News & Media

Over the course of this year and the last, access to quality broadband and the internet has revealed itself to be more essential than ever, as many workers transitioned to remote working, students pivoted to remote schooling and businesses and governments increasingly took their commerce and services online.

On October 21, the Westchester County Association in partnership with the City of Yonkers, STEM Alliance, Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE), Fordham University, and Westhab launched the much anticipated Yonkers Zone (Y-Zone).

Y-Zone’s much-anticipated pilot program has just launched, bringing free and affordable internet to hundreds of Yonkers households.

Located along the Hudson River, Yonkers is the gateway between New York City and the Hudson Valley. Through Project OVERCOME, the leaders of the digital opportunity zone known as Yonkers Zone, or Y-Zone, will provide free Internet access to approximately 250-350 households in downtown Yonkers using spectrum in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) frequency band. The team is comprised of leaders from the Westchester County Association, City of Yonkers, STEM Alliance, Yonkers Partnership in Education (YPIE), Fordham University and Westhab.

At the most recent meeting of the Westchester County Association on Sept. 23, Susan Fox was elected chairperson of the board of directors.

September is National Workforce Development Month, which was created to raise awareness about the importance of developing a robust and highly skilled workforce for the benefit of both the local and national economy.

Known as one of Westchester County's most recognizable strips of office buildings, Westchester Avenue's future appears to be less a hub for white-collar workers and more for residential and beyond.

Westchester County Association's mantra to be the region's leading economic-development and business-advocacy organization was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the private sector, corporate sustainability is no longer a peripheral interest to be addressed with platitudes or tertiary pilot projects. Organizations that continue to ignore the impacts of climate change and other aspects of social responsibility in their core strategic planning increasingly do so at their own peril.

A new effort by a coalition of organizations and businesses to address what is described as "the housing crisis in Westchester" was launched June 24 with a news conference in front of the Regent Street Senior Apartments in Port Chester.

White Plains, N.Y. (November 23, 2021) – The Westchester County Association (WCA), and Nonprofit Westchester (NPW), are hosting a free virtual event, An Open Conversation with US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, on Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. EST. This event will include an interactive dialogue, discussing the most pressing issues impacting businesses and the Hudson Valley community.

White Plains, N.Y. (October 21, 2021) – Today, the Westchester County Association in partnership with the City of Yonkers, STEM Alliance, Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE), Fordham University, and Westhab launched the much-anticipated Yonkers Zone (Y-Zone). This project is made possible through support from US Ignite, the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award # CNS-2044448), and Schmidt Futures. By utilizing Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum, the newly deployed, digital opportunity zone provides free internet access to approximately 250 to 400 need-based households in downtown Yonkers.

The Westchester County Association (WCA) is hosting their 2nd Annual Regional Workforce Summit on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EST. Join the WCA and leaders from business, education, government, and nonprofits as they gather to discuss the mega shifts occurring in our region’s talent ecosystem. This event will showcase how businesses are leveraging the “new normal” in training, recruiting, and retention developments of the region’s talent.

The Westchester County Association (WCA) is one of seven lead organizations to have been selected by US Ignite, a national non-profit accelerating the smart city movement, to participate in Project OVERCOME. Project OVERCOME, a $2.7 million effort is designed to expedite the delivery of broadband services to underserved communities across the United States. The U. S. National Science Foundation (NSF) conceived of and is providing $2.25 million in funding for the project, with Schmidt Futures joining as a financial and strategic partner to extend Project OVERCOME’s geographic reach with an additional $450,000. The project explores novel approaches to connectivity in both rural and urban communities with an eye on replicating these efforts on a national scale.

The Westchester County Association (WCA), and Nonprofit Westchester (NPW), are hosting a free virtual event, An Open Conversation with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on February 26, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. EST. This event will discuss the most pressing issues impacting regional businesses and nonprofits and will include an audience Q&A. Topics that will be addressed in this event include: • COVID relief and the rest of Senator Schumer’s 2021 legislative agenda • Economic development priorities in the lower Hudson Valley • The importance of nonprofits to the regional economy • The challenges of legislating in the current political environment

The Westchester County Association (WCA), in partnership with Westchester County’s Office of Economic Development, is hosting a free virtual webinar, All Access Healthcare: Spotlight on Westchester’s Bioscience Ecosystem, on February 11, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EST. This event will showcase the growing bioscience ecosystem in the county and highlight why more life science companies are moving to Westchester County. Opening remarks will be made by Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

The Westchester County Association (WCA), Westchester’s leading economic development and business advocacy organization, today announced the appointment of five new members to its board of directors.

Regional experts in real estate and housing will share best practices and offer potential solutions to the lack of affordable and diverse housing stock in the region – where more than 11,000 additional such units are needed -- at the Westchester County Association’s fourth annual Real Estate and Housing Virtual Summit on October 30 at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Dr. Philip Ozuah, president and chief executive officer of Montefiore Medicine, will deliver the keynote address at the Westchester County Association (WCA)’s online 70th Anniversary Leadership Event, which will celebrate business and nonprofit movers and shakers, Congresswoman Nita Lowey, and local healthcare heroes, on November 19 at 4 p.m. EST.

The initiatives are outlined in “Towards a Stronger Future,” a newly-released report from the WCA’s Post Pandemic Working Group (PPWG), which is a select committee of business, nonprofit, and education and government leaders who are working collaboratively to support the recovery and long-term prosperity of the region.  The Towards a Stronger Future report, which is available for download on the WCA’s website, sets forth a clear advocacy and action agenda in those Four Foundational Pillars of Economic Recovery where the WCA is well-positioned through its proven expertise and deep professional network to achieve significant impact: healthcare and bioscience, real estate and housing, digital connectivity, and energy and sustainability.