S3,E21 - Sara Broadwell, Rachel Pierce

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. Our neighbors to the north in Oswego County have a long list of accomplishments in 2025, from thriving farmers' markets to innovative childcare initiatives. Oswego County leaders are building a vibrant community prepared for future investment, and the success of that region is integral to the success of the entire regional economy. On this episode of Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank, we speak with two of the leaders helping to guide the strategic initiatives that are making a regional impact. Sara Broadwell, Executive Director of the Greater Oswego Fulton Chamber of Commerce, and Rachel Pierce, Director of Workforce Development for Oswego County. Sara, Rachel, thank you both so much for being here today.

Happy to be here.

Yes, thank you for having us.

So it's the end of October, we are celebrating economic champions in our region. We have our Economic Champions celebration in downtown Syracuse at the Oncenter. Oswego County has many businesses being recognized during that celebration. So I wanted to ask you both. You guys are both working very deeply in Oswego County. What is something that's maybe overlooked or underrated about Oswego County? Its businesses, its people that you think people should know about.

One thing that is overlooked, I believe in Oswego County, but should be celebrated, is the collaboration that we all have together. We are working very hard across all silos within the county to help advance our region. We work extremely close together and we've been really successful in doing so with the partnerships that we have across the county.

Yeah, I think so. A good example of that is after many years of collaboration and hard work, in early 2024, Oswego County was designated as a work-ready community by ACT WorkKeys, and that was a collaboration between community partners, workforce and economic development agencies and educational partners. And what it shows is that we as a community have the foundational skills needed for a successful workforce for our businesses. So I think that's just, it's a tangible, tangible achievement that we can really celebrate our relationships and our collaboration around Oswego County as well.

Yeah. I want to talk a little bit more about that collaboration. You guys all started around the same time. I understand. So you've been working together on this upward trajectory together. Can you talk a little bit more about the collaborative nature of you all and all the leaders across Oswego County working to make a difference?

I think we all work well together. I mean, like you said, we've all come into our positions and a good number of us around the same time. So we've been learning not only our own organizations, but the partnerships that are needed to be successful in workforce and economic development along with some philanthropic partners as well. And we've developed not only this professional collaboration, but just a friendship and a kinship to be able to bounce ideas off each other. And that definitely helps with creativity as we move forward as well.

I think the friendship aspect is what really helps push everything. We're always challenging each other, asking questions, and each of us have a different expertise. I am in no way, shape or form as versed in workforce development as Rachel, but any question I have, she's always easily accessible to me. I can't tell you how many times I'm in a meeting and we're texting one another just across the board facts and data and things that we need. So I think that having such a diverse group of talent is really specific to helping us grow and as leaders, but also help all the initiatives that we all contribute to in different ways.

I'm wondering, you guys have worked with each other for a bit now, so what makes the other a good leader? Rachel, I'll start with you. What makes Sara a good leader?

I think Sara's, her outgoing personality and being able to just really engage a room, but she's also helped make a lot of connections on our end and bringing people together. I think she's a great facilitator when it comes to bringing people together and really feeding that collaboration. But Sara also brings a realness to it. I mean, like she says, she knows what she's not an expert in, but she knows what she is an expert in, and she's not afraid to ask the questions and really get the conversation going in a positive light.

You're nice. Thank you, Rachel. Why recreate the wheel? That's how I feel. Get right to the basics of what we know. Rachel is a phenomenal leader. She leads with such compassion. She's extremely poised and intelligent. She has such a plethora of information that she's an expert at. More importantly, Rachel is very resilient, very, very resilient, and she has a way of bouncing back and showing up for everyone around her, for her team, for the county, for her partners. And furthermore, she's a very true person and a true friend. So one of the things I'm most grateful for working side-by-side is ...outside of work/inside of work, we have become friends. It's something that elevates the work that we do. There's a trust that we have, and there's also just a deep friendship. So it's one of the highlights of my career.

