S2,E1 - Rob Simpson Q1Posted on January 10, 2024 |
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This is Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank. A semimonthly podcast by CenterState CEO,
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Central New York's premier leadership
and economic development organization.
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Join us as we meet the people
and explore the projects
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driving the regional economy forward.
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Thanks for joining us for Talk CNY.
I’m Katie Zilcosky,
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director of communications
at CenterState CEO and your new host.
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This year, we are starting
our first episode by taking a look forward
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at the year 2024 ahead, but
also taking a little look back at 2023.
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Joining me for this conversation is CenterState CEO’s
President Rob Simpson.
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Rob, thanks for being here.
Thanks so much for having me.
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I'm really looking forward
to kicking off another season.
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Yeah, so am I.
I'm excited to be here as your host this year.
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So, like I said,
we are starting off with 2023
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taking a little look back
before we look into the future.
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2023 was a big year for Central New York.
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So, a lot happened?
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Can you give me a few of the highlights
of 2023 in your eyes?
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I think 2023 in a lot of ways.
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I think we think now about 2022 October,
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the Micron announcement
as a high watermark for Central New York.
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In a lot of ways,
I think 2023 surpassed those expectations.
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What I loved about 2023
was that we used the opportunity
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to just reinforce the momentum that we're
building here in Central New York.
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It's not just Micron. Obviously,
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that's the biggest thing
that we have going in.
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One of the most important things
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to happen to our economy in in decades,
if not ever.
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But 2023 brought a whole host of new wins.
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We opened City Center in downtown
Syracuse,
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one of the last large
remaining vacant buildings in downtown
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that hadn't been redeveloped is now
this beautiful new office space for Hayner Hoyt Corporation
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and CXtec in a number of other businesses.
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And that was incredibly exciting.
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We were able to announce
a major investment
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from TTM Technologies,
a California-based company that makes
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them makes communications
hardware and components
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there in the radar
and sensing space microelectronics.
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They announced $110
million investment,
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creating a couple of hundred new jobs
here in Central New York.
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That's remarkably exciting.
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Again, stacking
wins and building momentum.
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And of course, we had
at the end of the year, we had this
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remarkable accomplishment,
Central New York, along with our partners
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in Rochester, Buffalo and Ithaca,
designated as a federal tech hub,
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one of only 30 federal tech hubs
designated across the nation.
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That designation comes
with an opportunity now to compete
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for up to $50 million in federal
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funding to support initiatives
across our thruway corridor.
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And it opens the door
to massive amounts of downstream federal
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funding that we would have never otherwise
been able to compete for.
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I think to me, 2023
was the exclamation point, basically
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letting the world know that 2022
wasn't a fluke, Micron wasn't a fluke.
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They came here
because this was a region on the rise.
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And in 2023, I think we demonstrated that
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our ceiling is a lot,
you know, really far above our head.
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Yeah.
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I mean, and on that note,
looking into the future a little bit here
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in 2024,
it sounds like we have a good steady
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foundation, a lot of momentum,
like you said, going into this new year.
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And to get a little bit of perspective
from a lot of our members
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each year
we conduct the Economic Forecast report.
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And right now.
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So we went out,
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we talked to members of the business
community, took a survey from them.
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We take all that data from them, compile
it into a report that then gets released
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at the Economic Forecast Breakfast
on January 31.
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So, that report is still being put
together.
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It's very detailed. Lots that goes into it.
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But we do have some
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preliminary data points that we can share
with our listeners today.
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The first one I want to look at
is some of that.
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You said “fluke” earlier
that maybe some people could think
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that in the very beginning.
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So there was some skepticism.
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Our last year's report showed that.
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Shocking. Yes, exactly right.
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That there was some skepticism around
some of these really big major projects.
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Will they come to fruition?
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But this year's report,
68% of our respondents
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said that they were either somewhat
more confident or much more confident
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that these major economic development
projects will come to fruition.
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So what do you think made the difference
in going
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from skepticism to confidence
for a lot of our community?
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Well, listen,
I've been doing this long enough
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to know that, you know,
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skepticism is just an inherent
characteristic here in Central New York.
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I do think that the community
is making progress at
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not always thinking that the sky is
falling when good news is being announced.
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I've seen the way people are reacting
to some of these announcements.
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It's just very different right now,
which is very rewarding.
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That said,
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I think there's a couple of things
as it relates to Micron specifically.
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The community had a chance over the course
of 2023 to get to know this company.
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They got to watch the company
spend massive amounts of time here
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essentially, or to start
to hire people here in central New York
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to engage with different community
based organizations and to
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and to make significant investments,
millions of dollars into a clean room.
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At OCC, $10 million into
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STEAM education,
science, technology, engineering, arts
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and math, including the STEAM school
in downtown Syracuse.
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Big, major commitments
that the company is making in workforce
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and education and community engagement
that I think
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taken together over time,
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reinforced perhaps a narrative
that, okay, this company,
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they're real,
they're here, they're in this with us.
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Whereas, you know, in October of 2022,
people, might have said, ‘Okay, it's a nice,
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flashy announcement, but, you know,
what are they really going to do?’
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Now, we've had a chance to see it,
I think moreover in 2023,
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the community had a chance
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to see that we weren't
putting all our eggs in the Micron basket.
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Obviously, as we said before,
it is the biggest thing
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and the most important thing
that we are working on.
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That said, you know,
we continue to put these wins together.
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Small businesses are expanding and
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companies hiring...
the tech hubs designation
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that I hope project confidence
to our community,
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that our elected officials, our public
sector partners,
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our private sector partners
are working in concert with one another
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to execute on our strategy.
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It's not about projects, right?
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Each of these projects is
a remarkable accomplishment.
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It's something to celebrate.
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But these projects are the outcome
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of investment in strategy
over a long period of time
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to rebuild our center city, to focus on
microelectronics, to put Central New York
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back into a place of economically
global relevance.
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I hope that sustained activity
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sustained strategic investments are
what is fueling some of that confidence.
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But I think we also can't ignore the fact
that it is increasingly likely
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that our
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economy is going to thread this
almost impossible needle right.
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At the beginning of last year
in our forecast, I remember the
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the speaker that we had at our forecast
breakfast talking about,
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you know, this really difficult needle
that the Fed
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had to thread in order
to bring about a soft landing.
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Where they raise interest rates,
but don't push us into a recession.
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And increasingly it looks like that's
what's going to happen.
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Interest rates have have stayed high,
inflation has come down,
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Jobs and economic performance
have stayed strong.
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And and I think that
those macroeconomic conditions
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are also part of what's contributing
to people's confidence.
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Now, you mentioned just now
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that a lot of this is people
working together; it’s not individual projects.
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Is there a moment of collaboration
over the past year
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that you can think of that made
you think this is
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why people are more confident? This is why
this is working? Where there were
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members coming together
to make something bigger
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than just an individual project
or building or opening a new storefront.
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Yeah, I think in a lot of respects
to me, the collaboration that we had
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with Ithaca,
Buffalo, Rochester around the tech hubs
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designation was maybe one of those eye
opening moments.
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I've spent a lot of my career
here in CNY
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talking about
how we as a community,
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our CNY community, our Syracuse community
needs to work more closely together.
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And I'm really proud of the fact
that we are. Just the other day,
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the county executive was inaugurated
for his next term and he talked about how,
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you know, a lot of our success
is the result of collaboration, right?
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We've come a long way
within our Central York market.
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But what I love
and what gives me so much optimism
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for the future is that we now
see that collaborative mindset shifting
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not just within our region,
but across the Upstate New York footprint.
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And if we can successfully collaborate
with Rochester and Buffalo,
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if we can collaborate
better with Utica, Rome, if we can partner
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with Albany and other parts of our state,
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we are going to be
in a much stronger position
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as an entire Upstate
New York corridor for the future.
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The fact that we came together,
for the first time in my career,
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and strategically set out to partner
with Buffalo and Rochester
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on a major federal opportunity,
we put a great application together.
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And not only that,
but we won that designation.
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To me, that just reinforces
the power of collaboration, right?
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When you do something hard,
you're not sure if it's going to work,
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and then you get rewarded by getting this
this important federal designation.
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I think it makes us all more likely
to want to come back to the table
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and collaborate
on something else down the road.
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And already we are working on a number of
exciting collaborations with our partners
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across the Thruway corridor for 2024
that I'm really excited about it.
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Is that within tech hubs
or is that outside of tech hubs?
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It opens that door, right?
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It's within tech
hubs. It's adjacent to tech hubs.
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I think there's a lot of discussion
right now amongst our Thruway corridor
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partners around workforce development
and how we can up our game
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in terms of ensuring that
our communities are meeting the moment.
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Employers right now have thousands
of job openings and we need to help them
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access the labor pools
necessary to fill those jobs.
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But we also need to ensure that
that we're creating opportunity and access
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for historically marginalized populations
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who've been historically excluded
from some of those jobs.
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And the partnerships and the creativity
and the innovation that I'm seeing applied
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to workforce development
or to the accelerator and innovation
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programs that we see
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happening in places like the Tech Garden
and in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany.
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I think really the world is our oyster
in terms of what more we can do,
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not just within our Central New York
footprint but across the upstate corridor.
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So going back to
one of the other data points that we have
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from the Economic Forecast Report
...it may be a surprise to no one.
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Housing was a major concern
for many members
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of our business community,
and particularly
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those in the human and social services
sector are concerned about
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vulnerable populations securing housing.
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We have housing
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initiatives here at CenterState CEO
that we're working through.
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How do you see those progressing
into 2024?
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Listen,
I think we said this immediately after
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Micron make their announcement
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at the end of 2022 that
that in a lot of respects, housing is
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is as important as jobs
to our economic future.
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And I think we've seen that play out
over the course of last year.
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We have not built enough
housing in the last 12 months.
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We frankly haven't built enough
housing in the last 20 years.
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This is not just a Syracuse
and Central New York problem.
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This is a
this is a New York state problem.
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Frankly, it's a U.S.
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problem also.
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But, in particular,
certainly we're feeling the pain points.
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People who are living in our community
right now are feeling the pain points.
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We need a lot more housing.
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We need to be building somewhere on the
order of 2500 units of housing every year.
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We're building about 350 right now.
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Now, 2023 was a tough year
and maybe not illustrative
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of what our potential is because
we've seen interest rates move higher
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than they have at any point
in the last 20 years, making it
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that much more difficult
for someone to buy a home.
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But also, if you think about it,
that much more difficult for a developer
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to take out a loan and finance a
a multifamily development.
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So we we think that the number of units
that could have been built in
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2023 was a lot higher than the 300
or so that ultimately got built.
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And we're confident
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that as interest rates start to come down,
we will start to see more housing built.
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Right now, we have somewhere on the order
of 6,500 to 7,000 units of housing
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that developers are talking to our team
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about wanting to build
in the Central New York footprint.
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That's a huge number.
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If we can convert even a fraction of that,
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we're going to make a big dent
in the problem that we have.
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But this is not a one time problem.
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This is a trend
that we're going to have to keep pace
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with every year
going forward in this community,
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lest we run into some of the challenges
that folks have had in faster
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growing communities, places
like Boise and Chattanooga and Greensboro
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and in other communities
like Nashville that have
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that have grown faster
than their housing markets have.
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So, what are we doing about it?
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First, a couple of things.
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One,
we do have a Housing Task Force here
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at CenterState CEO.
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We've got 20 or 25 members from across
segments of our business community
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and our employer network
and are not-for-profit organizations
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who are working together
on trying to develop some policy
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opportunities
to move the needle on housing.
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Most importantly, what we want to be able
to do as a private sector
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based organization is to support
the good work that the city is doing.
00;13;48;08 - 00;13;50;05
They have undertaken a housing study.
00;13;50;05 - 00;13;52;07
They're in the Phase two right now.
00;13;52;07 - 00;13;56;17
The county is working with the same
consultant on a county-wide housing study.
00;13;56;19 - 00;14;00;14
New York State is also working on
a housing study for the Central New York
00;14;00;17 - 00;14;01;18
region as a whole.
00;14;01;18 - 00;14;05;20
And all of these are designed to nest
together to give us a complete picture
00;14;05;20 - 00;14;10;04
of what's happening,
what our current housing demand is, where
00;14;10;04 - 00;14;13;19
there is going to be need for housing,
and what kinds of housing options,
00;14;13;22 - 00;14;17;28
everything from affordable to market rate,
single family home, multifamily home.
00;14;18;01 - 00;14;25;12
We're going to need to build.
The fundamental challenge that I see with housing
00;14;25;15 - 00;14;26;21
is that
00;14;26;21 - 00;14;29;14
in New York State, we operate under a home
00;14;29;14 - 00;14;33;07
rule system,
which means every municipality controls,
00;14;33;09 - 00;14;37;00
to some extent
their land use and their zoning.
00;14;37;03 - 00;14;40;10
Right now, in Onondaga County,
I believe the number is
00;14;40;12 - 00;14;44;08
3% of land in Onondaga County
00;14;44;08 - 00;14;47;29
is zoned
for multifamily housing development.
00;14;48;02 - 00;14;52;17
That is not a lot when you think about it.
The reality is
00;14;52;17 - 00;14;58;08
we need exponentially more housing
00;14;58;10 - 00;15;01;06
in order to do that
in a way that doesn't create sprawl,
00;15;01;06 - 00;15;05;06
we need to embrace multifamily
housing and higher density
00;15;05;06 - 00;15;08;06
housing development than we've
historically been used to, right?
00;15;08;07 - 00;15;12;14
There's this idea that you can go
build a single family home on a lot,
00;15;12;20 - 00;15;13;25
and that's the American dream.
00;15;13;25 - 00;15;16;15
For some it is. For many it's not.
00;15;16;15 - 00;15;19;11
Demographics are changing,
people's tastes are changing.
00;15;19;11 - 00;15;22;21
But we simply cannot build enough housing,
whether it's
00;15;22;21 - 00;15;25;21
in Onondaga County or Oswego
or Cayuga or anywhere else,
00;15;25;26 - 00;15;30;07
without embracing a higher density
footprint of housing development.
00;15;30;10 - 00;15;34;09
In order to do that,
we need the proper zoning and the proper
00;15;34;09 - 00;15;37;11
land use planning to enable
for that to happen.
00;15;37;11 - 00;15;39;10
In areas
where there's existing infrastructure,
00;15;39;10 - 00;15;42;15
where there's water
pipes, sewer pipes, power access
00;15;42;15 - 00;15;46;16
to amenities like grocery stores
and health care services.
00;15;46;19 - 00;15;49;15
So one of the big things that I hope
that CenterState CEO can do over the course
00;15;49;15 - 00;15;53;04
of the next over the course
of the next year or two is to really work
00;15;53;04 - 00;15;56;27
with our local municipalities,
to work with our state, city, county,
00;15;57;00 - 00;16;01;24
our towns and our villages to find ways
to grow the amount of land
00;16;01;24 - 00;16;05;16
that is properly zoned for multi-family
housing in areas
00;16;05;16 - 00;16;07;07
where we have existing infrastructure.
00;16;07;07 - 00;16;11;08
If we can do that. If we can make it
easier for developers to build,
00;16;11;11 - 00;16;13;23
if we can give them more options
for building,
00;16;13;23 - 00;16;15;28
I'm confident that we're going to be able
to meet this moment.
00;16;15;28 - 00;16;20;00
But we've got to make progress
on that fundamental thing.
00;16;20;00 - 00;16;25;20
We need more land that is properly zoned
for multi-family housing in this region
00;16;25;22 - 00;16;28;22
or else we're going to struggle
to meet the demand that exists.
00;16;28;29 - 00;16;32;18
It's a major investment housing,
and there are a number of major
00;16;32;18 - 00;16;33;24
infrastructure investments
00;16;33;24 - 00;16;37;26
that this region needs in order to grow
sustainably and inclusively.
00;16;37;26 - 00;16;39;25
We've talked a little bit about it before
00;16;39;25 - 00;16;44;10
on some of your past episodes
and other episodes of season one,
00;16;44;12 - 00;16;47;14
but what are some of the investments
in our business
00;16;47;14 - 00;16;50;19
and civic infrastructure
that are top of mind for you right now?
00;16;50;19 - 00;16;54;05
What do we risk
if we don't invest in ourselves?
00;16;54;07 - 00;16;57;15
Yeah, the list is long
and unfortunately a long list
00;16;57;15 - 00;17;01;04
in public infrastructure
ends up with a pretty large price tag,
00;17;01;04 - 00;17;05;09
which is something that I think on one
hand is a little bit scary.
00;17;05;09 - 00;17;10;01
On the other hand, I think is reflective
of the challenge that we have,
00;17;10;03 - 00;17;12;19
all of us now
in CNY that we have to embrace.
00;17;12;19 - 00;17;16;09
We cannot think small, right?
00;17;16;10 - 00;17;19;10
We are not a small community.
00;17;19;12 - 00;17;20;29
We are a growing community.
00;17;20;29 - 00;17;24;04
We are going to be a much larger community
00;17;24;04 - 00;17;27;18
in the very near future,
not a smaller community.
00;17;27;18 - 00;17;29;15
And that's a mindset shift.
00;17;29;15 - 00;17;32;15
We need to now believe
00;17;32;19 - 00;17;35;04
that those civic investments
00;17;35;04 - 00;17;38;14
will pay returns for us
and that we can't grow without them.
00;17;38;16 - 00;17;40;23
Top of mind
for me is our health care infrastructure.
00;17;40;23 - 00;17;44;15
Many of our hospitals
00;17;44;15 - 00;17;47;26
and our health care systems
are under tremendous strain post-pandemic.
00;17;47;29 - 00;17;51;06
And there's a lot of reasons for it,
whether it's federal reimbursement rates
00;17;51;06 - 00;17;53;07
or some of the challenges
associated with COVID.
