Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the City of Syracuse will host the Interstate 81 Jobs “Big Table” meeting on Thursday, Aug. 13. The virtual meeting will explore policy, legislative and regulatory actions to ensure City residents can benefit from the jobs and economic opportunity that the Interstate 81 project will create.
The “Big Table” meeting will involve representatives of federal, state, and local government; business and organized labor and community stakeholders. The program will address best practices in local hiring; business and workforce preparation; and local spending and contracting on public works projects.
“The Interstate 81 project has the potential to be a multi-billion injection of investment in our community. We need to ensure the project creates good jobs and launches careers for people in Syracuse who have been left behind for far too long,” said Mayor Walsh. “This is more than just a business, labor and government challenge. Creating a ‘big table’ signifies the importance of having a wide range of voices working together to address the challenges of creating jobs for local residents on major public infrastructure projects.”
Panelists scheduled to join Mayor Walsh for the program are: New York State Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman William Magnarelli; Mark Frechette, project director, New York State Department of Transportation; Deka Dancil, president of the Urban Jobs Task Force; Greg Lancette, president of the Central and Northern New York Building and Construction Trades Council (CNNYBCTC); Mitchell Latimer, council representative of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters; and a representative from the office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Syracuse Common Council President Helen Hudson and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens will also participate in the program.
The meeting will take place via a web conference on Aug. 13 between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Attendees can register to listen to the Big Table this link.
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