It’s not every day that businesspeople in Westchester are asked how they’d like to spend $188 million, but that’s just what’s been happening recently.
The county is due to receive $188 million over the next two years in funding from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan, designed to help in the recovery from the effects of the Covid pandemic. Those funds are separate from monies that will go directly to Westchester municipalities.
The county has an end-of-the-month deadline to begin telling Washington what it intends to do with the money and The Business Council of Westchester (BCW) has been working to synthesize a plethora of ideas from its members into a cohesive report for County Executive George Latimer.
On Aug. 19, the BCW held a virtual town hall with about 70 of its members that also involved county officials Bridget Gibbons and Norma Drummond. Gibbons is the director of economic development and Drummond is the planning commissioner.
“We want to be laser focused on not just getting a pot of money and throwing it up in the sky to see what will stick but really giving some specific issues where money can be used to help us emerge from the last year-and-a-half,” John Ravitz, the BCW’s executive vice president and COO, told the Business Journal.
“Let’s think big picture: What are we going to need in the county to not only help us emerge from the pandemic but to move us forward, hopefully get the momentum back where we’re creating not only new jobs but encouraging business to come to Westchester County and in some cases expand in Westchester.”
Ravitz said that a report to Latimer is expected to contain recommendations for use of the $188 million that were heard during the town hall such as:
- Convert the Westchester County Center into a state-of-the art sports and convention center that would attract tourists and business to boost the county”™s economy;
- Expand broadband capabilities to areas lacking proper coverage, provide free Wi-Fi for students and others needing internet access;
- Enhance, while not expanding, Westchester County Airport to better serve the traveling public, business and the general community;
- Add funding for childcare and capital projects for childcare facilities;
- Fund marketing campaigns to boost tourism and help the struggling hospitality sector that was hit hard by the pandemic;
- Support the higher-education community in the county with gap funding in technology, transportation costs and specific curriculum development;
- Repurpose hotels that have recently closed to be used as housing for 100 summer interns who would be hired by STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) small to midsize companies;
- Provide matching recruitment grants for STEM-based businesses to assist fledgling firms to recruit and hire new employees with additional efforts to recruit people of color; and
- Provide support for a BCW initiative that would create a public-private partnership to help train apprentices who would get on-the-job training with construction firms.
“Collaborative efforts will always be our priority,” Ravitz said. “Where they can use the resources of our membership to be helpful to the county that will always be one of our top priorities. We can agree to disagree on certain issues, and we will, but when it comes to moving Westchester forward I think we’ve proven we have a really good partnership and alliance with the county.”
Ravitz also indicated that the concept of a good partnership and alliance extends to dealings with Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is due to take the oath of office on Tuesday and replace Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
“We began working with the lieutenant governor early on and in many different ways,” Ravitz said. “She’s come to Westchester numerous times and been in our office numerous times to meet with our members because she’s wanted to not only listen to what issues they’re facing but engage in a dialogue. I think that’s only going to continue.
“She’s come to at least three or four meetings that we’ve held on childcare, and this was before the pandemic, when we were making a case that childcare was a real economic development issue that employers need to understand and be more engaged with.”
Ravitz said that it’s been rewarding to see how hard BCW’s members worked to keep their businesses open while helping their employees during the pandemic.
“We have so many different examples in Westchester County of businesses large and small that really dug in and made it a priority to keep moving forward as all these challenges were coming,” Ravitz said.
“There are some sectors that were severely damaged and hurt and continue to try to keep their heads above water. Federal dollars that are going to continue to come in will be used to hopefully assist them in rebounding from what we have seen happen over the last year-and-a-half.
“The $188 million is going to be administered over a two-year period. If you’re investing in infrastructure, if you’re investing in life sciences, if you’re investing in capital improvements that are going to have long-term positive effects to make businesses come to Westchester and grow, that’s got to be the strategy moving forward.”