00;17;53;07 - 00;17;58;02
But we need a world class health care
infrastructure here in Central New York
00;17;58;02 - 00;18;00;12
if we're going to attract
the kind of talent that companies
00;18;00;12 - 00;18;04;05
like Micron and TTM
and these high tech manufacturers
00;18;04;05 - 00;18;08;00
that are growing and investing here
expect and demand.
00;18;08;02 - 00;18;10;19
These investments are going to be
in the billions of dollars.
00;18;10;19 - 00;18;14;14
And that scares
everyone from from our local partners
00;18;14;14 - 00;18;16;14
to our state partners
to our federal partners
00;18;16;14 - 00;18;19;23
who ultimately are going to have
to help us foot the bill.
00;18;19;25 - 00;18;21;01
But they're necessary.
00;18;21;01 - 00;18;23;05
Some of our health care systems
00;18;23;05 - 00;18;26;14
and some of our health care
facilities are extremely outdated.
00;18;26;16 - 00;18;29;01
There have been stories
in the Syracuse paper
00;18;29;01 - 00;18;31;14
over the course of the last year or two
about the wait
00;18;31;14 - 00;18;35;08
times in our emergency rooms,
which are frankly unacceptable.
00;18;35;08 - 00;18;40;03
I think that
we are going to need to embrace
00;18;40;03 - 00;18;43;02
this idea of investing billions
upon billions of dollars
00;18;43;02 - 00;18;44;24
in our health care infrastructure
going forward.
00;18;44;24 - 00;18;49;28
It's everything from physical facilities
all the way to building
00;18;49;28 - 00;18;54;00
infrastructure that allows our
our disparate regional health care systems
00;18;54;00 - 00;18;55;14
to work better together.
00;18;55;14 - 00;18;59;08
I will say that in the health care
space, over my time,
00;18;59;10 - 00;19;01;24
collaboration has not always been strong
in that sector.
00;19;01;24 - 00;19;03;05
There's been a lot of competition.
00;19;03;05 - 00;19;05;05
I think we have to break that habit.
00;19;05;05 - 00;19;08;18
I think we have to get better at
00;19;08;18 - 00;19;11;17
improving that
muscle memory for collaboration.
00;19;11;17 - 00;19;12;19
But it's not just health care.
00;19;12;19 - 00;19;14;28
We are going to need to figure out
00;19;14;28 - 00;19;17;16
how to invest
in more educational facilities, right?
00;19;17;16 - 00;19;19;14
If we really grow our population
00;19;19;14 - 00;19;23;19
by 100,000, 125,000 people
over the course of the next,
00;19;23;19 - 00;19;28;15
ten, 15, 20 years,
we're going to need more schools.
00;19;28;15 - 00;19;28;24
Right.
00;19;28;24 - 00;19;32;11
How do we do that in a way that maps
00;19;32;11 - 00;19;35;19
to the types of population growth
that we're going to anticipate?
00;19;35;19 - 00;19;38;01
I think that's a really important
conversation
00;19;38;01 - 00;19;41;08
that it's just starting to be had
with some of our school superintendents
00;19;41;08 - 00;19;45;12
and some of our policymakers
in Albany.
00;19;45;19 - 00;19;46;17
Certainly, we're excited
00;19;46;17 - 00;19;50;10
to see the new STEAM School coming online
that's going to add capacity for our
00;19;50;10 - 00;19;55;01
students who are interested
in science and the arts and technology.
00;19;55;04 - 00;19;57;15
But that one investment
alone is not going to be sufficient
00;19;57;15 - 00;19;58;22
to meet the future need.
00;19;58;22 - 00;20;02;14
And so,
health care infrastructure
00;20;02;17 - 00;20;04;09
and I'll just tell you,
you know, a conversation
00;20;04;09 - 00;20;07;17
that I was having with my 11-year-old son over the weekend,
00;20;07;17 - 00;20;10;17
we need more amenities for kids
and families.
00;20;10;18 - 00;20;14;04
I know we're going to see
groundbreaking this year
00;20;14;04 - 00;20;17;04
on the aquarium
at the Inner Harbor, which is
00;20;17;07 - 00;20;19;07
a great step in the right direction.
00;20;19;07 - 00;20;21;03
But we need more facilities like that.
00;20;21;03 - 00;20;24;02
We need more opportunities
if we are going to be
00;20;24;02 - 00;20;29;07
the growing, dynamic,
high-tech market that we are emerging as
00;20;29;07 - 00;20;32;06
we need to show up in that way
in every aspect of our life,
00;20;32;06 - 00;20;35;24
not just in our economy,
but in our culture and society
00;20;36;00 - 00;20;40;13
and our recreational opportunities
for people across the board.
00;20;40;16 - 00;20;41;26
We're going to take a quick break here.
00;20;41;26 - 00;20;46;03
In the meantime, here's
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Welcome back.
00;21;16;03 - 00;21;18;22
You're listening to Talk CNY,
presented by NBT Bank.
00;21;18;22 - 00;21;21;23
I'm Katie Zilkosky, director
of communications at CenterState CEO.
00;21;21;23 - 00;21;24;27
Joining me today is CenterState CEO
President Rob Simpson.
00;21;24;27 - 00;21;29;20
And we are talking about what
2024 could hold for the regional economy.
00;21;29;22 - 00;21;35;07
So, Rob, last year in this studio
for the very first podcast episode,
00;21;35;13 - 00;21;40;07
you said something Central New York needs
to be better at is telling its story.
00;21;40;09 - 00;21;43;00
So, do
you think we've gotten better at it
00;21;43;00 - 00;21;45;26
and what is the story
we need to tell in 2024?
00;21;45;26 - 00;21;47;26
I think we're getting better at it.
00;21;47;26 - 00;21;52;16
I think I think being excellent
at telling your story really stems
00;21;52;16 - 00;21;56;13
from fully understanding who you are
and where you're going.
00;21;56;13 - 00;21;57;08
And I think,
00;21;57;08 - 00;22;01;27
going back to the question
you posed earlier, getting our community
00;22;01;27 - 00;22;05;13
on the same page about telling
our story is hard when there's skepticism
00;22;05;15 - 00;22;08;29
and there's not a deep, deeply felt belief
00;22;09;01 - 00;22;10;26
that we're moving
in this positive direction,
00;22;10;26 - 00;22;15;14
this exciting new direction, this dynamic,
new set of investments that are coming
00;22;15;14 - 00;22;18;09
that are going to change our region
for the better going forward.
00;22;18;09 - 00;22;22;21
As we see that level of confidence rise,
I think we can count on other members
00;22;22;21 - 00;22;26;07
in our community
to be good ambassadors and faithful,
00;22;26;07 - 00;22;30;24
faithful narrators of the story
that we're writing together.
00;22;30;27 - 00;22;33;07
I think that that to me is really exciting
00;22;33;07 - 00;22;38;25
because I feel like anyone inside CenterState CEO
can stand up and scream from
00;22;38;25 - 00;22;42;13
the mountaintop about the great things
that are happening, or
00;22;42;16 - 00;22;46;11
the county executive or the mayor
or any of our other public officials.
00;22;46;13 - 00;22;48;17
And there's only so many people
that are going to listen. Right.
00;22;48;17 - 00;22;53;01
What what I think the average person in CNY
they listen to the conversation
00;22;53;01 - 00;22;55;27
that's happening in their neighborhood
or around their dinner table
00;22;55;27 - 00;22;58;28
and how are they feeling
and experiencing our community.
00;22;58;28 - 00;23;03;25
And the more people begin to experience
our community as a growth community,
00;23;03;25 - 00;23;08;24
the more people who experience
that sense of positivity, that hope
00;23;08;26 - 00;23;11;04
and they feel that
momentum, they're going to communicate
00;23;11;04 - 00;23;15;09
that to whoever, whether it's a spouse
or partner sitting across the dinner table
00;23;15;09 - 00;23;19;14
or whether it's a a colleague
who is at a trade
00;23;19;14 - 00;23;22;14
show on the other side of the world
that they may be talking to.
00;23;22;19 - 00;23;26;04
That’s ultimately what we're going
to need to get our message out.
00;23;26;07 - 00;23;29;28
I think at the end of 2023,
we relaunched a project
00;23;29;28 - 00;23;33;05
that CenterState CEO
has partnered on with Advance Media.
00;23;33;05 - 00;23;34;15
Something that I'm very excited about.
00;23;34;15 - 00;23;39;02
This is CNY,
thisisCNY.com
is a great opportunity
00;23;39;03 - 00;23;42;08
for all of our region's residents,
both employers
00;23;42;08 - 00;23;46;07
and those who live here
to share with their networks.
00;23;46;09 - 00;23;50;10
It really helps us tell the story
of the jobs and the growth happening here,
00;23;50;10 - 00;23;53;28
how people can get access to those jobs,
what's happening in our housing market,
00;23;53;28 - 00;23;57;05
what's happening with projects
like the aquarium in our community
00;23;57;05 - 00;24;00;12
amenities? Telling
little stories of people
00;24;00;12 - 00;24;04;19
who've chosen to move here
or move back here and amplifying those.
00;24;04;21 - 00;24;06;20
So, do I think we're getting better
at telling our stories?
00;24;06;20 - 00;24;10;10
Yes, I think we're going to be best
at telling our story when more people
00;24;10;10 - 00;24;13;24
fully believe in the direction that we're going.
00;24;13;24 - 00;24;15;10
But I feel progress.
00;24;15;10 - 00;24;20;06
I'm very hopeful that that story
is going to continue to evolve in a way
00;24;20;06 - 00;24;24;13
that more people feel comfortable
sharing.
00;24;24;13 - 00;24;27;21
Is there any shift in story
between 2023 and 2024?
00;24;27;21 - 00;24;29;09
Are we keeping the same message?
00;24;29;09 - 00;24;33;04
I think, you know, frankly,
my observation,
00;24;33;04 - 00;24;38;29
the growth that we are
anticipating is coming sooner, not later.
00;24;39;02 - 00;24;41;13
So, if anything,
I feel a greater sense of urgency
00;24;41;13 - 00;24;43;15
to get that
that message and narrative out.
00;24;43;15 - 00;24;46;12
I'm about to get on a plane here
in a couple of days
00;24;46;12 - 00;24;48;19
and I'm going out to the West Coast.
A number of folks
00;24;48;19 - 00;24;50;22
I know the county executive's
going to be out there.
00;24;50;22 - 00;24;53;16
Some of our partners from New York State,
our colleague Nora Spillane is
00;24;53;16 - 00;24;54;18
going to be joining me.
00;24;54;18 - 00;24;58;03
We're going out to a major industry
symposium for the semiconductor industry.
00;24;58;03 - 00;24;58;26
We went last year.
00;24;58;26 - 00;25;03;21
It was a great opportunity
to interact with all of the major
00;25;03;21 - 00;25;07;12
semiconductor companies and supply
chain partners from all over the world.
00;25;07;12 - 00;25;10;14
Not only will
we learn a lot about the state
00;25;10;14 - 00;25;13;26
of the semiconductor industry
that can help us be smart
00;25;13;26 - 00;25;17;08
about how to support Micron
and their investment here in this region,
00;25;17;10 - 00;25;20;07
but we're going to use the opportunity
to talk to a lot of their supply
00;25;20;07 - 00;25;23;17
chain partners
about locating here in Central New York.
00;25;23;17 - 00;25;25;25
This growth that we
00;25;25;25 - 00;25;27;29
are now seeing coming.
00;25;27;29 - 00;25;31;17
I think it is coming
sooner than people want.
00;25;31;17 - 00;25;34;17
I think the pace
and the scale of development
00;25;34;24 - 00;25;37;14
that I anticipate from Micron
and from other companies in the
00;25;37;14 - 00;25;40;20
microelectronics and semiconductor space,
I think is going to happen more quickly.
00;25;40;20 - 00;25;44;28
I think some of that has to do
with global geopolitical conditions.
00;25;45;00 - 00;25;48;23
We, unfortunately, are in a world
that is filled with conflict.
00;25;48;25 - 00;25;53;14
Conflict creates risk and uncertainty, and
that risk and uncertainty leads our U.S.
00;25;53;14 - 00;25;55;17
policymakers to say, ‘You know what?
00;25;55;17 - 00;26;00;02
We want to make sure that we have
a fully functioning,
00;26;00;02 - 00;26;03;19
top of the line domestic semiconductor
manufacturing industry here in the U.S.’
00;26;03;19 - 00;26;06;19
And it's the right move
from a national security standpoint.
00;26;06;26 - 00;26;10;23
So, there,
I think, is a lot of federal investment,
00;26;10;23 - 00;26;14;12
a lot of federal intention
going into accelerating the pace
00;26;14;12 - 00;26;18;28
of development because of the uncertainty
that's happening in the world around us.
00;26;19;05 - 00;26;21;28
So my top line message is I think it is
00;26;21;28 - 00;26;25;02
coming faster than people anticipate.
00;26;25;02 - 00;26;29;09
That is both exciting
and a little terrifying,
00;26;29;09 - 00;26;31;12
but we don't really have a choice.
00;26;31;12 - 00;26;34;28
We need to step up and figure out
how to manage that growth in
00;26;35;01 - 00;26;39;23
in the best way and translate that growth
to a positive economic
00;26;39;23 - 00;26;44;04
and social outcomes for as many people
in our community as we possibly can.
00;26;44;07 - 00;26;45;16
It can feel really big.
00;26;45;16 - 00;26;48;15
I mean, all of this conversation
00;26;48;15 - 00;26;52;09
between geopolitical circumstances
and macro
00;26;52;09 - 00;26;55;17
and micro economic influences,
it all is a lot to take in.
00;26;55;21 - 00;26;59;28
So looking ahead to 2024,
are there little moments
00;26;59;28 - 00;27;01;29
that make you excited
coming down the line,
00;27;01;29 - 00;27;05;17
something that you know,
you have on your calendar
00;27;05;17 - 00;27;09;19
or maybe that you just know
is in the next few months?
00;27;09;19 - 00;27;14;00
That is something that you're
looking forward to and are excited about.
00;27;14;03 - 00;27;16;20
That is symbolic of the Central New York
journey.
00;27;16;20 - 00;27;19;29
Yeah, I think the short answer is yes.
00;27;19;29 - 00;27;21;08
I think there are a lot of them.
00;27;21;08 - 00;27;24;01
One that is very near
and dear to my heart.
00;27;24;01 - 00;27;27;04
We anticipate that in 2024 we're going
00;27;27;04 - 00;27;31;22
to complete construction
on a fully renovated Tech Garden.
00;27;31;24 - 00;27;35;17
That building that was
that was first renovated from an abandoned
00;27;35;17 - 00;27;42;01
parking garage into an incubator back
in 2004 is getting a complete makeover.
00;27;42;01 - 00;27;45;07
If you drive by down Harrison Street
right now, you'll see the building
00;27;45;07 - 00;27;47;02
completely ripped apart.
00;27;47;02 - 00;27;50;19
In the next week
or two, we're going to start to see steel
00;27;50;21 - 00;27;55;06
go up on the roof, and you're going to see
this new structure start to take shape.
00;27;55;09 - 00;27;58;21
That's incredibly exciting for me
because it is something
00;27;58;21 - 00;28;02;28
that is emblematic of the strategy
that we set.
00;28;03;00 - 00;28;06;27
The strategy being
we need to start more companies
00;28;06;27 - 00;28;10;05
than we lose in Central New York
if we want to win the economic future.
00;28;10;08 - 00;28;13;27
And the Tech Garden embodies that spirit
of entrepreneurship and innovation.
00;28;13;29 - 00;28;15;19
And to be able to make this
00;28;15;19 - 00;28;16;04
what is going to
00;28;16;04 - 00;28;19;28
be more than a $30 million investment
in completely renovating that space
00;28;19;28 - 00;28;23;12
and making it a state of the art incubator
and accelerator
00;28;23;14 - 00;28;25;03
is something that I'm incredibly proud of.
00;28;25;03 - 00;28;30;06
We're actually, as an organization,
we're very focused in 2024
00;28;30;06 - 00;28;32;04
on making sure that when we
00;28;32;04 - 00;28;36;01
reopen those doors, we do it in the most
complete and comprehensive way we can.
00;28;36;01 - 00;28;39;06
But that's something that I think 2024
00;28;39;06 - 00;28;42;12
is going to bring the opportunity
to reopen that facility.
00;28;42;12 - 00;28;44;29
And I'm I'm wildly excited.
00;28;44;29 - 00;28;49;19
I'm also pretty pretty jazzed
about the opportunity that I anticipate
00;28;49;22 - 00;28;53;04
in 2024 to travel across the ocean
most likely to Asia,
00;28;53;04 - 00;28;57;06
whether that's Singapore, Taiwan
or other
00;28;57;06 - 00;29;01;23
places, in Asia to to talk directly
with a number of supply chain companies
00;29;01;23 - 00;29;04;14
for Micron.
We're in the early stages of starting
00;29;04;14 - 00;29;07;05
to talk about what those kind of trade
missions might be.
00;29;07;05 - 00;29;09;04
Something that we would partner with,
00;29;09;04 - 00;29;13;02
with the county and with the state
and and with Micron on.
00;29;13;04 - 00;29;14;06
But, you know, that's a
00;29;14;06 - 00;29;17;28
that's a really fun thing to be able
to think about traveling across,
00;29;18;01 - 00;29;22;15
you know, tens of thousands of miles,
traveling across oceans and meeting people
00;29;22;15 - 00;29;26;05
that could be new partners of ours
and having the chance to tell them
00;29;26;05 - 00;29;29;05
the story of what's happening here,
similar to what we did with Micron.
00;29;29;05 - 00;29;31;22
I'll tell you
that one of the most exciting things
00;29;31;22 - 00;29;34;26
that I had an opportunity to do during
the whole Micron recruitment process
00;29;34;26 - 00;29;38;08
was just the chance
to to tell Micron who we were
00;29;38;08 - 00;29;42;25
and what we've been trying to accomplish
and where we think we're going.
