S3,E14 - Corporate Leadership Takeover

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Katie Zilcosky:

This is Talk CNY, a semi-monthly podcast by CenterState CEO. We're an independent nonprofit committed to creating inclusive, equitable, and sustainable economic growth in Central New York. Join us as we meet the people and explore the projects driving the regional economy forward. This is Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank. I'm Katie Zilcosky, Director of Communications at CenterState CEO, and your host for Talk CNY. Well, usually I am, but this episode is going to be a bit different. We are so excited to pass the host mic onto our corporate leadership team for this episode, recorded at the Redhouse Arts Center in downtown Syracuse.

Elle Hanna:

Hi, I'm Elle Hanna, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at CenterState CEO, and I'm excited to welcome all of my fellow corporate leadership team members to this special episode of Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank. On this special episode, we are going to cover a lot of different topics. We have a lot to talk about, but first things first, I do want to do quick introductions. As some of you may know, I lead the marketing communications and event functions at CenterState, and I have been with the organization for almost 17 years. But Ben, I'm going to kick it to you next because you are our current leader.

Ben Sio:

Hi, I'm Ben Sio. I am Acting President and CEO at CenterState. I've been here for 18 years. Really acting president, CEO just means additional duties as assigned, and I work for you all.

Elle Hanna:

And Dr. Rogers.

Dr. Juhanna Rogers:

Hi everybody. I'm Dr. Juhanna Rogers. You all know that, but my role at CenterState is Senior Vice President for Racial Equity and Social Impact. So my days look pretty different every day. Sometimes I'm talking with members, sometimes I'm talking with clients, sometimes I'm talking with internal teams helping to think about how Central New York can become a place where all people thrive and prosper.

Elle Hanna:

Great. And Andrew.

Andrew Fish:

Andrew Fish, Senior Vice President of Member and Business Experience at CenterState. I've been with the organization nine years. In my role at CenterState, I oversee all of the interactions that we have with our members, how we serve them, how we pull them into our work, and how we engage them in our strategic planning and our decision-making.

Elle Hanna:

And Nora.

Honora Spillane:

Honora Spillane, Senior Vice President of Inclusive Growth. My team leads our workforce development programming, the client-facing work we do with small businesses and entrepreneurs at the INSPYRE Innovation Hub, economic development of the sort of basic bread-and-butter variety, and whatever else Ben might tell me to do.

Elle Hanna:

And Kevin.

Kevin Schwab:

Hi, I'm Kevin Schwab. I run our Strategy, Policy and Planning team. My day-to-day work really revolves around public policy, government relations, and things that fly. And as Ben mentioned, yeah, I probably have been here the longest, I think that just means I'm the oldest. Call me OG CenterState.

Elle Hanna:

And Andrea.

Andrea Hahn:

Andrea Hahn, Senior Vice President of Administration and Human Capital, which means operations, finance, human resources, and a bunch of other things jumbled in there. I've been here about two years, so I'm the baby,

Elle Hanna:

I think like Admin and Human Capital, the team that I lead, marketing communications, it's a lot of the supportive work of the organization. So my team leads the marketing, communications and events, and I've been here almost 17 years. To get us right into the meat of this conversation, just in the past few days, we have announced Dr. Carlene Lacey is going to lead our ON-RAMP program, ON-RAMP Syracuse. Nora, can you talk to us a little bit about her, and why she is the right person to lead in this moment?

Honora Spillane:

Sure. ON-RAMP is a state program, and we are leading the flagship location and programming. It's a workforce development program that is intended to help us meet the moment for construction and microelectronics employees. We have a lot to do there. We are thrilled to have Dr. Carlene Lacey join the team. She will be the inaugural CEO of ON-RAMP Syracuse. What does that mean? She's going to help us figure all this out. She's got deep community experience. She's been in workforce development. She's been in community development. She's the nicest person I've met with a great flower on her blazer every day, but more important than that-

Ben Sio:

Way too nice for us.

Honora Spillane:

She is way too nice for us. But I think in addition to all of that, she's just got a lot of expertise in this area and also just a huge passion for the community. So we're really excited to have her on board, both the flower, the passion and just an incredible skill set.

