shutdown ends.

The group has identified 35 recommendations in four different areas, according to Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh.

Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon joined a virtual meeting of the task force on Thursday which involved discussion of many of the group’s recommendations.

Walsh spoke during Thursday’s county coronavirus briefing at the Oncenter.

The economic resiliency task force, which has eight members, will devise strategies to help companies continue operations and plan for the recovery of the local economy.

The City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, CenterState CEO, and the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) organized the group.

Recommendation areas

In his remarks, Walsh discussed the task force’s recommendation areas, but didn’t provide any specific recommendations.

The areas include optimizing existing programs and sources of support to businesses and nonprofit organizations.

“That’s looking at existing resources and existing agencies that we typically look to for economic support,” Walsh said.

They include, on the federal level, U.S. Small Business Administration; the Regional Economic Development Councils on the state level; and local, industrial-development agencies and economic development corporations.

Examples include the Syracuse Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) emergency loan program as well as Onondaga County’s emergency loan program.

The recommendation areas also include assistance to employers to help them reopen “safely and effectively.”

“Again, there’s no instruction manual for this, so we are all relying on each other to come up with the appropriate processes and protocols,” Walsh noted.

The third area is a range of local, state, and federal policy recommendations to help businesses and nonprofit organizations.

And the fourth area is a long-term resiliency strategy based on “unique” strengths of Syracuse and Central New York.

“Things like unmanned aerial systems, the Syracuse Surge initiative, and the importance of connectivity has been further evidenced throughout this crisis,” said Walsh.

The group will complete its recommendations, which will be prepared to share publicly “in the coming days,” he added.

“Because of [the task force’s effort], when the data supports a restart, I believe that our community, our city, and our county, and our region is going to be ahead of the game on that road back to economic recovery,” Walsh contended.