00;29;42;28 - 00;29;44;22
That was
so much fun because this organization
00;29;44;22 - 00;29;47;22
has been at the center of trying
to craft that narrative for a long time.
00;29;47;24 - 00;29;50;18
And so the chance to do that again
with other partners
00;29;50;18 - 00;29;52;17
that we hope to welcome
from all over the world
00;29;52;17 - 00;29;55;17
to CNY work is something
that I'm really looking forward to.
00;29;55;17 - 00;29;56;29
Obviously, I love to travel.
00;29;56;29 - 00;29;58;15
I love different cultures.
00;29;58;15 - 00;30;00;08
I love to see new places.
00;30;00;08 - 00;30;03;02
But most importantly, I love to be
an ambassador for this community.
00;30;03;02 - 00;30;06;01
And I'm really looking forward
to that.
00;30;06;01 - 00;30;08;03
Thank you so much
for joining us here today
00;30;08;03 - 00;30;11;12
and for kicking off season two
with a good outlook on 2024.
00;30;11;17 - 00;30;13;15
Thank you, Katie.
00;30;13;15 - 00;30;16;28
Center State CEO's podcast Talk CNY,
presented by NBT Bank.
00;30;17;04 - 00;30;21;21
is available on clickCNY.com
and all major podcast platforms.
00;30;21;23 - 00;30;25;10
After each episode you can join us on
Click where we'll continue to talk
00;30;25;10 - 00;30;29;11
about this topic and provide
additional resources and links. In Click,
00;30;29;12 - 00;30;33;13
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or watch every episode of Talk CNY
00;30;33;15 - 00;30;36;11
Click is CenterState CEO’s Digital Chamber platform,
00;30;36;11 - 00;30;40;03
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00;30;40;05 - 00;30;41;11
For new episode reminders,
00;30;41;11 - 00;30;44;20
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00;30;44;22 - 00;30;50;12
If you're enjoying Talk CNY, consider leaving a quick review or a five star rating.
00;50;33;13 - 00;50;35;23
the audio drifts away.
00;50;35;23 - 00;50;38;02
So just be, can we move this up or not?
00;50;38;02 - 00;50;40;29
No, that's as long as the arm goes.
00;50;40;29 - 00;50;42;11
You can move that though.
00;50;42;11 - 00;50;45;09
Like that part like this.
00;50;45;09 - 00;50;49;09
Pull the lever here.
00;50;49;12 - 00;50;50;02
Okay.
00;50;50;02 - 00;50;50;21
You're going.
00;50;50;21 - 00;50;54;21
Okay. Just
00;50;54;24 - 00;50;56;20
so you could do that.
00;50;56;20 - 00;50;58;27
He's good.
00;50;58;27 - 00;51;00;15
Thanks. You all right?
00;51;00;15 - 00;51;03;08
I can get out and we are recording.
00;51;03;08 - 00;51;04;28
Are you going on the phone to Britney?
00;51;04;28 - 00;51;07;28
Yes. Okay.
00;51;08;00 - 00;51;09;12
All right, good.
00;51;09;12 - 00;51;11;06
Thanks.
00;51;11;06 - 00;51;13;03
No pressure.
00;51;13;03 - 00;51;15;09
I'm going to
00;51;15;09 - 00;51;17;02
break for collective or collective.
00;51;17;02 - 00;51;18;10
Leg's broken.
00;51;18;10 - 00;51;19;13
All right.
00;51;19;13 - 00;51;20;16
Do you want to clap?
00;51;20;16 - 00;51;23;12
Does that make you feel comfortable
or you want to start this new year?
00;51;23;12 - 00;51;26;04
No club?
00;51;26;04 - 00;51;27;08
No, no, no.
00;51;27;08 - 00;51;31;04
But clap.
00;51;31;06 - 00;51;33;10
Thanks for joining us for a taxi
and why I'm guilty.
00;51;33;10 - 00;51;37;18
Sokolski, director of communications
at Center Stage CEO and your new host.
00;51;37;21 - 00;51;41;08
This year, we are starting
our first episode by taking a look forward
00;51;41;08 - 00;51;45;15
at the year 2024 ahead, but
also taking a little look back at 2023.
00;51;45;17 - 00;51;49;11
Joining me for this conversation
is our state CEOs, President Rob Simpson.
00;51;49;11 - 00;51;51;08
Rob, thanks for being here. Well,
thanks so much for having me.
00;51;51;08 - 00;51;53;06
I'm really looking forward
to kicking off another season.
00;51;53;06 - 00;51;54;07
Yeah, so am I.
00;51;54;07 - 00;51;56;16
I'm excited to be here
as your host this year.
00;51;56;16 - 00;51;59;19
So like I said,
we are starting off with 2023,
00;51;59;19 - 00;52;02;15
taking a little look back
before we look into the future.
00;52;02;15 - 00;52;05;12
23 was a big year for central New York.
00;52;05;12 - 00;52;06;20
So what happened?
00;52;06;20 - 00;52;10;12
Can you give me a few of the highlights
of 2023 in your eyes?
00;52;10;19 - 00;52;14;02
man, I think 2023 in a lot of ways.
00;52;14;04 - 00;52;17;24
I think we think now we think about 2022
00;52;17;24 - 00;52;21;25
October, the Micron announcement
as a high watermark for Central New York.
00;52;21;25 - 00;52;26;17
In a lot of ways,
I think 2023 surpassed those expectations.
00;52;26;19 - 00;52;30;18
What I loved about 2023
was that we use the opportunity
00;52;30;18 - 00;52;34;16
to just reinforce the momentum that we're
building here in central New York.
00;52;34;18 - 00;52;36;11
It's not just Micron, obviously.
00;52;36;11 - 00;52;38;05
That's the biggest thing
that we have going in.
00;52;38;05 - 00;52;39;21
One of the most important things
00;52;39;21 - 00;52;43;27
to happen to our economy in in decades,
if not ever.
00;52;44;00 - 00;52;46;12
But 2023 brought a whole host of new wins.
00;52;46;12 - 00;52;49;12
We opened City Center in downtown
Syracuse,
00;52;49;15 - 00;52;53;07
one of the last large
remaining vacant buildings in downtown
00;52;53;07 - 00;52;57;03
that hadn't been redeveloped is now
this beautiful new office space for Hayner
00;52;57;03 - 00;53;00;12
Hoyt and C TAC
in a number of other businesses.
00;53;00;14 - 00;53;02;04
And that was incredibly exciting.
00;53;02;04 - 00;53;05;06
We were able to announce
a major investment
00;53;05;06 - 00;53;08;12
from T Technologies,
a California based company
00;53;08;12 - 00;53;13;09
that makes them makes communications,
hardware and components
00;53;13;12 - 00;53;17;03
there in the radar
and sensing space microelectronics.
00;53;17;03 - 00;53;18;15
And they announced $110
00;53;18;15 - 00;53;22;20
million investment, creating a couple
hundred new jobs here in central New York.
00;53;22;20 - 00;53;24;05
That's remarkably exciting.
00;53;24;05 - 00;53;26;27
Again, stacking
wins and building momentum.
00;53;26;27 - 00;53;27;21
And of course,
00;53;27;21 - 00;53;31;22
we had at the end of the year,
we had this remarkable accomplishment,
00;53;31;25 - 00;53;34;20
Central New York, along with our partners
in Rochester, Buffalo,
00;53;34;20 - 00;53;38;27
and I think a designated
as a federal tech hub,
00;53;39;00 - 00;53;43;14
one of only 30 federal tech hubs
designated across the nation.
00;53;43;16 - 00;53;47;21
That designation comes with an opportunity
now to compete for up to $50 million
00;53;47;21 - 00;53;51;07
in federal funding to support initiatives
across our thruway corridor.
00;53;51;09 - 00;53;55;09
And in it opens the door
to massive amounts of downstream federal
00;53;55;09 - 00;53;58;16
funding that we would have never otherwise
been able to compete for.
00;53;58;18 - 00;54;03;15
I think to me, 2023
was the exclamation point,
00;54;03;17 - 00;54;05;21
basically letting the world
00;54;05;21 - 00;54;09;14
know that 2022 wasn't a fluke,
Micron wasn't a fluke.
00;54;09;14 - 00;54;12;14
They came here
because this was a region on the rise,
00;54;12;17 - 00;54;15;11
and in 2023 I think we demonstrated that
00;54;15;11 - 00;54;19;28
our ceiling is a lot,
you know, really far above our head.
00;54;20;04 - 00;54;25;28
Yeah, I mean, and on that note, looking
into the future a little bit here in 2024,
00;54;26;00 - 00;54;28;25
it sounds like we have a good steady
foundation,
00;54;28;25 - 00;54;32;15
a lot of momentum,
like you said, going into this new year.
00;54;32;17 - 00;54;35;18
And to get a little bit of perspective
from a lot of our members
00;54;35;18 - 00;54;38;29
each year,
we conduct the economic forecast report.
00;54;39;02 - 00;54;40;01
And right now.
00;54;40;01 - 00;54;40;18
So we went out,
00;54;40;18 - 00;54;43;27
we talked to members of the business
community, took a survey from them.
00;54;43;27 - 00;54;48;05
We take all that data from them, compile
it into a report that then gets released
00;54;48;05 - 00;54;51;11
at the economic forecast
breakfast on January 31st.
00;54;51;14 - 00;54;53;10
So that report is still being put
together.
00;54;53;10 - 00;54;55;07
It's very detailed lots that goes into it.
00;54;55;07 - 00;54;56;00
But we do have some
00;54;56;00 - 00;54;59;25
preliminary data points that we can share
with our listeners today.
00;54;59;27 - 00;55;03;14
The first one I want to look at
is some of that.
00;55;03;16 - 00;55;04;27
You said Fluke earlier
00;55;04;27 - 00;55;08;20
that maybe some people
could think that in the very beginning.
00;55;08;23 - 00;55;10;08
So there was some skepticism.
00;55;10;08 - 00;55;12;16
Our last year's report
showed that shocking.
00;55;12;16 - 00;55;14;12
Yes, that's right.
00;55;14;12 - 00;55;17;24
But there was some skepticism around
some of these really big major projects.
00;55;17;26 - 00;55;19;25
Will they come to fruition?
00;55;19;25 - 00;55;23;14
But this year's report,
68% of our respondents said that they were
00;55;23;14 - 00;55;26;14
either somewhat more confident
or much more confident
00;55;26;14 - 00;55;31;06
that these major economic development
projects will come to fruition.
00;55;31;08 - 00;55;34;11
So what do you think made the difference
in going
00;55;34;11 - 00;55;37;11
from skepticism to confidence
for a lot of our community?
00;55;37;13 - 00;55;40;20
Well, listen, I think I've been doing
I've been doing this
00;55;40;20 - 00;55;41;25
long enough to know that, you know,
00;55;41;25 - 00;55;44;20
skepticism is just an inherent
characteristic here, essentially.
00;55;44;20 - 00;55;48;28
Org I do think that the community
is making progress and at not
00;55;48;28 - 00;55;52;24
always thinking that the sky is falling
when good news is being announced.
00;55;52;26 - 00;55;55;23
I've seen the way people are reacting
to some of these announcements.
00;55;55;23 - 00;55;58;22
It's is very different right now,
which is very rewarding.
00;55;58;28 - 00;56;00;24
That said,
I think there's a couple of things
00;56;00;24 - 00;56;03;21
as it relates to Micron specifically.
00;56;03;21 - 00;56;08;04
The community had a chance over the course
of 2023 to get to know this company.
00;56;08;06 - 00;56;12;12
They got to watch the company
spend massive amounts of time
00;56;12;12 - 00;56;15;17
here in central New York to start to hire
people here in central New York
00;56;15;20 - 00;56;18;25
to engage with different community
based organizations and to
00;56;18;29 - 00;56;23;05
and to make significant investments,
millions of dollars into clean room.
00;56;23;05 - 00;56;28;11
And it also see,
you know, ten, $10 million into
00;56;28;14 - 00;56;31;09
STEM education, science,
technology, engineering, arts
00;56;31;09 - 00;56;34;17
and math, including the STEM school
in downtown Syracuse.
00;56;34;20 - 00;56;38;02
You know, big, major commitments
that the company is making in workforce
00;56;38;02 - 00;56;41;29
and education and community engagement
that I think
00;56;42;01 - 00;56;44;23
taken together over time,
00;56;44;23 - 00;56;48;18
reinforced perhaps a narrative that, okay,
this company,
00;56;48;25 - 00;56;52;17
they're real,
they're here, they're in this with us.
00;56;52;19 - 00;56;56;12
Whereas, you know, in October of 2022,
people said, okay, it's a nice,
00;56;56;12 - 00;56;59;23
splashy announcement, but, you know,
what are they really going to do now?
00;56;59;23 - 00;57;04;10
We've had a chance to see it,
I think, more over in 2023.
00;57;04;12 - 00;57;05;23
The community had a chance
00;57;05;23 - 00;57;09;17
to see that we weren't
putting all our eggs in the micron basket.
00;57;09;17 - 00;57;12;15
Obviously, as we said before,
it is the biggest thing
00;57;12;15 - 00;57;14;29
and the most important thing
that we are working on.
00;57;14;29 - 00;57;19;11
That said, you know, we continue to put
these wins together, small businesses
00;57;19;13 - 00;57;22;04
expanding and companies
00;57;22;04 - 00;57;25;12
hiring the tech hubs designation
00;57;25;15 - 00;57;29;29
that I hope project confidence
to our community,
00;57;30;02 - 00;57;33;28
that our elected officials are public
sector partners, are private sector
00;57;33;28 - 00;57;38;17
partners, are working in concert with one
another to execute on our strategy.
00;57;38;17 - 00;57;40;24
It's not about projects, right?
00;57;40;24 - 00;57;44;07
Each of these projects is the
is is a remarkable accomplishment.
00;57;44;07 - 00;57;45;15
It's something to celebrate.
00;57;45;15 - 00;57;48;13
But these projects are the outcome
00;57;48;13 - 00;57;52;04
of investment in strategy
over a long period of time
00;57;52;07 - 00;57;55;14
to rebuild our center city,
to focus on microelectronics,
00;57;55;14 - 00;57;58;29
to put central New York back
into a place of economic
00;57;59;01 - 00;58;01;26
we global relevance
00;58;01;26 - 00;58;05;08
and and I
and I hope that sustained activity,
00;58;05;08 - 00;58;09;26
sustained strategic investments are
what is fueling some of that confidence.
00;58;09;28 - 00;58;13;25
But I think we also can't ignore the fact
that it is
00;58;13;25 - 00;58;17;06
increasingly likely that
00;58;17;09 - 00;58;20;11
that our economy is going to thread this
00;58;20;11 - 00;58;23;28
almost impossible needle right at the end,
at the beginning of last year.
00;58;23;28 - 00;58;26;28
And our forecast, I remember the
00;58;26;28 - 00;58;28;01
the speaker that we had
00;58;28;01 - 00;58;31;25
at our forecast breakfast talking about,
you know, this really difficult needle
00;58;31;25 - 00;58;36;19
that the Fed had to thread in order
to bring about a soft landing rate
00;58;36;21 - 00;58;41;16
where they raise interest rates,
but don't push us into a recession.
00;58;41;19 - 00;58;44;00
And increasingly, it looks like that's
what's going to happen.
00;58;44;00 - 00;58;48;01
Interest rates have have stayed
high, inflation has come down,
00;58;48;08 - 00;58;51;01
Jobs and economic performance
have stayed strong.
00;58;51;01 - 00;58;54;18
And and I think that
those macroeconomic conditions
00;58;54;20 - 00;58;58;02
are also part of what's contributing
to people's confidence.
00;58;58;04 - 00;59;00;27
Now, you mentioned just now
00;59;00;27 - 00;59;04;13
that a lot of this is people
working together on individual projects.
00;59;04;13 - 00;59;08;14
Is there a moment of collaboration
over the past year
00;59;08;14 - 00;59;10;24
that you can think of that made
you think this is
00;59;10;24 - 00;59;14;03
why people are more confident, this is why
this is working, where there were
00;59;14;07 - 00;59;17;09
members coming together
to make something bigger
00;59;17;09 - 00;59;21;21
than just an individual project
or building or opening a new storefront.
00;59;21;27 - 00;59;25;22
Yeah, I mean, I think in a lot of respects
to me, the collaboration that we had
00;59;25;22 - 00;59;28;23
with Ithaca,
Buffalo, Rochester around the tech hubs
00;59;28;23 - 00;59;31;24
designation was maybe one of those eye
opening moments.
00;59;31;24 - 00;59;34;11
I think I've spent a lot of my career
here in session.
00;59;34;11 - 00;59;37;10
You are talking about how we as
a community are central to our community.
00;59;37;10 - 00;59;40;09
Our Syracuse community
needs to work more closely together,
00;59;40;12 - 00;59;42;12
and I'm really proud of the fact
that we are.
00;59;42;12 - 00;59;43;06
Just the other day,
00;59;43;06 - 00;59;48;03
the county executive was inaugurated
for his next term and he talked about how,
00;59;48;05 - 00;59;51;14
you know, a lot of our success
is the result of collaboration, right?
00;59;51;17 - 00;59;54;17
We've come a long way
within our Central York market.
00;59;54;17 - 00;59;58;00
But what I love
and what gives me so much optimism
00;59;58;00 - 01;00;02;00
for the future is that we now
see that collaborative mindset shifting
01;00;02;02 - 01;00;05;24
not just within our region,
but across the upstate New York footprint.
01;00;05;26 - 01;00;10;20
And if we can successfully collaborate
with Rochester and Buffalo,
01;00;10;20 - 01;00;14;05
if we can collaborate
better with Utica, Rome, if we can partner
01;00;14;05 - 01;00;17;11
with Albany and other parts of our state,
01;00;17;13 - 01;00;19;21
we are going to be
in a much stronger position
01;00;19;21 - 01;00;23;11
as an entire upstate
New York corridor for the future.