Elle Hanna:

And it's not just Dr. Lacey leading in a specific role with ON-RAMP that's kind of new and exciting and something we're working on right now. There's also a physical building and location that is set to really transform a key corridor of our community. Kevin, can you give us a little insight perhaps into why that's so important from a policy standpoint and a community lead standpoint?

Kevin Schwab:

Well, certainly when we're talking about ON-RAMP, it really falls into I think the category of some of the biggest policy leads and wins for this community that we've had since we've had CenterState CEO. We often think about the origin of the land banks, which really came out of this organization and has produced so much new housing in our region and around the state, or we think about the historic tax credit, which is the reason we have projects in our community like Pike Block and like the revitalization of the Hotel Syracuse now the Marriott Downtown. This is really going to be that for workforce and it took a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of expertise, frankly, on behalf of the entire team at CenterState, but particularly Nora's team, Aimee Durfee, we are incredibly blessed to have her, really building workforce partnerships and strategies that have become the model for the entire state.

So we get to build what is an incredible one-stop shop that becomes a hub for a network of talent and workforce development opportunities that exist across our community, tying them all together in a way that'll be replicated we think in communities across the state, and at the same time fit perfectly into efforts that we have underway right now to bring investment and development to an entirely uninvested part of our community on the near south side. So this will fit in with things like the INSPYRE Innovation Hub, the STEAM School, the new Syracuse Community Health Center, JMA Wireless, and next look for an incredible development of the old Sears building as the new ON-RAMP Center.

Honora Spillane:

Not allowed to call it that anymore, it's 1300 South Salina.

Kevin Schwab:

1300 South Salina.

Ben Sio:

Kevin, that was like the best two-minute description of ON-RAMP I've heard.

Andrea Hahn:

It's like you're a pro.

Kevin Schwab:

I get to play with this every now and again. Yeah.

Andrea Hahn:

He practices.

Ben Sio:

That's what he was doing in the mirror this morning. Probably wasn't eating breakfast-

Andrea Hahn:

Just coffee.

Kevin Schwab:

Cigarettes.

Ben Sio:

Just coffee.

Elle Hanna:

Kevin, you kind of hit on a word that I want to go back to, hub. ON-RAMP is not the only hub we are currently under construction or thinking about in terms of a physical space. Our INSPYRE Innovation Hub is very soon coming online, and that is a project that when I look at this group, it has touched every single one of our teams in some form or fashion. I know from a marketing and communications events standpoint, renaming the Innovation Hub from Tech Garden to INSPYRE was a project that we were super excited to be a part of. The ability to launch that at our annual meeting and now think about how are we launching this new physical facility and what it means to that corridor, what it means to the entrepreneurs in this community, what it means to the member businesses, what it means to physically getting the project done, how are we using that new name to leverage and talk to a greater population in our community. What does this mean for each of you, and how have your teams kind of intersected with this specific project? Juhanna, go first.

Dr. Juhanna Rogers:

Great, great question, no pressure. One of the things, Nora and I just had a long coffee last week talking about, okay, now, and I think since I've started at CenterState, one of the things that I've really been passionate about is that how do we get the community engaged and through the doors. How do we get the right individuals from diverse communities in the door understanding that they're welcome here, they can be a part of programming, and what we have can also help their dreams, ideas and income, their economic conditions can grow. So working with Nora, working across the team thinking about we have the building coming and we have a great name, now how do we inspire all the people within this community in a way that helps them think that if they're interested in business and growth, entrepreneurship, tech, this is a place where they can come, make connection, form relationships, and change their lives, right?

Elle Hanna:

Yeah, absolutely. Sio, what about you?

Ben Sio:

I think there's a lot of momentum in the small business space right now. We've talked a lot about workforce development, ON-RAMP, with hiring Dr. Lacey, and all the great work of the intermediaries that we run at CenterState. One thing that oddly we have not been as vocal on as we can be is what's happening with small business ecosystem, what's happening with small business lending and startups, and the entirety of the ecosystem, not just the tech businesses that came out of the former place that we call formerly the Tech Garden. Now we call it the INSPYRE Innovation Hub, and I think that's the next big thing for us at CenterState, right? We're going to open this facility, we've reoriented how we think about the facility and how we want to welcome people in, and now we're building programming, new investment mechanisms, and I think a new energy around it because there's an opportunity.

