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Schumer Pushes For Federal Funding For Supermarket At College Town

Artist's render of College Town.
collegetown.com
Artist's render of College Town.

New York Senator Charles Schumer is pushing for federal funds to help make sure that a new supermarket is part of the mix of stores that will make up the College Town development near the University of Rochester.

Schumer notes that the Mount Hope Avenue area has been labeled a ‘food desert’ by the  U.S. Department of Agriculture since the Wegmans store there closed over a decade ago.

Constantino’s market,  a Cleveland based company, has been planning to be part of the mix of retail establishments that will come to College Town, but Schumer says Constantino’s cannot come in there unless it gets help with  start-up costs.

The local organization Action for a Better Community has applied for a nearly $750,000 federal grant, that would help by providing a low interest loan to the supermarket operator. ABC would use the rest of the grant for a job training and placement program. Schumer says about 46 jobs would be created by the new store. Many of those jobs would be filled by low income people.

The Senator has written to the Secretary of Health and Human Services in support of the grant.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.