01;00;23;11 - 01;00;28;04
And so the fact that we came together
for the first time in my career
01;00;28;06 - 01;00;32;27
and strategically set out to partner
with Buffalo and Rochester
01;00;32;29 - 01;00;36;29
on a major federal opportunity,
we put a great application together.
01;00;36;29 - 01;00;40;12
And not only that,
but we won that designation right.
01;00;40;12 - 01;00;44;05
To me, that just reinforces
the power of collaboration, right?
01;00;44;06 - 01;00;47;06
When you do something hard,
you're not sure if it's going to work,
01;00;47;07 - 01;00;51;04
and then you get rewarded by getting this
this important federal designation.
01;00;51;07 - 01;00;54;10
I think it makes us all more likely
to want to come back to the table
01;00;54;10 - 01;00;56;21
and collaborate
on something else down the road.
01;00;56;21 - 01;00;57;15
And already
01;00;57;15 - 01;01;00;20
we are working on a number of the exciting
collaborations with our partners
01;01;00;20 - 01;01;04;20
across the Thruway corridor for 2024
that I'm I'm really excited about in.
01;01;04;20 - 01;01;07;15
Is that within tech hubs
or is that outside of tech?
01;01;07;15 - 01;01;08;27
It's what opens a door, right?
01;01;08;27 - 01;01;11;04
It's within tech
hubs, it's adjacent to tech hubs.
01;01;11;04 - 01;01;14;07
I think there's a lot of discussion
right now amongst our thruway corridor
01;01;14;07 - 01;01;18;15
partners around workforce development
and how we can up our game
01;01;18;17 - 01;01;22;19
in terms of ensuring that our communities
are meeting the moment.
01;01;22;19 - 01;01;27;17
Employers right now have thousands
of job openings and we need to help them
01;01;27;19 - 01;01;30;25
access the labor pools
necessary to fill those jobs.
01;01;30;27 - 01;01;35;02
But we also need to ensure that
that we're creating opportunity and access
01;01;35;02 - 01;01;36;26
for historically marginalized populations
01;01;36;26 - 01;01;39;26
who have been historically excluded
from some of those jobs.
01;01;40;00 - 01;01;44;24
And the partnerships and the creativity
and the innovation that I'm seeing applied
01;01;44;26 - 01;01;49;08
to workforce development
or to the accelerator and innovation
01;01;49;08 - 01;01;50;06
programs that we see
01;01;50;06 - 01;01;53;22
happening in places like the Tech Garden
and in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany.
01;01;53;24 - 01;01;58;06
I think really the world is our oyster
in terms of what more we can do,
01;01;58;08 - 01;02;02;09
not just within our Central York footprint
but across the upstate corridor.
01;02;02;12 - 01;02;05;12
So going back to one of the other
data points that we have
01;02;05;12 - 01;02;08;23
from the economic forecasts report,
01;02;08;25 - 01;02;10;15
So maybe a surprise to No. One.
01;02;10;15 - 01;02;14;09
Housing was a major concern
for many members
01;02;14;09 - 01;02;16;07
of our business community,
and particularly
01;02;16;07 - 01;02;18;14
those in the human and social services
sector
01;02;18;14 - 01;02;22;13
are concerned about vulnerable populations
securing housing.
01;02;22;16 - 01;02;26;26
We have a number
or we have housing initiatives here
01;02;26;29 - 01;02;29;03
that our state's young
that we're working through.
01;02;29;03 - 01;02;32;03
How do you see those progressing
into 2024?
01;02;32;07 - 01;02;37;01
Listen, I think we said this immediately
after, like from either announcement
01;02;37;01 - 01;02;42;11
at the end of 2020 to that that
in a lot of respects, housing is the is,
01;02;42;14 - 01;02;45;11
you know, is as important as jobs
to our economic future.
01;02;45;11 - 01;02;49;07
And and I think we've seen that play out
over the course of last year.
01;02;49;07 - 01;02;51;19
We have not built enough
housing in the last 12 months.
01;02;51;19 - 01;02;55;06
We frankly haven't built enough
housing in the last 20 years.
01;02;55;09 - 01;02;57;28
This is not just a Syracuse
and Central Europe problem.
01;02;57;28 - 01;02;59;23
This is a
this is a New York state problem.
01;02;59;23 - 01;03;01;12
Frankly, it's a U.S.
01;03;01;12 - 01;03;04;21
problem also. But in particular,
01;03;04;24 - 01;03;06;28
certainly we're feeling the pain points.
01;03;06;28 - 01;03;10;05
People who are living in our community
right now are feeling the pain points.
01;03;10;07 - 01;03;11;18
We need a lot more housing.
01;03;11;18 - 01;03;16;04
We need to be building somewhere on the
order of 2500 units of housing every year.
01;03;16;04 - 01;03;19;03
We're building about 350 right now.
01;03;19;04 - 01;03;23;20
Now, in 2023 was a tough year
and maybe not illustrative of what
01;03;23;22 - 01;03;26;17
our potential is,
because we've seen interest rates
01;03;26;17 - 01;03;29;26
move higher than they have at any point
in the last 20 years, making it
01;03;29;28 - 01;03;32;23
that much more difficult
for someone to buy a home.
01;03;32;23 - 01;03;36;25
But also, if you think about it,
that much more difficult for a developer
01;03;36;28 - 01;03;40;27
to take out a loan
and finance a multifamily development.
01;03;40;29 - 01;03;44;29
So we we think that the number of units
that could have been built in
01;03;44;29 - 01;03;49;15
2023 was a lot higher than the 300
or so that ultimately got built.
01;03;49;17 - 01;03;50;08
And we're confident
01;03;50;08 - 01;03;54;00
that as interest rates start to come down,
we will start to see more housing built.
01;03;54;00 - 01;03;59;02
Right now we have somewhere on the order
of 6500 to 7000 units of housing
01;03;59;05 - 01;04;01;04
that developers are talking to our team
01;04;01;04 - 01;04;04;04
about wanting to build
in the Central York footprint.
01;04;04;06 - 01;04;05;08
That's a huge number.
01;04;05;08 - 01;04;06;27
If we can convert even a fraction of that,
01;04;06;27 - 01;04;09;05
we're going to make a big dent
in the problem that we have.
01;04;09;05 - 01;04;11;04
But this is not a one time problem.
01;04;11;04 - 01;04;14;04
This is a trend
that we're going to have to keep pace with
01;04;14;04 - 01;04;17;18
every year going forward in this community
less.
01;04;17;18 - 01;04;21;03
We run into some of the challenges
that folks have had in faster
01;04;21;03 - 01;04;24;22
growing communities, places
like Boise and Chattanooga and Greensboro
01;04;24;22 - 01;04;28;03
and in other communities
like that, that Nashville
01;04;28;11 - 01;04;32;10
that have been have grown faster
than their housing markets have.
01;04;32;12 - 01;04;34;16
So what are we doing about it?
01;04;34;16 - 01;04;35;24
First, a couple of things.
01;04;35;24 - 01;04;39;29
One, we do have a housing task force here
at Sutter State, so we've got 20
01;04;39;29 - 01;04;43;25
or 25 members from across segments of our
of our business community
01;04;43;25 - 01;04;46;24
and our employer network
and are not for profit organizations
01;04;46;25 - 01;04;50;19
who are working together
on trying to develop some policy
01;04;50;21 - 01;04;53;14
opportunities
to move the needle on housing.
01;04;53;14 - 01;04;57;08
Most importantly, what we want to be able
to do as a private sector
01;04;57;08 - 01;05;01;01
based organization is to support
the good work that the city is doing.
01;05;01;01 - 01;05;02;28
They have undertaken a housing study.
01;05;02;28 - 01;05;05;01
They're in the phase two right now.
01;05;05;01 - 01;05;09;10
The county is working with the same
consultant on county wide housing study.
01;05;09;13 - 01;05;13;05
New York State is also working on
a housing study for the central New York
01;05;13;08 - 01;05;14;09
region as a whole.
01;05;14;09 - 01;05;18;11
And all of these are designed to nest
together to give us a complete picture
01;05;18;11 - 01;05;22;06
of what's happening,
what our current housing demand is,
01;05;22;08 - 01;05;24;13
where
there is going to be need for housing,
01;05;24;13 - 01;05;27;16
and what kinds of housing options
for everything from affordable
01;05;27;16 - 01;05;30;16
to market rate, single family
home, multifamily home.
01;05;30;23 - 01;05;32;18
We're going to need to build
01;05;32;20 - 01;05;34;09
the fundamental
01;05;34;09 - 01;05;38;03
challenge that I see with housing
01;05;38;06 - 01;05;40;19
is that in New York State
01;05;40;19 - 01;05;45;29
we operate under a home rule system,
which means every municipality controls,
01;05;46;01 - 01;05;49;22
to some extent
their land use and their zoning
01;05;49;25 - 01;05;53;02
right now
inundated county, I believe the number is
01;05;53;04 - 01;05;56;29
3% of of land in a county
01;05;56;29 - 01;06;00;22
is zoned for multifamily
housing development.
01;06;00;25 - 01;06;03;14
Not on that is not a lot
when you think about it.
01;06;03;14 - 01;06;06;12
And the reality is
01;06;06;12 - 01;06;11;01
we need exponentially more housing
01;06;11;03 - 01;06;13;28
in order to do that
in a way that doesn't create sprawl,
01;06;13;28 - 01;06;17;27
we need to embrace multifamily
housing and higher density
01;06;17;27 - 01;06;20;27
housing development than we've
historically been used to, right?
01;06;20;29 - 01;06;25;05
There's this idea that you can go
build a single family home on a lot,
01;06;25;12 - 01;06;28;01
and that's the American dream.
And for some it is.
01;06;28;01 - 01;06;29;07
For many it's not.
01;06;29;07 - 01;06;32;03
Demographics are changing,
people's tastes are changing.
01;06;32;03 - 01;06;35;13
But we simply cannot build enough housing,
whether it's not like
01;06;35;13 - 01;06;38;13
a county or Oswego
or Cayuga or anywhere else,
01;06;38;18 - 01;06;42;29
without embracing a higher density
footprint of housing development.
01;06;43;02 - 01;06;46;29
In order to do that,
we need the proper zoning and the proper
01;06;47;01 - 01;06;51;13
land use planning to enable for that
to happen in areas where there is existing
01;06;51;13 - 01;06;55;06
infrastructure, whether it's water
pipes, sewer pipes, power access
01;06;55;06 - 01;06;59;08
to amenities like grocery stores
and health care services.
01;06;59;11 - 01;07;02;09
So one of the big things that I hope
that center state can do over the course
01;07;02;09 - 01;07;05;28
of the next over the course
of the next year or two is to really work
01;07;05;28 - 01;07;09;21
with our local municipalities,
to work with our state, city, county,
01;07;09;24 - 01;07;14;16
our towns and our villages to find ways
to grow the amount of land
01;07;14;16 - 01;07;15;23
that is properly zoned
01;07;15;23 - 01;07;19;29
for multi-family housing in areas
where we have existing infrastructure.
01;07;19;29 - 01;07;23;29
If we can do that, if we can make it
easier for developers to build,
01;07;24;02 - 01;07;26;15
if we can give them more options
for building,
01;07;26;15 - 01;07;29;09
I'm confident that we're going to be able
to meet this moment.
01;07;29;09 - 01;07;32;21
But we've got to make progress
on that fundamental thing.
01;07;32;21 - 01;07;38;11
We need more land that is properly zoned
for multi-family housing in this region
01;07;38;13 - 01;07;41;13
or else we're going to struggle
to meet the demand that exists.
01;07;41;20 - 01;07;45;09
It's a major investment housing,
and there are a number of major
01;07;45;09 - 01;07;46;15
infrastructure investments
01;07;46;15 - 01;07;50;18
that this region needs in order to grow
sustainably and inclusively.
01;07;50;18 - 01;07;52;16
We've talked a little bit about it before
01;07;52;16 - 01;07;57;02
on some of your past episodes
and another episode of the season one,
01;07;57;04 - 01;08;00;07
but what are some of the investments
in our business
01;08;00;07 - 01;08;03;12
and civic infrastructure
that are top of mind for you right now?
01;08;03;12 - 01;08;06;28
And what do we risk
if we don't invest in ourselves?
01;08;07;00 - 01;08;09;13
Yeah, the list is long and unfortunately
01;08;09;13 - 01;08;13;26
a long list in public infrastructure
ends up with a pretty large price tag,
01;08;13;26 - 01;08;18;00
which is something that I think on
one hand is a little bit scary.
01;08;18;00 - 01;08;22;23
On the other hand, I think is reflective
of the challenge that we have,
01;08;22;25 - 01;08;26;08
all of us now
essentially work that we have to embrace.
01;08;26;10 - 01;08;28;20
We cannot think small.
01;08;28;20 - 01;08;32;01
I we are not a small community.
01;08;32;03 - 01;08;33;21
We are a growing community.
01;08;33;21 - 01;08;36;26
We are going to be a much larger community
01;08;36;26 - 01;08;40;10
in the very near future,
not a smaller community.
01;08;40;10 - 01;08;42;07
And that's a mindset shift.
01;08;42;07 - 01;08;45;07
We need to now believe
01;08;45;11 - 01;08;47;25
that that those civic investments
01;08;47;25 - 01;08;51;06
will pay returns for us
and that we can't grow without them.
01;08;51;08 - 01;08;54;08
Top of mind for me is our health care
infrastructure.
01;08;54;10 - 01;08;58;05
Many of our our our hospitals
and our health care systems
01;08;58;05 - 01;09;02;07
are under tremendous strain post-pandemic,
and there's a lot of reasons for it,
01;09;02;07 - 01;09;04;00
whether it's federal reimbursement rates
01;09;04;00 - 01;09;06;27
or some of the challenges
associated with COVID.
01;09;06;27 - 01;09;10;27
But we need a world class health care
infrastructure here in central New York
01;09;10;27 - 01;09;11;23
if we're going to attract
01;09;11;23 - 01;09;15;26
the kind of talent that companies
like Micron and Keaton and these high
01;09;15;26 - 01;09;20;22
tech manufacturers that are growing
and investing here expect in demand,
01;09;20;24 - 01;09;23;11
these investments are going to be
in the billions of dollars.
01;09;23;11 - 01;09;27;06
And that scares everyone
from from our local partners
01;09;27;06 - 01;09;29;06
to our state partners
to our federal partners
01;09;29;06 - 01;09;32;15
who ultimately are going to have
to help us foot the bill.
01;09;32;18 - 01;09;34;05
But they're necessary.
01;09;34;05 - 01;09;35;26
Some of our health care systems
01;09;35;26 - 01;09;39;06
and some of our health care
facilities are extremely outdated.
01;09;39;08 - 01;09;41;24
There have been stories
in the Syracuse paper
01;09;41;24 - 01;09;44;06
over the course of the last year or two
about the wait
01;09;44;06 - 01;09;48;27
times in our emergency rooms,
which are frankly unacceptable
01;09;48;29 - 01;09;53;13
and I think that we
we are going to need to embrace this idea
01;09;53;13 - 01;09;55;24
of investing billions
upon billions of dollars
01;09;55;24 - 01;09;57;16
in our health care infrastructure
going forward.
01;09;57;16 - 01;10;01;23
It's everything from physical facilities
all the way to
01;10;01;25 - 01;10;04;23
building infrastructure that allows our
01;10;04;23 - 01;10;08;04
our disparate regional health
care systems to work better together.
01;10;08;07 - 01;10;11;29
I will say that in the health care
space over my time,
01;10;12;02 - 01;10;14;14
collaboration has not always been strong
in that sector.
01;10;14;14 - 01;10;16;19
There's been a lot of competition.
01;10;16;19 - 01;10;17;25
I think we have to break that habit.
01;10;17;25 - 01;10;21;04
I think we have to get better at
01;10;21;07 - 01;10;24;07
improving that, that muscle memory
for collaboration.
01;10;24;08 - 01;10;25;20
But it's not just health care.
01;10;25;20 - 01;10;28;04
We are going to need to figure out
how to invest
01;10;28;04 - 01;10;30;06
in more educational facilities, right?
01;10;30;06 - 01;10;33;22
If we really grow our population
by 100,000,
01;10;33;22 - 01;10;37;13
125,000 people
over the course of the next,
01;10;37;16 - 01;10;41;04
you know, ten, 15, 20
years, we're going to need more schools.
01;10;41;04 - 01;10;41;14
Right.
01;10;41;14 - 01;10;45;01
And how do we do that in a way that maps
01;10;45;01 - 01;10;48;27
to the types of population growth
that we're going to anticipate?
01;10;48;29 - 01;10;50;21
I think that's a really important
conversation
01;10;50;21 - 01;10;53;28
that is just starting to be had
with some of our school superintendents
01;10;53;28 - 01;10;58;07
and some of our policymakers
in in in Albany.
01;10;58;09 - 01;10;59;07
Certainly, we're excited
01;10;59;07 - 01;11;03;20
to see the new steam school coming online
that's going to add capacity for our our
01;11;03;23 - 01;11;04;13
you know, for students
01;11;04;13 - 01;11;07;23
who are interested in the science
and the arts and technology.
01;11;07;25 - 01;11;10;10
But that one investment
alone is not going to be sufficient to
01;11;10;10 - 01;11;12;13
meet the future need.
01;11;12;15 - 01;11;16;03
And so, you know, health
care infrastructure and I'll just tell you
01;11;16;03 - 01;11;20;07
a conversation that I was having
with my 11 year old son over the weekend.
01;11;20;09 - 01;11;23;09
We need more amenities for kids
and families.