That's the biggest thing. There's a massive spending opportunity that needs to be spent in our community, especially with small businesses and minority, women-owned businesses around the Micron project, but not just the Micron project. And we need to make sure we are elevating the entire civic ecosystem around supporting these businesses.

Elle Hanna:

Yeah.

Andrew Fish:

I think when I look at what's happening with INSPYRE and I also look at how we've evolved, kind of the way we engage businesses through our membership over the past few years, it's really a great time for that synergy to be created, right? It's looking at the broader network that we have and expanding that, bringing more people into the innovation Hub who traditionally have not felt welcome walking through those doors for a variety of reasons. It's thinking about the ways in which our existing business ecosystem can support those businesses and engage with them, whether that's through customer discovery or validation of product, or even just mentorship.

So looking at this as an opportunity to really say this is an interconnected group of people in our network that we want to make strong connections with, that we want to see positive outcomes, that we want to help people upskill and upgrade what they're doing within their own workspaces as a result of those interactions that they're having through the INSPYRE Innovation Hub. It's a really exciting time for us to think more broadly about where there's opportunities for overlap, where there's opportunities for, and doing that in an efficient way normally overlap something that you're like, oh, no, that's duplication. But in this instance, we think it can really accelerate growth in this region. And so we're excited about a-

Ben Sio:

Like a multiplier?

Andrew Fish:

Like a multiplier.

Elle Hanna:

Like a multiplier, yeah.

Andrew Fish:

Yeah, like a multiplier. And so we're excited about how our members will be able to experience this space and how they will be able to interact with these entrepreneurs and these small businesses as they're starting to become part of the fabric of our community.

Honora Spillane:

And I just got to say, huge shout out to Andrea and her team for just really digging in on getting us open. It is a monumental task to open a $35 million project, where we added 46,000 square feet, and Andrea's just taken it in stride. So yeah, thanks, Andrea.

Ben Sio:

Thanks, Andrea.

Kevin Schwab:

Thanks, Andrea. There's something that's really-

Andrea Hahn:

The bill's coming.

Kevin Schwab:

Really kind of metaphorical though about this project when you look back over the 15-year plus existence now of CenterState CEO, right? When we started the then Tech Garden had never been full. I don't think it had ever been more than half full in its entire existence. And of course, remember this was a former collapsed parking garage. It collapsed around the same time that this region was seeing the lowest amount of venture capital investment of any metro in the country.

And now come this fall, not only are we talking about growth as a region, but specifically within the small business ecosystem and our startup ecosystem that has now put us in the top half in the country for venture capital investment, one of the fastest growing communities in the country for venture capital investment. But now Syracuse is about to have the largest business incubator and accelerator in New York, and it's gone from being this thing you barely knew was there to a place that is going to be, well, inspiring and open to anybody and everybody in this community who says, "I've got an idea. I want to start this business. I can build a better mousetrap."

Elle Hanna:

And we appreciate everybody's patience with the construction on Harrison Street.

Dr. Juhanna Rogers:

You will be inspired after that is cleared up.

Elle Hanna:

I want to hear from all of you as well. I don't know, Andrea, do you have any other... We absolutely thank you for-

Andrew Fish:

Thanks, Andrea.

Kevin Schwab:

Thanks Andrea.

Ben Sio:

Thanks, Andrea.

Elle Hanna:

What has that been like?

Andrea Hahn:

I think the great part about it is we always do a lot for the community and now we're tuning up our own skills internally. You think about things differently, you teach people different things. We're using skills that maybe you've never used, but now you're learning a new skill. So yeah, it's a difficult process, but we've really come together as a team from admin working with IG, to understanding the process. So it's really been great in an internal perspective to grow the team as a whole.

