MCC President Anne Kress is getting ready to fill the role held by University of Rochester President Joel Seligman for the last several years, as co-chair of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, along with Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman.
Kress hopes that her appointment will help reinforce the emphasis that community colleges put on connecting people with training and jobs. And she also looks at the recent granting of $500 million for this area as part of the Upstate Revitalization Initiative as an incredible opportunity for the region.
“We have been given a once in a lifetime chance through the access of these dollars to really make a meaningful difference in our community and to transform our community for all members of the community,” Kress told WXXI News.
Kress is also looking forward to working with Danny Wegman, who she says really gets the idea about training students and others for jobs that will get them on the road to prosperity.
“He was one of the first to recognize of these middle skill career pathways in our region; he saw how meaningful it was for individuals working within Wegmans to find that first job and then see that there was a future there.
On Wednesday, Danny Wegman released the following statement:
“Joel has made huge contributions to our region. In the five years he has co-chaired the council our region has been awarded almost a billion dollars in financial help from the State. At this point we were both ready to concentrate on execution of our plan. On the other hand, we did not want to both leave at once. We have learned a lot and wanted to share it.
Anne Kress has been a key leader of the Council so transition will be smooth. Helping solve our problems with poverty has been a personal concern of our family for some time. As a result I felt it was good for me to continue at this point and welcome new leadership to take us to the next level.
Joel will be helping our region in many ways such as developing data science and supporting the Warner School’s project of making East High a success. We are fortunate to have had his leadership as long as we did. I believe the entire region owes him tremendous gratitude.”