01;11;23;10 - 01;11;26;10
And, you know,
I know we were going to see groundbreaking
01;11;26;11 - 01;11;29;27
this year on the on the aquarium
at Theater Harbor, which is
01;11;29;29 - 01;11;31;28
a great step in the right direction.
01;11;31;28 - 01;11;33;24
But we need more facilities like that.
01;11;33;24 - 01;11;39;00
We need more opportunities
if we are going to be a growing dynamic,
01;11;39;02 - 01;11;42;27
high tech market that we are emerging
as we need to show up
01;11;42;27 - 01;11;46;01
in that way in every aspect of our life,
not just in our economy,
01;11;46;01 - 01;11;51;23
but in in our culture and society
and recreational opportunities
01;11;51;25 - 01;11;53;28
for people across the board.
01;11;53;28 - 01;11;55;14
That's why
01;11;55;16 - 01;11;59;15
we're going to take a quick break here and
01;11;59;18 - 01;12;01;00
we're going to take a quick break here.
01;12;01;00 - 01;12;06;25
In the meantime, here's
a word from our sponsor and big bank.
01;12;06;27 - 01;12;08;06
All right.
01;12;08;06 - 01;12;09;07
Sorry, I'm rambling a lot.
01;12;09;07 - 01;12;12;07
Not You're good.
01;12;12;08 - 01;12;12;26
Keep.
01;12;12;26 - 01;12;15;26
Yeah, You come back
01;12;16;00 - 01;12;16;28
like I'm Rob.
01;12;16;28 - 01;12;18;18
I want you to like you.
01;12;18;18 - 01;12;22;10
Give us a little nugget or things
that you were really thinking about.
01;12;22;10 - 01;12;24;25
As we go into the new year,
there's not one thing.
01;12;24;25 - 01;12;28;18
Thank you for saving
01;12;28;20 - 01;12;29;11
you hurting me.
01;12;29;11 - 01;12;30;06
You can't.
01;12;30;06 - 01;12;32;24
You can't see me giving you the middle
finger from this side of the.
01;12;32;24 - 01;12;35;03
No, I can feel. You are. Yeah.
01;12;35;03 - 01;12;36;27
Good. That's. That was the point.
01;12;36;27 - 01;12;39;27
Are you the thinking more
01;12;39;27 - 01;12;42;16
along the lines of,
01;12;42;16 - 01;12;44;04
like, cool things that are on the horizon?
01;12;44;04 - 01;12;46;07
Like,
what are we looking at the year ahead?
01;12;46;07 - 01;12;48;09
Like, what? Are you excited about?
01;12;48;09 - 01;12;49;14
That is my last question.
01;12;49;14 - 01;12;50;25
Do you want me to hold that for you?
01;12;50;25 - 01;12;52;02
Want me to bring it up first?
01;12;52;02 - 01;12;54;27
Now, if that's your last question, but I
01;12;55;00 - 01;12;58;00
would
01;12;58;06 - 01;13;04;28
just me was really thoughtful about that.
01;13;05;00 - 01;13;05;21
Okay.
01;13;05;21 - 01;13;10;00
So what I'm excited about,
I'll figure it out between now and then.
01;13;10;03 - 01;13;11;06
All right, you go.
01;13;11;06 - 01;13;14;04
What?
There's a question between so perfect.
01;13;14;04 - 01;13;17;11
Okay.
01;13;17;13 - 01;13;17;28
Welcome back.
01;13;17;28 - 01;13;20;17
You're listening to Talk CNY,
presented by NBT Bank.
01;13;20;17 - 01;13;23;18
I'm Kelly Sikorski, director
of communications at Center Stage SEO.
01;13;23;18 - 01;13;26;21
Joining me today is center
Stage CEO, President Rob Simpson.
01;13;26;21 - 01;13;31;14
And we are talking about what
2024 could hold for the regional economy.
01;13;31;17 - 01;13;37;01
So, Rob, last year in this studio
for the very first podcast episode,
01;13;37;08 - 01;13;42;01
you said something Central New York needs
to be better at is telling its story.
01;13;42;03 - 01;13;44;24
And so do
you think we've gotten better at it
01;13;44;24 - 01;13;47;21
and what is the story
we need to tell in 2024?
01;13;47;21 - 01;13;49;20
I think we're getting better at it.
01;13;49;20 - 01;13;54;10
I think I think be excellent
at telling your story really stems
01;13;54;10 - 01;13;58;07
from fully understanding who you are
and where you're going.
01;13;58;07 - 01;14;02;22
And I think, you know, going back to the
question you posed earlier,
01;14;02;25 - 01;14;03;27
getting our community on the
01;14;03;27 - 01;14;07;08
same page about telling our story is hard
when there's skepticism
01;14;07;10 - 01;14;10;23
and there's not a deep, deeply felt belief
01;14;10;26 - 01;14;11;16
that we're moving
01;14;11;16 - 01;14;15;18
in this positive direction,
this exciting new direction, this dynamic,
01;14;15;20 - 01;14;18;09
new set of investments that are coming
that are going to change our region
01;14;18;09 - 01;14;22;04
for the better going forward
as we see that level of confidence rise,
01;14;22;04 - 01;14;25;05
I think we can count on other members
in our community
01;14;25;05 - 01;14;29;12
to be good ambassadors and faithful,
01;14;29;14 - 01;14;32;20
faithful narrators of the story
that we're writing together.
01;14;32;22 - 01;14;35;01
I think that that, you know,
frankly, to me is really exciting
01;14;35;01 - 01;14;38;04
because I feel like anyone
01;14;38;04 - 01;14;41;04
inside Center State
CEO can stand up and scream from
01;14;41;04 - 01;14;44;04
the mountaintop about the great things
that are happening, or
01;14;44;10 - 01;14;48;06
the county executive or the mayor
or any of our other public officials.
01;14;48;09 - 01;14;50;11
And there's only so many people
that are going to listen. Right.
01;14;50;11 - 01;14;54;26
What what I think the average person said
they listened to the conversation
01;14;54;26 - 01;14;57;22
that's happening in their neighborhood
or around the dinner table
01;14;57;22 - 01;15;00;24
and how are they feeling
and experiencing our community.
01;15;00;24 - 01;15;05;20
And the more people begin to experience
our community as a growth community,
01;15;05;20 - 01;15;10;18
the more people who experience
that sense of positivity, that hope,
01;15;10;20 - 01;15;12;01
and they feel that momentum,
01;15;12;01 - 01;15;15;15
they're going to communicate
that to whoever, whether it's a spouse
01;15;15;15 - 01;15;19;19
or partner sitting across a dinner table
or whether it's a a colleague
01;15;19;21 - 01;15;24;12
who is at a trade show on the other side
of the world that they may be talking to.
01;15;24;14 - 01;15;27;29
And that's ultimately what we're going
to need to get our message out.
01;15;28;01 - 01;15;31;01
I think at the end of 2023, we relaunched
01;15;31;05 - 01;15;34;29
a project that Center State SEO
is partnered on with Advanced Media.
01;15;35;01 - 01;15;36;09
Something that I'm very excited about.
01;15;36;09 - 01;15;38;10
This is CNY,
01;15;38;10 - 01;15;40;28
this is CNY dot com,
as it is a great opportunity
01;15;40;28 - 01;15;44;02
for all of our region's residents,
both employers
01;15;44;02 - 01;15;48;02
and those who live here
to share with their networks.
01;15;48;04 - 01;15;50;25
It really helps us
tell the story of the jobs
01;15;50;25 - 01;15;54;08
and the growth happening here,
how people can get access to those jobs,
01;15;54;10 - 01;15;55;23
what's happening in our housing market,
01;15;55;23 - 01;15;58;09
what's happening with projects
like the aquarium in our
01;15;58;09 - 01;16;02;06
and our community amenities
are telling little stories of people
01;16;02;06 - 01;16;06;14
who've chosen to move here
or move back here and amplifying those.
01;16;06;16 - 01;16;08;15
So do I think we're getting better
at telling our stories?
01;16;08;15 - 01;16;13;03
Yes, I think we're going to be best
at telling our story when more people
01;16;13;05 - 01;16;16;04
fully
believe the direction that we're going.
01;16;16;04 - 01;16;21;04
But I feel progress, and I'm very hopeful
that that that story is going to continue
01;16;21;04 - 01;16;26;07
to evolve in a way that that more
people feel comfortable sharing in.
01;16;26;07 - 01;16;27;21
Is there any shift in story
01;16;27;21 - 01;16;31;00
between 2023 and 2024,
or are we keeping the same message?
01;16;31;03 - 01;16;34;26
I think, you know, frankly,
my observation,
01;16;34;29 - 01;16;40;24
the growth that we are anticipating
is coming sooner, not later.
01;16;40;27 - 01;16;44;02
So if anything, I feel
a greater sense of urgency to get that
01;16;44;05 - 01;16;45;09
that message, a narrative out.
01;16;45;09 - 01;16;46;25
I'm about to
01;16;46;25 - 01;16;49;19
get on a plane here in a couple of days
and I'm going out to the west Coast.
01;16;49;19 - 01;16;52;18
A number of folks I know the county
executive is going to be out there.
01;16;52;18 - 01;16;54;22
Some of our partners from New York State,
our colleague
01;16;54;22 - 01;16;56;13
North Plains, can be joining me.
01;16;56;13 - 01;16;59;28
And we're going out to a major industry
symposium for the Semiconductor industry.
01;16;59;28 - 01;17;00;23
We went last year.
01;17;00;23 - 01;17;05;16
It was a great, great opportunity
to interact with all of the major
01;17;05;16 - 01;17;10;05
semiconductor companies and supply
chain partners from all over the world.
01;17;10;07 - 01;17;12;00
Not only will we learn a lot about
01;17;12;00 - 01;17;15;01
the state of the semiconductor industry
that can help us be
01;17;15;01 - 01;17;19;03
smart about how to support Micron
and their investment here in this region,
01;17;19;05 - 01;17;22;02
but we're going to use the opportunity
to talk to a lot of their supply
01;17;22;02 - 01;17;25;11
chain partners
about locating here in central New York
01;17;25;13 - 01;17;27;19
this growth that we have.
01;17;27;19 - 01;17;29;24
We're now seeing coming.
01;17;29;24 - 01;17;33;11
I think it is coming
sooner than people want.
01;17;33;11 - 01;17;36;11
I think the pace
and the scale of development
01;17;36;18 - 01;17;39;09
that I anticipate from Micron
and from other companies in the
01;17;39;09 - 01;17;42;15
microelectronics and semiconductor space,
I think is going to happen more quickly.
01;17;42;15 - 01;17;46;13
I think some of that has to do
with global geopolitical conditions.
01;17;46;13 - 01;17;50;18
I think we unfortunately are in a world
that is filled with conflict.
01;17;50;20 - 01;17;54;27
Conflict creates risk and uncertainty,
and that risk and uncertainty leads
01;17;55;00 - 01;17;57;12
US policymakers to say, you know what,
01;17;57;12 - 01;18;01;27
we want to make sure that we have
a fully functioning, you know,
01;18;01;27 - 01;18;05;14
top of the line domestic semiconductor
manufacturing industry here in the U.S.
01;18;05;14 - 01;18;08;14
And it's the right move
from a national security standpoint.
01;18;08;21 - 01;18;12;18
So there,
I think, is a lot of federal investment,
01;18;12;18 - 01;18;17;24
a lot of federal attention going into
accelerating the pace of development
01;18;17;27 - 01;18;20;27
because of the uncertainty
that's happening in the world around us.
01;18;21;00 - 01;18;24;10
So my top line message is
I think it is coming
01;18;24;10 - 01;18;27;20
faster than people anticipate.
01;18;27;23 - 01;18;31;01
That is both exciting
and a little terrifying.
01;18;31;03 - 01;18;33;07
But we don't really have a choice.
01;18;33;07 - 01;18;37;03
We need to step up and figure out
how to manage that growth and
01;18;37;06 - 01;18;42;17
in the best way and translate that growth
to positive economic and social outcomes
01;18;42;17 - 01;18;46;00
for as many people in our community
as we possibly can.
01;18;46;02 - 01;18;47;11
It can feel really big.
01;18;47;11 - 01;18;51;08
I mean, all of this conversation,
it's very between
01;18;51;08 - 01;18;55;24
geopolitical circumstances
and macro and micro economic influences.
01;18;55;26 - 01;18;57;16
It all is a lot to take in.
01;18;57;16 - 01;19;01;25
So looking ahead to 2024,
are there little moments
01;19;01;25 - 01;19;02;25
that make you excited
01;19;02;25 - 01;19;07;12
coming down the line, something that,
you know, you have on your calendar
01;19;07;12 - 01;19;11;14
or maybe that you just know
is in the next few months?
01;19;11;14 - 01;19;14;16
That is something that you're
looking forward to
01;19;14;16 - 01;19;18;13
and are excited about that is symbolic
of the central New York journey.
01;19;18;16 - 01;19;21;23
Yeah, I think the short answer is yes.
01;19;21;23 - 01;19;23;27
I think there are a lot of them.
01;19;23;27 - 01;19;26;05
One that is very near
and dear to my heart.
01;19;26;05 - 01;19;28;29
We anticipate that in 2024 we're going
01;19;28;29 - 01;19;33;17
to complete construction
on a fully renovated tech garden.
01;19;33;19 - 01;19;37;12
That building that was
that was first renovated from an abandoned
01;19;37;12 - 01;19;44;03
parking garage into an incubator back
in 2004 is getting a complete makeover.
01;19;44;05 - 01;19;47;02
If you drive by down Harris's street right
now, you'll see the building
01;19;47;02 - 01;19;48;27
completely ripped apart.
01;19;48;27 - 01;19;52;14
In the next week
or two, we're going to start to see steel
01;19;52;16 - 01;19;57;01
go up on the roof, and you're going to see
this new structure start to take shape.
01;19;57;04 - 01;20;00;16
That's incredibly exciting for me
because it is something
01;20;00;16 - 01;20;04;22
that is emblematic of the strategy
that we set.
01;20;04;24 - 01;20;09;28
The strategy being we need to start more
companies than we lose in Central York
01;20;10;00 - 01;20;13;09
if we want to win the economic future
and the tech our new bodies.
01;20;13;09 - 01;20;17;05
That spirit of entrepreneurship
and innovation and to be able to make this
01;20;17;11 - 01;20;17;27
what is going to
01;20;17;27 - 01;20;21;21
be more than a $30 million investment
in completely renovating that space
01;20;21;21 - 01;20;25;05
and making it a state of the art incubator
and accelerator
01;20;25;07 - 01;20;27;07
is something that I'm incredibly proud of.
01;20;27;07 - 01;20;32;12
We're actually, as an organization,
we're very focused in 2024 on
01;20;32;15 - 01;20;35;08
and making sure
that when we reopen those doors, we do it
01;20;35;08 - 01;20;38;19
in the most complete and comprehensive
way we can.
01;20;38;22 - 01;20;40;28
But that's something that I think 2024
01;20;40;28 - 01;20;44;05
is going to bring the opportunity
to reopen that facility.
01;20;44;05 - 01;20;46;22
And I'm I'm wildly exciting.
01;20;46;22 - 01;20;50;01
I'm also pretty pretty jazzed
about the opportunity
01;20;50;01 - 01;20;54;27
that I anticipate in 2024 to travel
across the ocean, most like in Asia,
01;20;54;27 - 01;21;01;26
whether that's Singapore,
Taiwan or other places, you know,
01;21;01;28 - 01;21;03;10
in in
01;21;03;10 - 01;21;07;04
Asia too, to talk directly
with a number of supply chain companies.
01;21;07;04 - 01;21;08;14
For Micron,
01;21;08;14 - 01;21;10;04
we're in the early stages
of starting to talk
01;21;10;04 - 01;21;12;17
about what those kind of trade
missions might be. Right?
01;21;12;17 - 01;21;14;15
Something that we would partner with,
01;21;14;15 - 01;21;18;13
with the county and with the state and
and with Micron on.
01;21;18;15 - 01;21;19;18
But, you know, that's a
01;21;19;18 - 01;21;23;09
that's a really fun thing to be able
to think about traveling across,
01;21;23;12 - 01;21;26;17
you know, tens of thousands of miles,
traveling across oceans
01;21;26;20 - 01;21;29;20
and in meeting people
that could be new partners of ours
01;21;29;21 - 01;21;30;21
and having the chance
01;21;30;21 - 01;21;32;24
to tell them the story
of what's happening here,
01;21;32;24 - 01;21;34;16
similar to what we did with Micron,
01;21;34;16 - 01;21;37;03
I'll tell you
that one of the most exciting things
01;21;37;03 - 01;21;40;07
that I had an opportunity to do
during the whole Micron recruiting process
01;21;40;07 - 01;21;43;19
was just the chance
to tell Micron who we were
01;21;43;19 - 01;21;48;06
and what we've been trying to accomplish
and where we think we're going.
01;21;48;09 - 01;21;50;02
That was
so much fun because this organization
01;21;50;02 - 01;21;53;02
has been at the center of trying
to craft that narrative for a long time.
01;21;53;05 - 01;21;55;29
And so the chance to do that again
with other partners
01;21;55;29 - 01;21;58;12
that we hope to welcome
from all over the world to Central
01;21;58;12 - 01;22;01;00
York is something
that I'm really looking forward to.
01;22;01;00 - 01;22;02;13
Obviously, I love to travel.
01;22;02;13 - 01;22;03;27
I love to I love different cultures.
01;22;03;27 - 01;22;05;21
I love to see new places.
01;22;05;21 - 01;22;08;15
But most importantly, I'd love to be
an ambassador for this community.
01;22;08;15 - 01;22;11;01
And and I'm
really looking forward to that.
01;22;11;01 - 01;22;13;15
Rob, thank you so much
for joining us here today
01;22;13;15 - 01;22;16;23
and for kicking off season two
with a good outlook on 2024.
01;22;17;00 - 01;22;19;24
Thank you, Carrie. Yeah.