That's so sweet. I mean, can you tell me about some of the projects that this trust and friendship and collaborative nature and just knowing the community has brought forward? What are some of the things that you have worked on in the last year, last five years that has come to fruition because of your collaborative nature?

Sure. So I think the Oswego County Childcare Investment Fund was one of the first things that I gathered a team around, and Rachel was one of my first phone calls. We have been working very hard to help identify the gaps that we have in childcare. So retention and recruitment is already a struggle for our large employers. Knowing that Micron is coming, there has definitely been a bit of a fear in Oswego County about our workforce and losing people to the Micron project and childcare and building out resources that help bring people to the county. So when I first got the phone call from Constellation saying, 'Hey, there's a major gap in childcare and we're willing to put a chunk of money towards it,' and that was it. Graciously, right away, I said, 'Absolutely 100% we can do this.' Then I thought, what have I committed to?

There's nothing standing. This is from the ground up. So with the help of leadership and calls like Rachel and just thought partnership, we've been able to create something really special and we've been able to grow it really quickly and identifying these gaps in deserts and helping move the needle forward. So I think that was for me, the first time that I knew I had true partners, that I had made a commitment, oops, and I had people that were going to make sure that it was a success and that we're able to deliver above anything that's been asked of us.

Coming from economic workforce development, it's what is the number one barrier to employment? It's childcare. If there's nobody to watch your children, you cannot go to work. It's as simple as that. So being able to have these relationships has really helped us to not only be creative and challenge each other with our questions, but we also, there's, there's no big egos in the room. If someone's not available for a meeting, that's okay. We trust what decisions you're making, and it's also, it allows us to really flourish and see where else we can go. We feed on each other's strengths and from our own experiences, too. I mean, we've got working parents right within our group. So it's really been a great collaboration, and I'm really excited to see where it's going to continue to go.

Yeah. I want to talk more definitely about the Childcare Investment Fund. I mean, just to start, can you guys give me a little bit of an overview of what the investment fund is, how it works, and what you're hoping to accomplish with it?

So currently with the launch of the Oswego County Childcare Investment Fund, we've really stemmed it out of some programming that was already in the works a couple years ago, Integrated Community Planning and Oswego County Workforce, we partnered with Jefferson Community College and Small Business Development Center on an in-home daycare bootcamp to help train the New York State regulated in-home daycare providers with small business knowledge. It's no doubt people go into childcare in their homes because they love to care for children. They know how to care for children. They don't necessarily know how to run a successful business. So that is one of the top reasons why some of the childcare providers close for those in-home, which with that, you then lose six to eight childcare slots per one of those closing. So with the investment of ARPA funding from Oswego County back a few years ago, we started doing these bootcamps in cohorts.

We had two years under our belt when the initiative of the Childcare Investment Fund came around. So we pivoted and now the Childcare Bootcamp is being housed right under Integrated Community Planning with Brandy Koproski and her team. They're offering the small business classes that are very specialized to in-home childcare, and we've had individuals that are able to become registered under New York State. They're opening those six to eight slots of childcare availability. Being in-home, it can be anywhere within the county, which is fantastic. You're not subjected to one specific area like a childcare center would be. And it's also, it is increasing some of that parent choice. But what we help with is some of the startup costs. There might be some in-home repairs that somebody would need to do based on the state inspection, whether it's adding an egress window or it might be changing a lock on a door to make it safer.

And then we also provide some funding to help with some of the supplies that you need. When you're taking care of babies, you need a lot of things within your home you might not have. So that is one pillar of the investment fund. Another piece is growing the Childcare Assistant Registered Apprenticeship program. So this is in partnership with New York State Department of Labor, SUNY Apprenticeship Division, and also Cayuga Community College. We have held a roundtable with many of the childcare centers within Oswego County, and we do have this fall, our first registered apprenticeship. So this individual is currently working for a childcare center. They are doing their classes through Cayuga Community College online, so they can still work during the day with the kids and they will earn their CDA by the end of it and also then come out after their programming as a registered, it's like a journeyman at the end, like you would with a trades union.

So they go through their apprenticeship, and they've got that. What they're experiencing though is they're working, they're earning a wage, and then they're also getting their training for free, paid for under SUNY apprenticeship funding. Where the investment fund is stepping in, we not only are taking our time to help Cayuga Community College get their curriculum approved by New York State Ed, that was really the biggest hurdle to get over and that came to fruition. Also, convening all of the partners, all of the childcare providers, and really advertising this out. And then we're going to step in with some retention stipends after individuals complete their registered apprenticeship training. So those two programs really help grow the capacity of your in-home and also your childcare center, because each parent wants to have their own choice of where they want to send their kids. And then the other pillars of our investment fund, we're looking more at the program and professional development and having different technical advisories and some additional funding needed for the gaps in what some of the state programs are out there, federal programs, maybe helping with right grants for the small businesses, whatever that may be.

When we're talking and collaborating with the different childcare providers, and also having some flexible funding. There's constantly programs coming out from New York State to help with childcare because it is such a hurdle that the workforce needs to really combat to be able to have a full functioning workforce. But there's gaps when you have a state coming out with programs that they're trying to have really assist every aspect of the different communities across the state. What works in New York City or Buffalo is not going to work in Constantia here in Oswego County. So having that flexible funding and the ability with the program and professional development is really going to help as we move forward with this.

Definitely. I mean, that's a lot of attacking it from many different sides, and I'm sure there's still a lot more work to do.

Absolutely. We're just getting started.

We are just getting started. We have been very lucky to have Constellation be the first to stand up and put money towards this. Identifying that there is a barrier. There's a big problem. And from there, we've been able to onboard other businesses. Oswego County was able to help and step in. Fulton Savings Bank. Pam Caraccioli has been a wonderful champion to this. We just had a funders meeting with them to give them updates and what's to come, and it was all very, very positive. And people are poised to make year-after-year contributions, which is wonderful. And we have a very large ask out right now. We're waiting to hear back. We're very hopeful to be hearing from that soon. The end goal is to get us at least to a million dollars, which we are working very, very hard. But Oswego County is very heavy in manufacturing. We have Novelis and Huhtamaki. We have a ton of different places with different hours that are unique to their business, and 24 hours a day, they have to keep those plants running.

So finding solutions for our specific area is another big point of all of this. What's needed in Oswego County isn't necessarily needed in Onondaga County. Every county is going to vary with industry and the needs of their workforce. So I think that keeping it specific right now to Oswego County has been part of the success. We've been able, again, to identify the gaps, the big shining gaps, and find solutions and strategies to fill them specific to our county right now. We have been asked many, many times by other counties throughout actually the nation that I've heard about this nationally, maybe we're at a conference and we have a ton of conversations about people piloting what we're doing, wanting to pick our brains, which is the hope. We hope that we can get this right and every iteration after can grow and just fill this horrible barrier that we're having to workforce development and families, and honestly, our economy. When so many parents are having to stay at home and can't afford childcare. Our workforce is obviously smaller, but so is our local economic expense. So it's really important to identify the needs specific to the area surrounding you.

Yeah. Well, we are going to have more with Sara and Rachel in just a moment, but first, a quick word from our presenting sponsor, NBT Bank.

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This is to Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank. I'm Katie Zilcosky, Director of Communications at CenterState, CEO, and your host for Talk CNY. On this episode, we are talking about all of the exciting things going on in Oswego County, and joining us to discuss them are Sara Broadwell, Executive Director of the Greater Oswego Fulton Chamber of Commerce, and Rachel Pierce, Director of Workforce Development for Oswego County. Thank you both for joining us here today.

Thank you for having us.

Thank you.

I know you both are working very hard on preparations for both current opportunity and opportunities on the horizon. What's one thing on your to-do list right now that you're looking forward to crossing off or looking forward to getting started on in 2026?

I think my biggest thing over at Oswego County Workforce New York is we are currently in the midst of our first cohort of Oswego Build. This program and initiative we have been talking about since Micron announced that they were coming over three years ago. What we have been able to do is take the program of Syracuse Build and Pathways to Apprenticeship that was started years ago with the I-81 project and have expanded it to a regional effort to get more people into the trades. It has become a CNY Build with branches not only in Syracuse and Oswego, but in Tompkins County, in the Mohawk Valley as well, and looking to then expand past that. So after years of planning and conversations and building relationships with not only the trades unions, but also other workforce and economic agencies, and under really the technical advisory of CenterState CEO and building close relationships with the team there for Oswego County as well.

Even closer in August, we started our first cohort. We have nine individuals from underrepresented, disadvantaged communities within Oswego County that are being paid to learn and be introduced to all of the different trades unions. It's not only six priority unions that Micron has specified. We have upwards of 11 or 12 unions that are involved. And these individuals not only come out with a paycheck after 14 weeks, but they're going to have their certification with an MC3 curriculum that's endorsed by all of the trades unions nationally. They're going to have their first aid CPR, their OSHA 10. They are going to have their national career readiness credential, which speaks back to Oswego County as a work-ready community that I mentioned earlier. And they're also going to have a GPRO certification for green construction, which then feeds into the other efforts that we're working on the end of the year.

I have just submitted the last couple of weeks some grant applications for funding to continue with Oswego Build into the next couple of years. But being able to add the EIF 2.0 curriculum, which is energy Industry fundamentals from the Center of Energy Workforce Development, a national organization that has worked with companies, such as Constellation and National Grid to be able to introduce our people that we're trying to get into the trades through our Pathways to Apprenticeship program under a Oswego Build, but also introduce them to the energy industry. Constellation in the nuclear industry is such a huge employer, especially of trades, tradesmen here in Oswego County, that we want to be able to introduce more people to the variety of opportunities that are within clean energy. And with the push from New York State for increased clean energy and wanting to increase the nuclear workforce across our state as well, it's just opening up even more opportunities. So I see not only has 2025 been successful. We want to have our first cohort complete by the middle of next month with Oswego Build. But where it goes into 2026 in the future is what I'm really excited about seeing.

Absolutely. And Sara?

I am excited for the momentum that we have right now, just continuing the momentum. The Workforce Readiness Programs are amazing. We have to keep building them. We need a workforce. So I think continuing collaborations, forming them, supporting them is high on my priority list, continuing the great relationships that we have, building on them, hoping to have new partnerships to help Oswego County push forward as we have been. And I think a great example in conclusion of the partnerships that we have, as everyone knows, Novelis had this horrific fire that has been just devastating to Novelis and the supply chain, and we read the headlines of the dollar impact and statistics and the data that's out right now. I think the true story that is most impactful about Novelis is the second that the fire happened. They had a community surrounding them. Their employers. Their leadership, just in general. Everybody rallied around Novelis. They needed flood lamps, and we were all on the phone looking to find them, and you had to get in line to send food out to them. Everyone was just there to step up. There's daily reports and weekly reports of just stakeholders and partners and people who care wanting for Novelis to get back on the hot mill going and continue work as usual. So I think that when we talk about Oswego County and the collaborations and the partnerships and everything that we keep touching on, this is a perfect example of why Oswego County is so special. When something terrible happens, when something wonderful happens, we're all championing each other. We're celebrating each other. We're uplifting. Anytime we're down, any resources we have. We stick together. So I think that in 2026, I look forward to gaining even more partnerships and relationships and just more support for all the wonderful things that we have going on here that I'm extremely proud to be a part of. And it's never lost on me that I get to be a part of it. It is a privilege that I don't take lightly, and I know Rachel and everybody else feels the same way. We live here. We raise our families here. We're just very committed to advancing Oswego County, and I think that we're doing a pretty good job.

I think so too. Well, Sara, Rachel, thank you both so much for your time today. Can't wait to see what you guys accomplish in the next year.

Thank you. And thank you, Rachel.

Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. Ladies.

Always.

CenterState CEO's podcast Talk CNY, presented by NBT Bank, is available on all major podcast platforms or centerstate ceo.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.