Elle Hanna:

I can't wait to have a new generation of future community leaders see a space like INSPYRE and be inspired in a way that I think my generation, our generation, we didn't have those kinds of things. So that's what I'm looking forward to when we open it, to show not just our community members that are the professionals and the adults in the room now, but the future.

Honora Spillane:

There's an awesome view from the second floor of the building, the new second floor straight shot down to the STEAM school, and it's like it could not be a more perfectly framed geographic metaphor.

Elle Hanna:

I think that's what's so exciting, is how many people in our organization have touched this project and thought about the end user, thought about the kids at the STEAM school, thought about the entrepreneurs and the businesses and the folks who might just want to have an event in that space. We have a ton more to talk about, but first, we do need to have a quick word from our presenting sponsor, NBT Bank.

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Elle Hanna:

Welcome back. I'm Elle Hanna, Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications at CenterState CEO, and this is Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank. I am joined today by our corporate leadership team, and we've already covered a lot of ground, but there's a lot more still to talk about. We mentioned that the INSPYRE Innovation Hub was a major project and a lot of our staff are getting ready to move in there very soon. But that's not the only kind of project that we're working on to our physical space. Andrea, talk to us a little bit about some of the other changes that are happening and why that's so important to do.

Andrea Hahn:

Yeah, we are going to be doing some upgrades, changes from feedback from our staff, which is really important. I think staff have the opportunity to have feedback, and we're listening. We have a great space, but we're going to make it even better, and the feedback from all of our staff is going to be incorporated into that, and I'm excited to see what's going to happen.

Elle Hanna:

I think we've often said when we're interviewing candidates that we don't make widgets, our thing really is people, and our clients, our members and our staff are really central to how we transform this community. And I know we're thinking a little bit differently about how we are engaging our members and the different networks. Andrew, can you talk to us a little bit about that program that you're working on?

Andrew Fish:

Yeah, absolutely. I think there's more to come on this, so I'm not going to give away everything, but we are in the process of really understanding the various ways that businesses engage with us, right? This whole great moment for us to evaluate with INSPYRE coming online with the way that we're engaging with our members differently, it's really allowed us to think about the businesses that are in this region and how they can best engage with us and how we can best provide value to them. So we are establishing more broadly what we call our CenterState Network. That will be an official thing we start talking about, and there are various ways for people to plug into that network. Traditionally, how we've had members now looking at clients in the ways that we're going to be serving them through not just INSPYRE, but workforce development, community development, those things that we've done about making change happen in this community.

But there's also a group of traditional small businesses in this community that have been a part of the predecessor organization of the chamber and really are smaller operations that don't have the time to engage or sometimes the resources, but it's really important for us that their voice is heard, that they're able to get access to the information and they're staying engaged in that network. So we're developing a way for them to do that. We'll be launching that along with the opening of the INSPYRE Innovation Hub, and so we're really excited about it. But we really feel like this is the best way for us to say, it doesn't matter who you are, there is a way for you to engage with us. Some are better fits than others, and we're going to help you understand what that is and gets you plugged in the most effective and efficient way to be able to make an impact, not only on the work that we're doing, but also on your business.

Elle Hanna:

Yeah. Ben, why as you-

Ben Sio:

Yes.

Elle Hanna:

As you have stepped into a slightly different leadership role within the organization, when you hear what Andrew is talking about with our entire network, why is it important from your perspective that we better engage those that we are directly serving?

Ben Sio:

That's our job.

Kevin Schwab:

Good job, Ben-

Elle Hanna:

Nailed it, Ben.

Ben Sio:

Sorry.

Elle Hanna:

And this is Ben.

Ben Sio:

Welcome.

At the end of the day, we're a business organization. And when people say a business organization, it's not just your large institutions or your large manufacturers who are really important for us. It's the nonprofit community. It's the small business community. It's the human service community. It's the banking community. Go down the list. All of those entities and types of businesses are members of ours, and they give us the voice that we have in the community to serve and to comment on how things impact the economics of our community. I think that's really important.