01;22;19;24 - 01;22;22;10
Anything else you want to add?
01;22;22;10 - 01;22;25;18
great. Okay. I'm good with
01;22;25;20 - 01;22;27;00
that.
01;22;27;00 - 01;22;28;01
All right, Rock and roll.
01;22;28;01 - 01;22;31;01
All righty. Clap.
01;22;31;07 - 01;22;33;17
Anything we want to report.
01;22;33;17 - 01;22;36;21
So grateful for your economic
01;22;36;21 - 01;22;39;28
forecast Breakfast promo.
01;22;40;00 - 01;22;40;25
you want to do it here?
01;22;40;25 - 01;22;44;00
Do it on the phone. No,
01;22;44;03 - 01;22;46;03
I mean, if we get stuff set up,
we can do it.
01;22;46;03 - 01;22;50;01
Yeah, It's easy recording,
so we can just do it with Brittany's phone
01;22;50;01 - 01;22;51;28
if you want to do it.
But I guess we could do. Yeah.
01;22;51;28 - 01;22;53;27
How ever you'd like to.
01;22;53;27 - 01;22;56;19
If you want to sit right here and do it,
01;22;56;19 - 01;22;59;18
you want to sit right here,
you can square up in the center
01;22;59;18 - 01;24;15;13
if you want to do
01;24;15;16 - 01;24;16;04
so much for having me.
01;24;16;04 - 01;24;18;02
I'm really looking forward
to kicking off another season.
01;24;18;02 - 01;24;19;03
Yeah, so am I.
01;24;19;03 - 01;24;21;12
I'm excited to be here
as your host this year.
01;24;21;12 - 01;24;24;15
So like I said,
we are starting off with 2023,
01;24;24;15 - 01;24;27;09
taking a little look back
before we look into the future.
01;24;27;09 - 01;24;30;06
23 was a big year for central New York.
01;24;30;06 - 01;24;31;14
So what happened?
01;24;31;14 - 01;24;35;06
Can you give me a few of the highlights
of 2023 in your eyes?
01;24;35;13 - 01;24;38;26
man, I think 2023 in a lot of ways.
01;24;38;28 - 01;24;42;18
I think we think now we think about 2022
01;24;42;18 - 01;24;46;19
October, the Micron announcement
as a high watermark for Central New York.
01;24;46;19 - 01;24;51;11
In a lot of ways,
I think 2023 surpassed those expectations.
01;24;51;13 - 01;24;55;12
What I loved about 2023
was that we use the opportunity
01;24;55;12 - 01;24;59;10
to just reinforce the momentum that we're
building here in central New York.
01;24;59;12 - 01;25;01;07
It's not just Micron, obviously.
01;25;01;07 - 01;25;03;01
That's the biggest thing
that we have going in.
01;25;03;01 - 01;25;04;17
One of the most important things
01;25;04;17 - 01;25;08;23
to happen to our economy in in decades,
if not ever.
01;25;08;26 - 01;25;11;08
But 2023 brought a whole host of new wins.
01;25;11;08 - 01;25;14;08
We opened City Center in downtown
Syracuse,
01;25;14;11 - 01;25;18;03
one of the last large
remaining vacant buildings in downtown
01;25;18;03 - 01;25;21;29
that hadn't been redeveloped is now
this beautiful new office space for Hayner
01;25;21;29 - 01;25;25;06
Hoyt and C TAC
in a number of other businesses.
01;25;25;08 - 01;25;26;28
And that was incredibly exciting.
01;25;26;28 - 01;25;30;00
We were able to announce
a major investment
01;25;30;00 - 01;25;33;06
from T Technologies,
a California based company
01;25;33;06 - 01;25;38;03
that makes them makes communications,
hardware and components
01;25;38;06 - 01;25;41;27
there in the radar
and sensing space microelectronics.
01;25;41;27 - 01;25;43;09
And they announced $110
01;25;43;09 - 01;25;47;14
million investment, creating a couple
hundred new jobs here in central New York.
01;25;47;14 - 01;25;48;29
That's remarkably exciting.
01;25;48;29 - 01;25;51;21
Again, stacking
wins and building momentum.
01;25;51;21 - 01;25;52;15
And of course,
01;25;52;15 - 01;25;56;16
we had at the end of the year,
we had this remarkable accomplishment,
01;25;56;19 - 01;25;59;14
Central New York, along with our partners
in Rochester, Buffalo,
01;25;59;14 - 01;26;03;23
and I think a designated
as a federal tech hub,
01;26;03;26 - 01;26;08;10
one of only 30 federal tech hubs
designated across the nation.
01;26;08;12 - 01;26;12;17
That designation comes with an opportunity
now to compete for up to $50 million
01;26;12;17 - 01;26;16;03
in federal funding to support initiatives
across our thruway corridor.
01;26;16;05 - 01;26;20;05
And in it opens the door
to massive amounts of downstream federal
01;26;20;05 - 01;26;23;12
funding that we would have never otherwise
been able to compete for.
01;26;23;14 - 01;26;28;09
I think to me, 2023
was the exclamation point,
01;26;28;11 - 01;26;30;15
basically letting the world
01;26;30;15 - 01;26;34;08
know that 2022 wasn't a fluke,
Micron wasn't a fluke.
01;26;34;08 - 01;26;37;08
They came here
because this was a region on the rise,
01;26;37;11 - 01;26;40;05
and in 2023 I think we demonstrated that
01;26;40;05 - 01;26;44;22
our ceiling is a lot,
you know, really far above our head.
01;26;44;28 - 01;26;50;22
Yeah, I mean, and on that note, looking
into the future a little bit here in 2024,
01;26;50;24 - 01;26;53;19
it sounds like we have a good steady
foundation,
01;26;53;19 - 01;26;57;09
a lot of momentum,
like you said, going into this new year.
01;26;57;11 - 01;27;00;14
And to get a little bit of perspective
from a lot of our members
01;27;00;14 - 01;27;03;25
each year,
we conduct the economic forecast report.
01;27;03;28 - 01;27;04;27
And right now.
01;27;04;27 - 01;27;05;14
So we went out,
01;27;05;14 - 01;27;08;23
we talked to members of the business
community, took a survey from them.
01;27;08;23 - 01;27;13;01
We take all that data from them, compile
it into a report that then gets released
01;27;13;01 - 01;27;16;07
at the economic forecast
breakfast on January 31st.
01;27;16;10 - 01;27;18;06
So that report is still being put
together.
01;27;18;06 - 01;27;20;03
It's very detailed lots that goes into it.
01;27;20;03 - 01;27;20;26
But we do have some
01;27;20;26 - 01;27;24;21
preliminary data points that we can share
with our listeners today.
01;27;24;23 - 01;27;28;08
The first one I want to look at
is some of that.
01;27;28;10 - 01;27;29;21
You said Fluke earlier
01;27;29;21 - 01;27;33;14
that maybe some people
could think that in the very beginning.
01;27;33;17 - 01;27;35;02
So there was some skepticism.
01;27;35;02 - 01;27;37;10
Our last year's report
showed that shocking.
01;27;37;10 - 01;27;39;06
Yes, that's right.
01;27;39;06 - 01;27;42;18
But there was some skepticism around
some of these really big major projects.
01;27;42;20 - 01;27;44;19
Will they come to fruition?
01;27;44;19 - 01;27;48;08
But this year's report,
68% of our respondents said that they were
01;27;48;08 - 01;27;51;08
either somewhat more confident
or much more confident
01;27;51;08 - 01;27;56;00
that these major economic development
projects will come to fruition.
01;27;56;02 - 01;27;59;05
So what do you think made the difference
in going
01;27;59;05 - 01;28;02;07
from skepticism to confidence
for a lot of our community?
01;28;02;08 - 01;28;05;16
Well, listen, I think I've been doing
I've been doing this
01;28;05;16 - 01;28;06;21
long enough to know that, you know,
01;28;06;21 - 01;28;09;16
skepticism is just an inherent
characteristic here, essentially.
01;28;09;16 - 01;28;13;24
Org I do think that the community
is making progress and at not
01;28;13;24 - 01;28;17;20
always thinking that the sky is falling
when good news is being announced.
01;28;17;22 - 01;28;20;19
I've seen the way people are reacting
to some of these announcements.
01;28;20;19 - 01;28;23;18
It's is very different right now,
which is very rewarding.
01;28;23;24 - 01;28;25;18
That said,
I think there's a couple of things
01;28;25;18 - 01;28;28;15
as it relates to Micron specifically.
01;28;28;15 - 01;28;32;28
The community had a chance over the course
of 2023 to get to know this company.
01;28;33;00 - 01;28;37;06
They got to watch the company
spend massive amounts of time
01;28;37;06 - 01;28;40;11
here in central New York to start to hire
people here in central New York
01;28;40;14 - 01;28;43;19
to engage with different community
based organizations and to
01;28;43;23 - 01;28;47;29
and to make significant investments,
millions of dollars into clean room.
01;28;47;29 - 01;28;53;05
And it also see,
you know, ten, $10 million into
01;28;53;08 - 01;28;56;03
STEM education, science,
technology, engineering, arts
01;28;56;03 - 01;28;59;11
and math, including the STEM school
in downtown Syracuse.
01;28;59;14 - 01;29;02;28
You know, big, major commitments
that the company is making in workforce
01;29;02;28 - 01;29;06;25
and education and community engagement
that I think
01;29;06;27 - 01;29;09;19
taken together over time,
01;29;09;19 - 01;29;13;14
reinforced perhaps a narrative that, okay,
this company,
01;29;13;21 - 01;29;17;13
they're real,
they're here, they're in this with us.
01;29;17;15 - 01;29;21;08
Whereas, you know, in October of 2022,
people said, okay, it's a nice,
01;29;21;08 - 01;29;24;19
splashy announcement, but, you know,
what are they really going to do now?
01;29;24;19 - 01;29;29;04
We've had a chance to see it,
I think, more over in 2023.
01;29;29;06 - 01;29;30;17
The community had a chance
01;29;30;17 - 01;29;34;11
to see that we weren't
putting all our eggs in the micron basket.
01;29;34;11 - 01;29;37;09
Obviously, as we said before,
it is the biggest thing
01;29;37;09 - 01;29;39;23
and the most important thing
that we are working on.
01;29;39;23 - 01;29;44;05
That said, you know, we continue to put
these wins together, small businesses
01;29;44;07 - 01;29;46;28
expanding and companies
01;29;46;28 - 01;29;50;06
hiring the tech hubs designation
01;29;50;09 - 01;29;54;23
that I hope project confidence
to our community,
01;29;54;26 - 01;29;58;22
that our elected officials are public
sector partners, are private sector
01;29;58;22 - 01;30;03;11
partners, are working in concert with one
another to execute on our strategy.
01;30;03;11 - 01;30;05;18
It's not about projects, right?
01;30;05;18 - 01;30;09;01
Each of these projects is the
is is a remarkable accomplishment.
01;30;09;01 - 01;30;10;09
It's something to celebrate.
01;30;10;09 - 01;30;13;07
But these projects are the outcome
01;30;13;07 - 01;30;16;28
of investment in strategy
over a long period of time
01;30;17;01 - 01;30;20;08
to rebuild our center city,
to focus on microelectronics,
01;30;20;08 - 01;30;23;23
to put central New York back
into a place of economic
01;30;23;25 - 01;30;26;18
we global relevance
01;30;26;18 - 01;30;30;00
and and I
and I hope that sustained activity,
01;30;30;00 - 01;30;34;18
sustained strategic investments are
what is fueling some of that confidence.
01;30;34;20 - 01;30;38;17
But I think we also can't ignore the fact
that it is
01;30;38;17 - 01;30;41;28
increasingly likely that
01;30;42;01 - 01;30;45;03
that our economy is going to thread this
01;30;45;03 - 01;30;48;20
almost impossible needle right at the end,
at the beginning of last year.
01;30;48;20 - 01;30;51;20
And our forecast, I remember the
01;30;51;20 - 01;30;52;23
the speaker that we had
01;30;52;23 - 01;30;56;17
at our forecast breakfast talking about,
you know, this really difficult needle
01;30;56;17 - 01;31;01;13
that the Fed had to thread in order
to bring about a soft landing rate
01;31;01;15 - 01;31;06;10
where they raise interest rates,
but don't push us into a recession.
01;31;06;13 - 01;31;08;24
And increasingly, it looks like that's
what's going to happen.
01;31;08;24 - 01;31;12;25
Interest rates have have stayed
high, inflation has come down,
01;31;13;02 - 01;31;15;25
Jobs and economic performance
have stayed strong.
01;31;15;25 - 01;31;19;12
And and I think that
those macroeconomic conditions
01;31;19;14 - 01;31;22;26
are also part of what's contributing
to people's confidence.
01;31;22;28 - 01;31;25;19
Now, you mentioned just now
01;31;25;19 - 01;31;29;05
that a lot of this is people
working together on individual projects.
01;31;29;05 - 01;31;33;06
Is there a moment of collaboration
over the past year
01;31;33;06 - 01;31;35;16
that you can think of that made
you think this is
01;31;35;16 - 01;31;38;25
why people are more confident, this is why
this is working, where there were
01;31;38;29 - 01;31;42;01
members coming together
to make something bigger
01;31;42;01 - 01;31;46;13
than just an individual project
or building or opening a new storefront.
01;31;46;19 - 01;31;50;14
Yeah, I mean, I think in a lot of respects
to me, the collaboration that we had
01;31;50;14 - 01;31;53;15
with Ithaca,
Buffalo, Rochester around the tech hubs
01;31;53;15 - 01;31;56;16
designation was maybe one of those eye
opening moments.
01;31;56;16 - 01;31;59;03
I think I've spent a lot of my career
here in session.
01;31;59;03 - 01;32;02;04
You are talking about how we as
a community are central to our community.
01;32;02;04 - 01;32;05;03
Our Syracuse community
needs to work more closely together,
01;32;05;06 - 01;32;07;06
and I'm really proud of the fact
that we are.
01;32;07;06 - 01;32;08;00
Just the other day,
01;32;08;00 - 01;32;12;27
the county executive was inaugurated
for his next term and he talked about how,
01;32;12;29 - 01;32;16;08
you know, a lot of our success
is the result of collaboration, right?
01;32;16;11 - 01;32;19;11
We've come a long way
within our Central York market.
01;32;19;11 - 01;32;22;24
But what I love
and what gives me so much optimism
01;32;22;24 - 01;32;26;24
for the future is that we now
see that collaborative mindset shifting
01;32;26;26 - 01;32;30;18
not just within our region,
but across the upstate New York footprint.
01;32;30;20 - 01;32;35;14
And if we can successfully collaborate
with Rochester and Buffalo,
01;32;35;14 - 01;32;38;29
if we can collaborate
better with Utica, Rome, if we can partner
01;32;38;29 - 01;32;42;05
with Albany and other parts of our state,
01;32;42;07 - 01;32;44;15
we are going to be
in a much stronger position
01;32;44;15 - 01;32;48;05
as an entire upstate
New York corridor for the future.
01;32;48;05 - 01;32;52;28
And so the fact that we came together
for the first time in my career
01;32;53;00 - 01;32;57;21
and strategically set out to partner
with Buffalo and Rochester
01;32;57;23 - 01;33;01;25
on a major federal opportunity,
we put a great application together.
01;33;01;25 - 01;33;05;08
And not only that,
but we won that designation right.
01;33;05;08 - 01;33;09;01
To me, that just reinforces
the power of collaboration, right?
01;33;09;02 - 01;33;12;02
When you do something hard,
you're not sure if it's going to work,
01;33;12;03 - 01;33;16;00
and then you get rewarded by getting this
this important federal designation.
01;33;16;03 - 01;33;19;06
I think it makes us all more likely
to want to come back to the table
01;33;19;06 - 01;33;21;17
and collaborate
on something else down the road.
01;33;21;17 - 01;33;22;11
And already
01;33;22;11 - 01;33;25;14
we are working on a number of the exciting
collaborations with our partners
01;33;25;14 - 01;33;29;14
across the Thruway corridor for 2024
that I'm I'm really excited about in.
01;33;29;14 - 01;33;32;09
Is that within tech hubs
or is that outside of tech?
01;33;32;09 - 01;33;33;21
It's what opens a door, right?
01;33;33;21 - 01;33;35;28
It's within tech
hubs, it's adjacent to tech hubs.
01;33;35;28 - 01;33;39;01
I think there's a lot of discussion
right now amongst our thruway corridor
01;33;39;01 - 01;33;43;09
partners around workforce development
and how we can up our game
01;33;43;11 - 01;33;47;13
in terms of ensuring that our communities
are meeting the moment.
01;33;47;13 - 01;33;52;11
Employers right now have thousands
of job openings and we need to help them
01;33;52;13 - 01;33;55;19
access the labor pools
necessary to fill those jobs.
01;33;55;21 - 01;33;59;26
But we also need to ensure that
that we're creating opportunity and access
01;33;59;26 - 01;34;01;22
for historically marginalized populations
01;34;01;22 - 01;34;04;22
who have been historically excluded
from some of those jobs.
01;34;04;26 - 01;34;09;20
And the partnerships and the creativity
and the innovation that I'm seeing applied
01;34;09;22 - 01;34;14;04
to workforce development
or to the accelerator and innovation
01;34;14;04 - 01;34;15;02
programs that we see
01;34;15;02 - 01;34;18;18
happening in places like the Tech Garden
and in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany.
01;34;18;20 - 01;34;23;02
I think really the world is our oyster
in terms of what more we can do,
01;34;23;04 - 01;34;27;03
not just within our Central York footprint
but across the upstate corridor.
01;34;27;06 - 01;34;30;06
So going back to one of the other
data points that we have
01;34;30;06 - 01;34;33;17
from the economic forecasts report,
01;34;33;19 - 01;34;35;09
So maybe a surprise to No. One.
01;34;35;09 - 01;34;39;03
Housing was a major concern
for many members
01;34;39;03 - 01;34;41;01
of our business community,
and particularly
01;34;41;01 - 01;34;43;08
those in the human and social services
sector
01;34;43;08 - 01;34;47;07
are concerned about vulnerable populations
securing housing.
01;34;47;10 - 01;34;51;20
We have a number
or we have housing initiatives here
01;34;51;23 - 01;34;53;27
that our state's young
that we're working through.
01;34;53;27 - 01;34;56;27
How do you see those progressing
into 2024?
01;34;57;01 - 01;35;01;27
Listen, I think we said this immediately
after, like from either announcement
01;35;01;27 - 01;35;07;07
at the end of 2020 to that that
in a lot of respects, housing is the is,
01;35;07;10 - 01;35;10;07
you know, is as important as jobs
to our economic future.
01;35;10;07 - 01;35;14;03
And and I think we've seen that play out
over the course of last year.
01;35;14;03 - 01;35;16;15
We have not built enough
housing in the last 12 months.
01;35;16;15 - 01;35;20;02
We frankly haven't built enough
housing in the last 20 years.
01;35;20;05 - 01;35;22;24
This is not just a Syracuse
and Central Europe problem.
01;35;22;24 - 01;35;24;19
This is a
this is a New York state problem.
01;35;24;19 - 01;35;26;06
Frankly, it's a U.S.
01;35;26;06 - 01;35;29;15
problem also. But in particular,
01;35;29;18 - 01;35;31;22
certainly we're feeling the pain points.
01;35;31;22 - 01;35;34;29
People who are living in our community
right now are feeling the pain points.
01;35;35;01 - 01;35;36;12
We need a lot more housing.
01;35;36;12 - 01;35;40;28
We need to be building somewhere on the
order of 2500 units of housing every year.
01;35;40;28 - 01;35;43;27
We're building about 350 right now.
01;35;43;28 - 01;35;48;14
Now, in 2023 was a tough year
and maybe not illustrative of what
01;35;48;16 - 01;35;51;11
our potential is,
because we've seen interest rates
01;35;51;11 - 01;35;54;20
move higher than they have at any point
in the last 20 years, making it
01;35;54;22 - 01;35;57;17
that much more difficult
for someone to buy a home.
01;35;57;17 - 01;36;01;21
But also, if you think about it,
that much more difficult for a developer
01;36;01;24 - 01;36;05;23
to take out a loan
and finance a multifamily development.
01;36;05;25 - 01;36;09;25
So we we think that the number of units
that could have been built in
01;36;09;25 - 01;36;14;11
2023 was a lot higher than the 300
or so that ultimately got built.
01;36;14;13 - 01;36;15;04
And we're confident
01;36;15;04 - 01;36;18;26
that as interest rates start to come down,
we will start to see more housing built.
01;36;18;26 - 01;36;23;28
Right now we have somewhere on the order
of 6500 to 7000 units of housing
01;36;24;01 - 01;36;25;28
that developers are talking to our team
01;36;25;28 - 01;36;28;28
about wanting to build
in the Central York footprint.
01;36;29;00 - 01;36;30;02
That's a huge number.
01;36;30;02 - 01;36;31;21
If we can convert even a fraction of that,
01;36;31;21 - 01;36;33;29
we're going to make a big dent
in the problem that we have.
01;36;33;29 - 01;36;35;28
But this is not a one time problem.
01;36;35;28 - 01;36;38;28
This is a trend
that we're going to have to keep pace with
01;36;38;28 - 01;36;42;12
every year going forward in this community
less.
01;36;42;12 - 01;36;45;27
We run into some of the challenges
that folks have had in faster
01;36;45;27 - 01;36;49;16
growing communities, places
like Boise and Chattanooga and Greensboro
01;36;49;16 - 01;36;52;27
and in other communities
like that, that Nashville
01;36;53;05 - 01;36;57;04
that have been have grown faster
than their housing markets have.
01;36;57;06 - 01;36;59;10
So what are we doing about it?
01;36;59;10 - 01;37;00;20
First, a couple of things.
01;37;00;20 - 01;37;04;25
One, we do have a housing task force here
at Sutter State, so we've got 20
01;37;04;25 - 01;37;08;21
or 25 members from across segments of our
of our business community
01;37;08;21 - 01;37;11;20
and our employer network
and are not for profit organizations
01;37;11;21 - 01;37;15;15
who are working together
on trying to develop some policy
01;37;15;17 - 01;37;18;10
opportunities
to move the needle on housing.
01;37;18;10 - 01;37;22;04
Most importantly, what we want to be able
to do as a private sector
01;37;22;04 - 01;37;25;25
based organization is to support
the good work that the city is doing.
01;37;25;25 - 01;37;27;22
They have undertaken a housing study.
01;37;27;22 - 01;37;29;25
They're in the phase two right now.
01;37;29;25 - 01;37;34;04
The county is working with the same
consultant on county wide housing study.
01;37;34;07 - 01;37;37;29
New York State is also working on
a housing study for the central New York
01;37;38;02 - 01;37;39;03
region as a whole.
01;37;39;03 - 01;37;43;05
And all of these are designed to nest
together to give us a complete picture
01;37;43;05 - 01;37;47;00
of what's happening,
what our current housing demand is,
01;37;47;02 - 01;37;49;07
where
there is going to be need for housing,
01;37;49;07 - 01;37;52;10
and what kinds of housing options
for everything from affordable
01;37;52;10 - 01;37;55;10
to market rate, single family
home, multifamily home.
01;37;55;17 - 01;37;57;12
We're going to need to build
01;37;57;14 - 01;37;59;03
the fundamental
01;37;59;03 - 01;38;02;29
challenge that I see with housing
01;38;03;02 - 01;38;05;15
is that in New York State
01;38;05;15 - 01;38;10;25
we operate under a home rule system,
which means every municipality controls,
01;38;10;27 - 01;38;14;18
to some extent
their land use and their zoning
01;38;14;21 - 01;38;17;28
right now
inundated county, I believe the number is
01;38;18;00 - 01;38;21;25
3% of of land in a county
01;38;21;25 - 01;38;25;16
is zoned for multifamily
housing development.
01;38;25;19 - 01;38;28;08
Not on that is not a lot
when you think about it.
01;38;28;08 - 01;38;31;06
And the reality is
01;38;31;06 - 01;38;35;25
we need exponentially more housing
01;38;35;27 - 01;38;38;22
in order to do that
in a way that doesn't create sprawl,
01;38;38;22 - 01;38;42;21
we need to embrace multifamily
housing and higher density
01;38;42;21 - 01;38;45;21
housing development than we've
historically been used to, right?
01;38;45;23 - 01;38;49;29
There's this idea that you can go
build a single family home on a lot,
01;38;50;06 - 01;38;52;25
and that's the American dream.
And for some it is.
01;38;52;25 - 01;38;54;01
For many it's not.
01;38;54;01 - 01;38;56;27
Demographics are changing,
people's tastes are changing.
01;38;56;27 - 01;39;00;09
But we simply cannot build enough housing,
whether it's not like
01;39;00;09 - 01;39;03;09
a county or Oswego
or Cayuga or anywhere else,
01;39;03;14 - 01;39;07;25
without embracing a higher density
footprint of housing development.
01;39;07;28 - 01;39;11;25
In order to do that,
we need the proper zoning and the proper
01;39;11;27 - 01;39;16;09
land use planning to enable for that
to happen in areas where there is existing
01;39;16;09 - 01;39;20;02
infrastructure, whether it's water
pipes, sewer pipes, power access
01;39;20;02 - 01;39;24;04
to amenities like grocery stores
and health care services.
01;39;24;07 - 01;39;27;03
So one of the big things that I hope
that center state can do over the course
01;39;27;03 - 01;39;30;22
of the next over the course
of the next year or two is to really work
01;39;30;22 - 01;39;34;15
with our local municipalities,
to work with our state, city, county,
01;39;34;18 - 01;39;39;10
our towns and our villages to find ways
to grow the amount of land
01;39;39;10 - 01;39;40;17
that is properly zoned
01;39;40;17 - 01;39;44;23
for multi-family housing in areas
where we have existing infrastructure.
01;39;44;23 - 01;39;48;23
If we can do that, if we can make it
easier for developers to build,
01;39;48;26 - 01;39;51;09
if we can give them more options
for building,
01;39;51;09 - 01;39;54;03
I'm confident that we're going to be able
to meet this moment.
01;39;54;03 - 01;39;57;15
But we've got to make progress
on that fundamental thing.
01;39;57;15 - 01;40;03;05
We need more land that is properly zoned
for multi-family housing in this region
01;40;03;07 - 01;40;06;07
or else we're going to struggle
to meet the demand that exists.
01;40;06;14 - 01;40;10;03
It's a major investment housing,
and there are a number of major
01;40;10;03 - 01;40;11;09
infrastructure investments
01;40;11;09 - 01;40;15;12
that this region needs in order to grow
sustainably and inclusively.
01;40;15;12 - 01;40;17;10
We've talked a little bit about it before
01;40;17;10 - 01;40;21;26
on some of your past episodes
and another episode of the season one,
01;40;21;28 - 01;40;24;29
but what are some of the investments
in our business
01;40;24;29 - 01;40;28;04
and civic infrastructure
that are top of mind for you right now?
01;40;28;04 - 01;40;31;20
And what do we risk
if we don't invest in ourselves?
01;40;31;22 - 01;40;34;05
Yeah, the list is long and unfortunately
01;40;34;05 - 01;40;38;18
a long list in public infrastructure
ends up with a pretty large price tag,
01;40;38;18 - 01;40;42;22
which is something that I think on
one hand is a little bit scary.
01;40;42;22 - 01;40;47;15
On the other hand, I think is reflective
of the challenge that we have,
01;40;47;17 - 01;40;51;00
all of us now
essentially work that we have to embrace.
01;40;51;02 - 01;40;53;12
We cannot think small.
01;40;53;12 - 01;40;56;23
I we are not a small community.
01;40;56;25 - 01;40;58;13
We are a growing community.
01;40;58;13 - 01;41;01;20
We are going to be a much larger community
01;41;01;20 - 01;41;05;04
in the very near future,
not a smaller community.
01;41;05;04 - 01;41;07;01
And that's a mindset shift.
01;41;07;01 - 01;41;10;01
We need to now believe
01;41;10;05 - 01;41;12;19
that that those civic investments
01;41;12;19 - 01;41;16;00
will pay returns for us
and that we can't grow without them.
01;41;16;02 - 01;41;19;02
Top of mind for me is our health care
infrastructure.
01;41;19;04 - 01;41;22;29
Many of our our our hospitals
and our health care systems
01;41;22;29 - 01;41;26;29
are under tremendous strain post-pandemic,
and there's a lot of reasons for it,
01;41;26;29 - 01;41;28;22
whether it's federal reimbursement rates
01;41;28;22 - 01;41;31;19
or some of the challenges
associated with COVID.
01;41;31;19 - 01;41;35;19
But we need a world class health care
infrastructure here in central New York
01;41;35;19 - 01;41;36;15
if we're going to attract
01;41;36;15 - 01;41;40;18
the kind of talent that companies
like Micron and Keaton and these high
01;41;40;18 - 01;41;45;14
tech manufacturers that are growing
and investing here expect in demand,
01;41;45;16 - 01;41;48;03
these investments are going to be
in the billions of dollars.
01;41;48;03 - 01;41;51;28
And that scares everyone
from from our local partners
01;41;51;28 - 01;41;53;28
to our state partners
to our federal partners
01;41;53;28 - 01;41;57;07
who ultimately are going to have
to help us foot the bill.
01;41;57;10 - 01;41;58;27
But they're necessary.
01;41;58;27 - 01;42;00;20
Some of our health care systems
01;42;00;20 - 01;42;04;00
and some of our health care
facilities are extremely outdated.
01;42;04;02 - 01;42;06;18
There have been stories
in the Syracuse paper
01;42;06;18 - 01;42;09;00
over the course of the last year or two
about the wait
01;42;09;00 - 01;42;13;21
times in our emergency rooms,
which are frankly unacceptable
01;42;13;23 - 01;42;18;07
and I think that we
we are going to need to embrace this idea
01;42;18;07 - 01;42;20;18
of investing billions
upon billions of dollars
01;42;20;18 - 01;42;22;10
in our health care infrastructure
going forward.
01;42;22;10 - 01;42;26;17
It's everything from physical facilities
all the way to
01;42;26;19 - 01;42;29;17
building infrastructure that allows our
01;42;29;17 - 01;42;32;28
our disparate regional health
care systems to work better together.
01;42;33;01 - 01;42;36;23
I will say that in the health care
space over my time,
01;42;36;26 - 01;42;39;08
collaboration has not always been strong
in that sector.
01;42;39;08 - 01;42;41;13
There's been a lot of competition.
01;42;41;13 - 01;42;42;19
I think we have to break that habit.
01;42;42;19 - 01;42;45;28
I think we have to get better at
01;42;46;01 - 01;42;49;01
improving that, that muscle memory
for collaboration.
01;42;49;02 - 01;42;50;14
But it's not just health care.
01;42;50;14 - 01;42;52;28
We are going to need to figure out
how to invest
01;42;52;28 - 01;42;55;00
in more educational facilities, right?
01;42;55;00 - 01;42;58;16
If we really grow our population
by 100,000,
01;42;58;16 - 01;43;02;09
125,000 people
over the course of the next,
01;43;02;12 - 01;43;06;00
you know, ten, 15, 20
years, we're going to need more schools.
01;43;06;00 - 01;43;06;10
Right.
01;43;06;10 - 01;43;09;27
And how do we do that in a way that maps
01;43;09;27 - 01;43;13;23
to the types of population growth
that we're going to anticipate?
01;43;13;25 - 01;43;15;17
I think that's a really important
conversation
01;43;15;17 - 01;43;18;24
that is just starting to be had
with some of our school superintendents
01;43;18;24 - 01;43;23;03
and some of our policymakers
in in in Albany.
01;43;23;05 - 01;43;24;03
Certainly, we're excited
01;43;24;03 - 01;43;28;14
to see the new steam school coming online
that's going to add capacity for our our
01;43;28;17 - 01;43;29;07
you know, for students
01;43;29;07 - 01;43;32;17
who are interested in the science
and the arts and technology.
01;43;32;19 - 01;43;35;04
But that one investment
alone is not going to be sufficient to
01;43;35;04 - 01;43;37;07
meet the future need.
01;43;37;09 - 01;43;40;27
And so, you know, health
care infrastructure and I'll just tell you
01;43;40;27 - 01;43;45;01
a conversation that I was having
with my 11 year old son over the weekend.
01;43;45;03 - 01;43;48;03
We need more amenities for kids
and families.
01;43;48;04 - 01;43;51;04
And, you know,
I know we were going to see groundbreaking
01;43;51;05 - 01;43;54;21
this year on the on the aquarium
at Theater Harbor, which is
01;43;54;23 - 01;43;56;22
a great step in the right direction.
01;43;56;22 - 01;43;58;18
But we need more facilities like that.
01;43;58;18 - 01;44;03;26
We need more opportunities
if we are going to be a growing dynamic,
01;44;03;28 - 01;44;07;23
high tech market that we are emerging
as we need to show up
01;44;07;23 - 01;44;10;27
in that way in every aspect of our life,
not just in our economy,
01;44;10;27 - 01;44;16;19
but in in our culture and society
and recreational opportunities
01;44;16;21 - 01;44;18;24
for people across the board.
01;44;18;24 - 01;44;20;10
That's why
01;44;20;12 - 01;44;24;11
we're going to take a quick break here and
01;44;24;14 - 01;44;25;24
we're going to take a quick break here.
01;44;25;24 - 01;44;31;19
In the meantime, here's
a word from our sponsor and big bank.
01;44;31;21 - 01;44;33;00
All right.
01;44;33;00 - 01;44;34;01
Sorry, I'm rambling a lot.
01;44;34;01 - 01;44;37;01
Not You're good.
01;44;37;02 - 01;44;37;20
Keep.
01;44;37;20 - 01;44;40;20
Yeah, You come back
01;44;40;24 - 01;44;41;22
like I'm Rob.
01;44;41;22 - 01;44;43;12
I want you to like you.
01;44;43;12 - 01;44;47;04
Give us a little nugget or things
that you were really thinking about.
01;44;47;04 - 01;44;49;19
As we go into the new year,
there's not one thing.
01;44;49;19 - 01;44;53;12
Thank you for saving
01;44;53;14 - 01;44;54;05
you hurting me.
01;44;54;05 - 01;44;55;00
You can't.
01;44;55;00 - 01;44;57;18
You can't see me giving you the middle
finger from this side of the.
01;44;57;18 - 01;44;59;27
No, I can feel. You are. Yeah.
01;44;59;27 - 01;45;01;23
Good. That's. That was the point.
01;45;01;23 - 01;45;04;23
Are you the thinking more
01;45;04;23 - 01;45;07;12
along the lines of,
01;45;07;12 - 01;45;09;00
like, cool things that are on the horizon?
01;45;09;00 - 01;45;11;03
Like,
what are we looking at the year ahead?
01;45;11;03 - 01;45;13;05
Like, what? Are you excited about?
01;45;13;05 - 01;45;14;10
That is my last question.
01;45;14;10 - 01;45;15;21
Do you want me to hold that for you?
01;45;15;21 - 01;45;16;28
Want me to bring it up first?
01;45;16;28 - 01;45;19;23
Now, if that's your last question, but I
01;45;19;26 - 01;45;22;26
would
01;45;23;02 - 01;45;29;22
just me was really thoughtful about that.
01;45;29;24 - 01;45;30;15
Okay.
01;45;30;15 - 01;45;34;24
So what I'm excited about,
I'll figure it out between now and then.
01;45;34;27 - 01;45;36;00
All right, you go.
01;45;36;00 - 01;45;38;28
What?
There's a question between so perfect.
01;45;38;28 - 01;45;42;05
Okay.
01;45;42;07 - 01;45;42;22
Welcome back.
01;45;42;22 - 01;45;45;11
You're listening to Talk CNY,
presented by NBT Bank.
01;45;45;11 - 01;45;48;12
I'm Kelly Sikorski, director
of communications at Center Stage SEO.
01;45;48;12 - 01;45;51;15
Joining me today is center
Stage CEO, President Rob Simpson.
01;45;51;15 - 01;45;56;08
And we are talking about what
2024 could hold for the regional economy.
01;45;56;11 - 01;46;01;27
So, Rob, last year in this studio
for the very first podcast episode,
01;46;02;04 - 01;46;06;27
you said something Central New York needs
to be better at is telling its story.
01;46;06;29 - 01;46;09;20
And so do
you think we've gotten better at it
01;46;09;20 - 01;46;12;17
and what is the story
we need to tell in 2024?
01;46;12;17 - 01;46;14;16
I think we're getting better at it.
01;46;14;16 - 01;46;19;06
I think I think be excellent
at telling your story really stems
01;46;19;06 - 01;46;23;03
from fully understanding who you are
and where you're going.
01;46;23;03 - 01;46;27;16
And I think, you know, going back to the
question you posed earlier,
01;46;27;19 - 01;46;28;21
getting our community on the
01;46;28;21 - 01;46;32;02
same page about telling our story is hard
when there's skepticism
01;46;32;04 - 01;46;35;17
and there's not a deep, deeply felt belief
01;46;35;20 - 01;46;36;10
that we're moving
01;46;36;10 - 01;46;40;12
in this positive direction,
this exciting new direction, this dynamic,
01;46;40;14 - 01;46;43;03
new set of investments that are coming
that are going to change our region
01;46;43;03 - 01;46;46;28
for the better going forward
as we see that level of confidence rise,
01;46;46;28 - 01;46;49;29
I think we can count on other members
in our community
01;46;49;29 - 01;46;54;06
to be good ambassadors and faithful,
01;46;54;08 - 01;46;57;14
faithful narrators of the story
that we're writing together.
01;46;57;16 - 01;46;59;25
I think that that, you know,
frankly, to me is really exciting
01;46;59;25 - 01;47;03;00
because I feel like anyone
01;47;03;00 - 01;47;06;00
inside Center State
CEO can stand up and scream from
01;47;06;00 - 01;47;09;00
the mountaintop about the great things
that are happening, or
01;47;09;06 - 01;47;13;02
the county executive or the mayor
or any of our other public officials.
01;47;13;05 - 01;47;15;07
And there's only so many people
that are going to listen. Right.
01;47;15;07 - 01;47;19;22
What what I think the average person said
they listened to the conversation
01;47;19;22 - 01;47;22;18
that's happening in their neighborhood
or around the dinner table
01;47;22;18 - 01;47;25;18
and how are they feeling
and experiencing our community.
01;47;25;18 - 01;47;30;14
And the more people begin to experience
our community as a growth community,
01;47;30;14 - 01;47;35;12
the more people who experience
that sense of positivity, that hope,
01;47;35;14 - 01;47;36;25
and they feel that momentum,
01;47;36;25 - 01;47;40;09
they're going to communicate
that to whoever, whether it's a spouse
01;47;40;09 - 01;47;44;13
or partner sitting across a dinner table
or whether it's a a colleague
01;47;44;15 - 01;47;49;06
who is at a trade show on the other side
of the world that they may be talking to.
01;47;49;08 - 01;47;52;23
And that's ultimately what we're going
to need to get our message out.
01;47;52;25 - 01;47;55;25
I think at the end of 2023, we relaunched
01;47;55;29 - 01;47;59;23
a project that Center State SEO
is partnered on with Advanced Media.
01;47;59;25 - 01;48;01;05
Something that I'm very excited about.
01;48;01;05 - 01;48;03;06
This is CNY,
01;48;03;06 - 01;48;05;24
this is CNY dot com,
as it is a great opportunity
01;48;05;24 - 01;48;08;28
for all of our region's residents,
both employers
01;48;08;28 - 01;48;12;28
and those who live here
to share with their networks.
01;48;13;00 - 01;48;15;21
It really helps us
tell the story of the jobs
01;48;15;21 - 01;48;19;04
and the growth happening here,
how people can get access to those jobs,
01;48;19;06 - 01;48;20;19
what's happening in our housing market,
01;48;20;19 - 01;48;23;05
what's happening with projects
like the aquarium in our
01;48;23;05 - 01;48;27;00
and our community amenities
are telling little stories of people
01;48;27;00 - 01;48;31;08
who've chosen to move here
or move back here and amplifying those.
01;48;31;10 - 01;48;33;09
So do I think we're getting better
at telling our stories?
01;48;33;09 - 01;48;37;27
Yes, I think we're going to be best
at telling our story when more people
01;48;37;29 - 01;48;40;28
fully
believe the direction that we're going.
01;48;40;28 - 01;48;45;28
But I feel progress, and I'm very hopeful
that that that story is going to continue
01;48;45;28 - 01;48;51;01
to evolve in a way that that more
people feel comfortable sharing in.
01;48;51;01 - 01;48;52;15
Is there any shift in story
01;48;52;15 - 01;48;55;24
between 2023 and 2024,
or are we keeping the same message?
01;48;55;27 - 01;48;59;20
I think, you know, frankly,
my observation,
01;48;59;23 - 01;49;05;20
the growth that we are anticipating
is coming sooner, not later.
01;49;05;23 - 01;49;08;28
So if anything, I feel
a greater sense of urgency to get that
01;49;09;01 - 01;49;10;05
that message, a narrative out.
01;49;10;05 - 01;49;11;21
I'm about to
01;49;11;21 - 01;49;14;15
get on a plane here in a couple of days
and I'm going out to the west Coast.
01;49;14;15 - 01;49;17;14
A number of folks I know the county
executive is going to be out there.
01;49;17;14 - 01;49;19;18
Some of our partners from New York State,
our colleague
01;49;19;18 - 01;49;21;09
North Plains, can be joining me.
01;49;21;09 - 01;49;24;24
And we're going out to a major industry
symposium for the Semiconductor industry.
01;49;24;24 - 01;49;25;17
We went last year.
01;49;25;17 - 01;49;30;10
It was a great, great opportunity
to interact with all of the major
01;49;30;10 - 01;49;34;29
semiconductor companies and supply
chain partners from all over the world.
01;49;35;01 - 01;49;36;24
Not only will we learn a lot about
01;49;36;24 - 01;49;39;25
the state of the semiconductor industry
that can help us be
01;49;39;25 - 01;49;43;27
smart about how to support Micron
and their investment here in this region,
01;49;43;29 - 01;49;46;26
but we're going to use the opportunity
to talk to a lot of their supply
01;49;46;26 - 01;49;50;05
chain partners
about locating here in central New York
01;49;50;07 - 01;49;52;13
this growth that we have.
01;49;52;13 - 01;49;54;18
We're now seeing coming.
01;49;54;18 - 01;49;58;05
I think it is coming
sooner than people want.
01;49;58;05 - 01;50;01;05
I think the pace
and the scale of development
01;50;01;12 - 01;50;04;03
that I anticipate from Micron
and from other companies in the
01;50;04;03 - 01;50;07;09
microelectronics and semiconductor space,
I think is going to happen more quickly.
01;50;07;09 - 01;50;11;07
I think some of that has to do
with global geopolitical conditions.
01;50;11;07 - 01;50;15;12
I think we unfortunately are in a world
that is filled with conflict.
01;50;15;14 - 01;50;19;21
Conflict creates risk and uncertainty,
and that risk and uncertainty leads
01;50;19;24 - 01;50;22;06
US policymakers to say, you know what,
01;50;22;06 - 01;50;26;19
we want to make sure that we have
a fully functioning, you know,
01;50;26;19 - 01;50;30;06
top of the line domestic semiconductor
manufacturing industry here in the U.S.
01;50;30;06 - 01;50;33;06
And it's the right move
from a national security standpoint.
01;50;33;13 - 01;50;37;10
So there,
I think, is a lot of federal investment,
01;50;37;10 - 01;50;42;16
a lot of federal attention going into
accelerating the pace of development
01;50;42;19 - 01;50;45;19
because of the uncertainty
that's happening in the world around us.
01;50;45;22 - 01;50;49;02
So my top line message is
I think it is coming
01;50;49;02 - 01;50;52;12
faster than people anticipate.
01;50;52;15 - 01;50;55;23
That is both exciting
and a little terrifying.
01;50;55;25 - 01;50;57;29
But we don't really have a choice.
01;50;57;29 - 01;51;01;27
We need to step up and figure out
how to manage that growth and
01;51;02;00 - 01;51;07;11
in the best way and translate that growth
to positive economic and social outcomes
01;51;07;11 - 01;51;10;24
for as many people in our community
as we possibly can.
01;51;10;26 - 01;51;12;05
It can feel really big.
01;51;12;05 - 01;51;16;02
I mean, all of this conversation,
it's very between
01;51;16;02 - 01;51;20;18
geopolitical circumstances
and macro and micro economic influences.
01;51;20;20 - 01;51;22;10
It all is a lot to take in.
01;51;22;10 - 01;51;26;17
So looking ahead to 2024,
are there little moments
01;51;26;17 - 01;51;27;17
that make you excited
01;51;27;17 - 01;51;32;04
coming down the line, something that,
you know, you have on your calendar
01;51;32;04 - 01;51;36;06
or maybe that you just know
is in the next few months?
01;51;36;06 - 01;51;39;08
That is something that you're
looking forward to
01;51;39;08 - 01;51;43;05
and are excited about that is symbolic
of the central New York journey.
01;51;43;08 - 01;51;46;15
Yeah, I think the short answer is yes.
01;51;46;15 - 01;51;48;19
I think there are a lot of them.
01;51;48;19 - 01;51;50;27
One that is very near
and dear to my heart.
01;51;50;27 - 01;51;53;21
We anticipate that in 2024 we're going
01;51;53;21 - 01;51;58;09
to complete construction
on a fully renovated tech garden.
01;51;58;11 - 01;52;02;06
That building that was
that was first renovated from an abandoned
01;52;02;06 - 01;52;08;27
parking garage into an incubator back
in 2004 is getting a complete makeover.
01;52;08;29 - 01;52;11;26
If you drive by down Harris's street right
now, you'll see the building
01;52;11;26 - 01;52;13;21
completely ripped apart.
01;52;13;21 - 01;52;17;08
In the next week
or two, we're going to start to see steel
01;52;17;10 - 01;52;21;25
go up on the roof, and you're going to see
this new structure start to take shape.
01;52;21;28 - 01;52;25;10
That's incredibly exciting for me
because it is something
01;52;25;10 - 01;52;29;16
that is emblematic of the strategy
that we set.
01;52;29;18 - 01;52;34;22
The strategy being we need to start more
companies than we lose in Central York
01;52;34;24 - 01;52;38;03
if we want to win the economic future
and the tech our new bodies.
01;52;38;03 - 01;52;41;29
That spirit of entrepreneurship
and innovation and to be able to make this
01;52;42;05 - 01;52;42;21
what is going to
01;52;42;21 - 01;52;46;15
be more than a $30 million investment
in completely renovating that space
01;52;46;15 - 01;52;49;29
and making it a state of the art incubator
and accelerator
01;52;50;01 - 01;52;52;01
is something that I'm incredibly proud of.
01;52;52;01 - 01;52;57;06
We're actually, as an organization,
we're very focused in 2024 on
01;52;57;09 - 01;53;00;04
and making sure
that when we reopen those doors, we do it
01;53;00;04 - 01;53;03;15
in the most complete and comprehensive
way we can.
01;53;03;18 - 01;53;05;24
But that's something that I think 2024
01;53;05;24 - 01;53;09;01
is going to bring the opportunity
to reopen that facility.
01;53;09;01 - 01;53;11;18
And I'm I'm wildly exciting.
01;53;11;18 - 01;53;14;27
I'm also pretty pretty jazzed
about the opportunity
01;53;14;27 - 01;53;19;23
that I anticipate in 2024 to travel
across the ocean, most like in Asia,
01;53;19;23 - 01;53;26;20
whether that's Singapore,
Taiwan or other places, you know,
01;53;26;22 - 01;53;28;04
in in
01;53;28;04 - 01;53;31;28
Asia too, to talk directly
with a number of supply chain companies.
01;53;31;28 - 01;53;33;08
For Micron,
01;53;33;08 - 01;53;34;28
we're in the early stages
of starting to talk
01;53;34;28 - 01;53;37;11
about what those kind of trade
missions might be. Right?
01;53;37;11 - 01;53;39;09
Something that we would partner with,
01;53;39;09 - 01;53;43;07
with the county and with the state and
and with Micron on.
01;53;43;09 - 01;53;44;12
But, you know, that's a
01;53;44;12 - 01;53;48;03
that's a really fun thing to be able
to think about traveling across,
01;53;48;06 - 01;53;51;11
you know, tens of thousands of miles,
traveling across oceans
01;53;51;14 - 01;53;54;14
and in meeting people
that could be new partners of ours
01;53;54;15 - 01;53;55;15
and having the chance
01;53;55;15 - 01;53;57;18
to tell them the story
of what's happening here,
01;53;57;18 - 01;53;59;10
similar to what we did with Micron,
01;53;59;10 - 01;54;01;29
I'll tell you
that one of the most exciting things
01;54;01;29 - 01;54;05;03
that I had an opportunity to do
during the whole Micron recruiting process
01;54;05;03 - 01;54;08;15
was just the chance
to tell Micron who we were
01;54;08;15 - 01;54;13;02
and what we've been trying to accomplish
and where we think we're going.
01;54;13;05 - 01;54;14;28
That was
so much fun because this organization
01;54;14;28 - 01;54;17;28
has been at the center of trying
to craft that narrative for a long time.
01;54;18;01 - 01;54;20;25
And so the chance to do that again
with other partners
01;54;20;25 - 01;54;23;08
that we hope to welcome
from all over the world to Central
01;54;23;08 - 01;54;25;24
York is something
that I'm really looking forward to.
01;54;25;24 - 01;54;27;07
Obviously, I love to travel.
01;54;27;07 - 01;54;28;21
I love to I love different cultures.
01;54;28;21 - 01;54;30;15
I love to see new places.
01;54;30;15 - 01;54;33;09
But most importantly, I'd love to be
an ambassador for this community.
01;54;33;09 - 01;54;35;25
And and I'm
really looking forward to that.
01;54;35;25 - 01;54;38;09
Rob, thank you so much
for joining us here today
01;54;38;09 - 01;54;41;17
and for kicking off season two
with a good outlook on 2024.
01;54;41;24 - 01;54;44;18
Thank you, Carrie. Yeah.
01;54;44;18 - 01;54;47;04
Anything else you want to add?
01;54;47;04 - 01;54;50;12
great. Okay. I'm good with
01;54;50;14 - 01;54;51;24
that.
01;54;51;24 - 01;54;52;25
All right, Rock and roll.
01;54;52;25 - 01;54;55;25
All righty. Clap.
01;54;56;01 - 01;54;58;11
Anything we want to report.
01;54;58;11 - 01;55;01;17
So grateful for your economic
01;55;01;17 - 01;55;04;24
forecast Breakfast promo.
01;55;04;26 - 01;55;05;21
you want to do it here?
01;55;05;21 - 01;55;08;26
Do it on the phone. No,
01;55;08;29 - 01;55;10;29
I mean, if we get stuff set up,
we can do it.
01;55;10;29 - 01;55;14;27
Yeah, It's easy recording,
so we can just do it with Brittany's phone
01;55;14;27 - 01;55;16;24
if you want to do it.
But I guess we could do. Yeah.
01;55;16;24 - 01;55;18;23
How ever you'd like to.
01;55;18;23 - 01;55;21;15
If you want to sit right here and do it,
01;55;21;15 - 01;55;24;14
you want to sit right here,
you can square up in the center
01;55;24;14 - 01;55;27;24
if you want to do it here,
01;55;27;27 - 01;55;29;08
let me think.
01;55;29;08 - 01;55;31;26
You two go here. Do you need any of that?
01;55;31;26 - 01;55;37;01
On January 31st at 8 a.m.
01;55;37;03 - 01;55;37;25
on center.
Other
Talk CNY Main Series Transcripts
| S2,E8 - Housing Taskforce | April 24, 2024 | |
| S2,E7 - Rob Simpson | April 10, 2024 | |
| S2,E6 - Durin Leckie | March 20, 2024 | |
| S2,E5 - Erik Jankowski | March 6, 2024 | |
| S2,E4 - Jason Terreri and Ken Stewart | February 21, 2024 | |
| S2,E3 - Kara Jones | February 7, 2024 | |
| S2,E2 - Dan Kolinski | January 24, 2024 | |
| S1,E24 - Andrew Fish and Kate Hammer | December 27, 2023 | |
| S1,E23 - Jared Shepard | December 20, 2023 | |
| S1,E22 - Alan Rottenberg and Donna Gillespie | December 6, 2023 | |
| S1,E21 - Ben Sio | November 22, 2023 | |
| S1,E20 - Tim Kennedy | November 8, 2023 | |
| S1,E19 - Rob Simpson Q4 | October 18, 2023 | |
| S1,E18 - Joe Nehme | October 4, 2023 | |
| S1,E17 - Jonathan Link Logan and Andy Obernesser | September 20, 2023 | |
| S1,E16 - Shawni Davis | September 6, 2023 | |
| S1,E15 - Kelly Fumarola | August 23, 2023 | |
| S1,E14 - Nancy Kern Eaton | August 9, 2023 | |
| S1,E13 - Rob Simpson Q3 | July 26, 2023 | |
| S1,E12 - David Kavney | July 12, 2023 |