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CNY Rising: from the Ground Up “Wins” Regional Economic Development Competition

What’s in it for the African-American Community? $50 Million Allocated for “Alliance for Economic Inclusion”

On Wednesday December 10th, Central New York was handed a winning New York State Lottery ticket. The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council’s plan being awarded the prize of 500 million dollars . The competition, nicknamed “the Hunger Games”, pitted region against region in a competition to determine which area submitted the better plan. The winning region receives up to 500 million dollars each to put their development plan into action, only 3 regions would be awarded the top grant of 100 million dollars per year, over a five-year period.

Centerstate CEO led, Upstate Revitalization Initiative Proposal
Centerstate CEO led, Upstate Revitalization Initiative Proposal

When this conceptual plan CNY Rising from the Ground Up was presented to the public there were concerns from the African-American community “what about us?”  In the past, programs that seemingly targeted minorities have not increased the number of African-Americans owned businesses.

In the meantime, the Inner Harbor is receiving local development assistance despite the public outcry against Onondaga County’s Industrial  Development Agency (OCIDA) granting aid to the COR Development project.  Armory Square and parts of downtown are bustling with shoppers. Demand for Condominiums and luxury apartments are at record highs. Our sprawling Destiny USA attracts customers from hundreds of miles. In the meantime, the poorest of Syracuse got poorer.

Over the past decade the Black community in Syracuse has been hit by gun violence, massive unemployment, under-employment and a rapidly growing poverty rate which when mapped resembles an economic cancer out of control. Will these initiatives help economically empower the African-American community? Is there money to fund the proposed remedies to our economic calamity?

The award marks the culmination of months of work by stakeholders across our community to develop an economic plan that encourages new business formation and puts our region on a path of growth and prosperity for years to come.

Mayor Stephanie A. Miner said, “Being awarded the $500 million from the Upstate Revitalization Initiative is an accomplishment for our region. This funding has the potential to impact many projects throughout Central New York. I thank and congratulate our Regional Economic Development Council co-chairs, Rob Simpson and Chancellor Kent Syverud, and all those who worked on our region’s proposal serving on subcommittees, devoting their time and effort to this project.”

The submission was based on a data-centric market analysis as well as a strategic vison developed through a broad community engagement process. Eleven work groups; more than 120 business, civic and academic leaders; 1,750 public participants; and seven National Advisory Council members collaborated as part of this process.

In the first year of implementation, this plan will leverage more than $889.9 million in private investment and a total five-year payroll of over $765.8 million, for a more than 16 to 1 return on New York State’s investment. Over five years, CNY Rising’s components are expected to create nearly 6,000 jobs.

This plan recommends six areas for strategic investment that are interconnected with one another and align our region’s many assets to respond to regional, national or international challenges:

CNY Rising’s Six Signature Investments:

1. Global Center for Unmanned Systems and Cross-Connected Platforms – Central New York will leverage its competencies in precision-sensing, radar systems, and data analytics, and role as one of six Federal Aviation Administration unmanned aerial systems test sites, to become the global leader in unmanned systems, cross-connected platforms, and information assurance to ensure safety and security in a world of interconnected devices.

2. New York-Grown, New York-Certified Safe and Market-Ready Central New York will utilize its natural assets a resilient climate, affordable land, abundant water, and deep agricultural expertise to meet the rapidly rising global demand for food and food safety. Central New York will capture the global demand for safe and nutritious food by investing in controlled environment agriculture and aseptic packaging facilities, while building a brand identity for safe, New York-produced food through a “Grown in NY Certification.”

3. Global Manufacturing and Logistics Hub – Leveraging our region’s geographic centrality, the hub would transform 225 acres of brownfields into a thriving center of manufacturing, warehousing and distribution that will dramatically reduce the costs to Central New York agricultural and manufacturing producers to get goods to international markets. This hub will be located within three miles of the region’s most impoverished areas, creating more than 300 jobs and an estimated 1,644 warehouse and distribution jobs within a 10 mile radius of 54 percent of underemployed workers.

4. National Veterans Resource Complex – More than 900,000 veterans are New York State residents with 60 percent calling the Central New York region home. Over 1 million service members are expected to transition to veteran status in the next five years, and Central New York, leveraging Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families, will position the area as the national leader for veterans affairs – offering premier employment, education, job training and research opportunities – making the area the best place in the nation for veterans and their families.

5. Consensus Commission on Government Modernization – The plan proposes building on the work of Consensus to advance bold, collaborative, and modern approaches to governance to better position Central New York to compete in the 21st century.

6. Alliance for Economic Inclusion – The Alliance will lead and implement strategies toward best practices in training, eliminating misalignment of skills, increasing education, fighting blight and addressing homelessness to ensure that no Central New Yorkers are left behind as these efforts are pursued.

 Alliance for Economic Inclusion

A key component of the overall plan The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council is the commitment to invest $50 million in the Alliance for Economic Inclusion. CNY Rising from the Ground Up emphasizes not only investing in major projects such as indoor farming, Drone and Unmanned ground systems, a major Veteran’s Center, an indoor farm and more. The 5-year initiative provides economic gateways to the areas underserved minority communities.  The Alliance for Economic Inclusion will be a major factor in determining the success or failure of the largest government investment in Upstate New York since the construction of the Erie Canal. The anticipated outcomes for the “Alliance” will be 5,000 jobs in the first five years.

Project 5 year budget
Project 5 year budget

The Business Opportunity Fund is an effort to provide, “substantial funding opportunities” to underserved entrepreneurs and business owners.” The fund will target minorities, women, veteran and tech entrepreneurs and enterprises.” Accessing funding will depend on the inability to attract funding through tradition means.

Not to be confused with project announced in the past offering promises. This comprehensive program has identifiable benchmarks of success to reach. Including, identifiable mandated goals to address the development of entrepreneurs in underserved minority communities.

Opportunity to change the status quo

Creative projects designed to increase the number of living wage jobs will be solicited, reviewed and possibly funded. Based on the overall plan, education will be important since our schools provide the employees of the future. The CNY Rising from the Ground Up comprehensive plan is 88 pages read it in its entirety, what is provided here are provisions that have a direct impact on the African-American community. Links to the full plan are available at urbancny.com

The following is “Signature Investment #6 — Alliance for Economic Inclusion” portion of the CNY Rising from the Ground Up Comprehensive Plan

Upstate Revitalization Initiative Competition "process"
Upstate Revitalization Initiative Competition “process” chart of community engagement (click on image to enlarge)

Vision

CNY Rising "alignment of strategies"
CNY Rising “alignment of strategies” click on image to enlarge

Create economic prosperity by utilizing the regions human and physical assets to ensure that economic growth translates into economic opportunity, increased wealth, and improved quality of life within our distressed communities.

Central New York’s Challenge

Poverty rates and social inequality prevent the region from realizing its full economic potential. Residents of inner-city neighborhoods, rural communities, and, increasingly, inner-ring suburbs struggle to access jobs and build wealth. This is evidenced by the chilling statistic that 44 percent of Central New York’s population is living at or near the poverty line. Region-wide there are immense challenges related to building economic opportunity, yet these issues are compounded in Central New York’s urban environments. A recent report ranked Syracuse as the worst out of the top 100 largest cities for concentrations of extreme poverty among African Americans and Hispanics. Furthermore, these statistics appear to be going in the wrong direction, as concentrated poverty among African Americans has grown to 65.2 percent in 2013 from 43.4 percent in 2000.

Central New York must confront and alter the root causes of these issues that include poor or disconnected access and connectivity to inclusive industries; challenges within the educational system that prevent equal access to opportunity; barriers in accessing growth capital for minority-, women-,and veteran-owned businesses; blight, homelessness, and residential vacancies in inner city neighborhoods; and a misalignment in skills, training systems, and businesses that can offer meaningful employment.

Approach

There is no silver bullet for eradicating poverty. The task requires multiple innovative strategies, spearheaded by a diverse array of leaders from across the region. The CNYREDC will assemble this leadership by establishing the Alliance for Economic Inclusion, comprised of ethnically and geographically diverse representatives from the private, public, and non-profit sectors. The Alliance will be responsible for implementing strategies and administering funds to:

CNY Rising, Alliance for Economic Inclusion Anticipated Outcomes
CNY Rising, Alliance for Economic Inclusion Anticipated Outcomes “click on image to enlarge.”

Develop access to economic opportunity and wealth by intentionally attracting and growing good jobs in low-income and distressed communities and connecting these communities to employment hubs.

Create career pathways for adults and youth from distressed communities by establishing workforce and education strategies that align with employer needs in key industry sectors.

Build wealth and next-generation community leadership by establishing and growing entrepreneurship and business ownership within underserved communities.

Create tools and incentives for educational attainment within low-income communities, making higher education accessible and affordable for all.

The Alliance will meet these objectives by enhancing and scaling existing best practice initiatives, as well as catalyzing new innovations. The Alliance, in partnership with Empire State Development, will coordinate investments; collect data and oversee evaluation; maintain accountability and transparency around funds; and glean from key projects to make future policy and funding recommendations.

The Alliance will initially target these interrelated and mutually reinforcing programs:

1. Career Pathways for Adults and Youth

Work Train: A community-wide initiative that addresses workforce misalignment, meeting unmet job demand in target industries while providing access to career pathways for un- and under-employed residents. In the short term, Work Train will implement workforce solutions within critical industry sectors, expanding into five counties. Over the long term, Work Train will proactively develop

talent pipelines for emerging industries within the URI. As key sectors begin to create jobs, the Work Train platform can develop the appropriate training and human resource development strategies.

CNY Right Track: Engaging and retaining talented college students and recent graduates from targeted communities through internships aligned with career opportunities that emerge from the REDC and URI are critical to ensuring a skilled workforce committed to living and working in Central New York. Through positions with business, government, and other professional institutions, paid interns will gain an in-depth understanding of how the hosting business works, while also developing professional skills and participating in a seminar series by local leaders from all industries.

2. Attracting Good Jobs to Distressed Communities

Opportunity Investment Fund (OIF): OIF will provide solutions to catalyze distressed commercial districts and bring good jobs to urban, suburban, and rural communities in need. OIF is a capital grant fund, dedicated to revitalizing strategic properties in distressed communities. The fund will provide grants to strategic projects in areas with high concentrations of poverty and/or blight. Business, developers, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities can propose projects to receive grant funding that would otherwise not have market-based solutions. Eligible projects would demonstrate clear economic impact to blighted and/or low-income mixed-use districts by attracting businesses that offer living wage jobs, facilitating ownership and investment within low-income populations, and/or transforming high vacancy target areas.

3. Building Tools and Incentives for Educational Attainment

Syracuse College Promise Collaborative: This initiative will guarantee a path for college for every student in the Syracuse City School District, regardless of income. Post-secondary education, especially for children who grow up in poverty, directly correlates to increased opportunities and wealth creation as well as builds a more talented and broadly diverse workforce. Additionally, partners in the effort for stronger educational attainment could include the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

−− Adult Educational Pathways Program (AEPP):

Targeting underemployed middle-skill workers, this program provides wraparound educational support programs for adults seeking bachelors or higher degrees. This program will remove barriers for obtaining secondary education degrees and associated employment opportunities. Upon graduation from college, program participants could access homeowner programs in targeted areas that assist in community redevelopment.

The Syracuse College Promise Collaborative will guarantee a path for college for every student in the Syracuse City School District, regardless of income.

4. Growing Entrepreneurship and Business Ownership in Underserved CommunitiesUpstate MEA Logo

−− The Upstate Minority Economic Alliance (UMEA): UMEA was recently established as a minority chamber of commerce for the Upstate and Central New York regions. It seeks to launch a CNY Minority Owned Ventures and Enterprises for Sustainability (CNY MOVES) effort to create jobs, reach untapped talent within diverse populations, increase minority access and connection to local and national business services, and support diverse communities through a replicable model.

−− The Business Opportunity Fund: This fund will provide substantial financing opportunities to underserved entrepreneurs and business owners through terms and criteria that will enable, rather than prohibit, their success. It will be administered by Cooperative Federal, Central New York’s sole community development financial institution microlender. The fund will target underserved entrepreneurs, particularly minority, women, veteran and tech entrepreneurs and enterprises; however, the driving criteria for accessing the fund will be a lack of business capital and financing.

Readers are encouraged to read the entire 88 page proposal. There are many initiatives that may apply to your business or plans on continuing your education.

urbancny.com will keep readers informed about opportunities that are going to be available for those who are prepared. We will be meeting with major architects of the initiative and report on those meetings.  Review the entire proposal,  CNY Rising From The Ground Up

 

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