News

Hundreds of households in downtown Yonkers will soon have access to free or affordable internet due to a grant from U.S. Ignite spearheaded by the Westchester County Association.

The New Rochelle City Council scrapped a zoning clause originally intended to attract more senior housing to the city. Westchester County Association President and CEO Michael Romita said with the county's population is "greying," municipalities should have a plan to welcome more senior housing communities. You can’t have a healthy and equitable community if older residents are forced to move because they are squeezed out of viable housing options.

"What 5G means in practical terms is data speeds that will be up to 100 times faster than what we have today. Latency or lag periods are being halved now, and in the future will be even faster, with connection density vastly increased, meaning more devices that can function in a given area." Michael N. Romita

The optimist looks beyond the current socioeconomic and political environment and calls out a light at the end of the tunnel. The pessimist might acknowledge that despite the distant light, we are still in the tunnel. And the fatalist might view that distant light as belonging to an oncoming train. As president and CEO of the Westchester County Association, Michael Romita is neither the optimist, pessimist or fatalist. But he is a realist about the state of the country's economy.

Westchester County Association President and CEO Michael Romita said it's not unusual for a property to be flipped after the site receives approvals, but before a shovel hits the ground. The planning board approved the plan on Jan. 28, 2020. "Assuming that New Rochelle continues to develop, it's a pretty valuable lot," Romita said. Cities like New Rochelle, he noted, put a limit on the number of residential units to ensure a good mix of retail, commercial and housing.

Westchester County Association President and CEO Michael Romita said generally the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a "softening" of commercial real estate across the county. Meanwhile, residential real estate is "very hot," Romita said, including multi-unit developments. Specific to Briarcliff, Romita said the village has a number of older office complexes that are functionally obsolete. Repurposing those buildings into residential and mixed-use development "is important for the vitality of the region," he said.

For months now, Montefiore Medical Center has been locked in high-stakes contract negotiations with UnitedHealthcare, one of New York’s largest health insurers. At issue is the cost of medical insurance for 60,000 New Yorkers who live New York City, Westchester and the surrounding region. If no agreement is reached, Montefiore patients covered by UnitedHealthcare will be forced out of network. They will need to stop seeing the Montefiore doctors on which they have come to rely.

“Overall, there is a diversity of real estate sectors in Westchester, so it’s hard to address [the effects of coronavirus] in generalities,” says Michael Romita, president of the Westchester County Association. “The pandemic influenced various sectors in different ways. Clearly, there was a softening in activity in commercial office space, but I wouldn’t say [the impact has been] terrible.” During the early months of the pandemic, he notes, there was not an exodus of office leaseholders; rather, landlords and tenants in general were discussing work-arounds. “Rents were coming in; landlords were getting paid, though some were getting strung out a little bit,” Romita says.

The Westchester County Association has revised its Policy Playbook, a guide for development and economic growth, to include insights, resources and examples of how to develop successful housing initiatives with the goal of helping municipalities meet the needs for more diverse, affordable and available housing. The new Housing Initiatives chapter of the playbook points out that businesses have a stake in solving housing issues.

The business and nonprofit community, led by the Westchester County Association’s Real Estate and Housing Task Force, is developing solutions to this massive problem. A multi-faceted assemblage of real estate, planning, land use, financial, legal, academic and government stakeholders are working collaboratively to generate multi-disciplinary solutions.

White Plains, New York - (December 8, 2022) Susan Fox, WCA Board Chair, President & CEO, White Plains Hospital, and Michael N. Romita, President, and CEO of the Westchester County Association (WCA), announced this week that the WCA, the county’s premier business membership organization, will welcome eight new board members representing important industry sectors to bolster the WCA’s economic development and advocacy work.

White Plains, New York - (November 21, 2022)…. Westchester’s professional community packed the Westchester Marriott ballroom on November 17th for the Westchester County Association’s annual leadership dinner to honor Westchester’s most influential leaders and celebrate another year of impactful work by the WCA, the region’s premiere business advocacy and economic development organization.

White Plains, N.Y. (February 25, 2022) During the Annual County Executive’s Breakfast hosted by The Westchester County Association (WCA) on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel & Conference Center in Tarrytown, New York, County Executive George Latimer and WCA President & CEO Michael N. Romita jointly announced the launch of the Healthcare Talent Pipeline Program (HTPP).

The Westchester County Association (WCA) joined community leaders from Nonprofit Westchester (NPW), the Building and Realty Institute of Westchester and the Mid-Hudson Region (BRI), the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley (CIC), and the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (HGAR) to put forth an advocacy letter urging government officials to find statewide solutions to Westchester’s housing crisis.

Yonkers, N.Y. – Today, the Westchester County Association joined community leaders, elected officials, and project partners in a press conference at the Yonkers Public Library to highlight the latest developments since the launch of the Y-Zone (Yonkers Zone), a broadband pilot program funded by US Ignite and Schmidt Futures as part of Project Overcome.

White Plains, N.Y. (December 2, 2021) – The Westchester County Association (WCA) hosted their Annual Fall Leadership Event: Driving Westchester Forward on November 30 at the Westchester Marriot in Tarrytown, New York. With over 400 people in attendance, the evening honored the achievements of organizations Skanska, Westhab, and WMCHealth, as well as outgoing WCA Chairman William P. Harrington Esq., Partner at Bleakley Platt & Schmidt who received the Alfred B. DelBello Visionary Award.

White Plains, N.Y. (September 23, 2021) –The Westchester County Association (WCA) is excited to announce that at today’s meeting of the Board of Directors, Susan Fox, CEO and President of White Plains Hospital, was selected to succeed Bill Harrington as the next Chairperson of the WCA.

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.