Our approach at CenterState is taking an economic-first approach. There are a lot of great organizations in the community doing a lot of great stuff. We always believe that the future progress of an institution or an individual is driven first by a paycheck, right? We can help improve health outcomes, social outcomes, in our opinion, by starting with a paycheck. And that's not what everybody does in the community, but that's our role, to figure out how to elevate the care and feeding of the economy so that everybody has the opportunity to get that paycheck, to take those next steps. So for me-

Honora Spillane:

Where business thrives and all people prosper.

Ben Sio:

Exactly. You said that better than I did. For me, though, that's what we always have to default to, which is how are we serving a person's ability to get that next paycheck, how are we serving a person's ability to give somebody that next paycheck. So for me, that's how we get our voice. That's how we get the agency we have as an organization to work in the community.

Elle Hanna:

But I think what's so interesting about how we've kind of reworked this network approach is that, Andrew, your team and Nora, your team, have both really provided direct input on what that outcome looks like. What does this look like for those two populations that we've always served, but we haven't really had the right nomenclature to talk to them or talk about them.

Honora Spillane:

Right.

Andrew Fish:

I think it's also really important to differentiate. A lot of economic development organizations can talk about the fact that that's what they're rooted in, the economic opportunity, the paycheck. But what has really set CenterState apart and is unique is I think it's the acknowledgement that economic opportunity in and of itself is not a predetermined path to prosperity for all people, because different people face different barriers, different challenges. So our approach is really about that inclusive approach to it. How are you setting the table so that you have various voices heard? How are you bringing in those partners, the community-based organizations, the nonprofits, not just looking at it from the employer, the business side of it, but thinking about how holistic community development needs to happen. That's really been unique, at least in my experience here, having worked in other organizations and then coming here, that really makes this special.

Kevin Schwab:

And the business part though is the secret sauce-

Andrew Fish:

A hundred percent...

Kevin Schwab:

Business can tell you where the demand is. Business can take the risk to get to the next opportunity. Business can pilot programs and say, 'here, let's try this,' in a way that we can then work with partners, for example, in government who are not in a position to do that. So it's really that intersection that allows us to accomplish some of the things we've been able to get done.

Honora Spillane:

There's a continuity to all of this that we are really tapping into now, I think, with all of the things we're talking about. We can talk to a business from the moment of inception till the time they're hiring 10,000 people, knock on wood, and we can do something to support you every step of the way. But more importantly, people know who they're engaging with because we used to get a lot of like, "Oh, I didn't know you guys did that. Oh, I didn't know you guys did that." Thanks to your team and everybody here, we've done a lot to say that's CenterState. That's what we do.

Andrea Hahn:

I think that speaks to the people that we have. We have grown and developed people internally, that externally, you see the impact.

Dr. Juhanna Rogers:

I think it's really helpful to be a part of a team that's thinking on these levels, because a lot of folks will say, "Well, Dr. J., how does it fit?" Well, I'm like, "My colleagues are already talking about it. We may have a strategy session and sit down and think about, okay, well, who's missing, who's a part of this, who hasn't benefited, how can we engineer more opportunities, or who do we need at the table, where are the gaps?" So when I'm out in the community talking with folks or thinking about how they fit into what's happening, I know and can trust that my colleagues are also already thinking about that. It's not necessarily an additive, but it's ingrained in the work that CenterState does, right? And I think it's really exciting to be a part of that right now at this moment when there's a windfall of opportunities that could change this region and the people that reside in this region for generations to come.

Elle Hanna:

Yeah. I will say, again, thank you for being here.

Thank you to NBT Bank who supports this podcast and gives us the ability to share these stories and the stories of all of our team members who are truly passionate about this work. If you haven't gotten enough of these guys, we are doing CenterState CEO cameos on social media. By the end of the month, we'll have everybody live on social. So check those out, and we will be doing the entire staff at some point, so you'll really get to learn more about the, we'll say cast of characters that work with us. So thank you all for joining us.

Katie Zilcosky:

CenterState CEO's podcast Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank, is available on all major podcast platforms or CenterStateCEO.com. Additional content and clips can be seen across CenterState CEO's social media channels. For new episode reminders, be sure to subscribe in your favorite podcast listening app, and don't forget to leave a quick review or five-star rating. Thanks for listening to Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank.