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COVID Recovery Taskforce
To help replace lost revenues, cover COVID-related expenses, and reverse the economic impacts of this pandemic, the City of Albany was allocated approximately $80.7 million as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. On March 12, 2021, Mayor Sheehan announced the creation of a COVID Recovery Task Force to ensure the City of Albany equitably and strategically maximizes the resources available to our residents, businesses, and community organizations thanks to the American Rescue Plan to restart Albany and build back better. The Mayor appointed Mike Whalen, Administrative Vice President of M&T Bank, and Jahkeen Hoke, Executive Director of Business For Good Foundation, as Co-Chairs of the City’s COVID Recovery Task Force.
City of Albany COVID Recovery Task Force Final Reports
- Final Report
- Final Report Appendix
- Fact Sheet (English)
- Fact Sheet (Spanish)
- Fact Sheet (Chinese Traditional)
- Fact Sheet (Chinese Simplified)
- Fact Sheet (Sgaw Karen)
- Fact Sheet Arabic
- Fact Sheet Pashto
The City is projected to face significant revenue impacts due to the pandemic between 2020 and 2024 that will require the majority of the American Rescue Plan funding, in its effort to re-imagine its workspaces and work force for a post-pandemic world. Beyond this much-needed relief for fiscal stress and operations, a portion of the stimulus package will be set aside to ensure we get resources where they are needed to restart Albany, re-open businesses, prevent evictions and strengthen our not-for-profit organizations. The Task Force has provided recommendations to the City of Albany about how to invest this funding through a lens of equity.
Four Main Objectives:
- Obtain a shared understanding of how the American Rescue Plan can help the City of Albany
- Identify the needs of the City of Albany residents, businesses, and non-profit organizations that cannot be covered by other funding sources
- Equitably and strategically maximize resources available to our residents, businesses, and community organizations to restart Albany and build back better
- Engage every sector of the City of Albany to ensure we get resources where they are needed to restart Albany, re-open businesses, prevent evictions, and strengthen our not-for-profit organizations
Task Force Members
The COVID Recovery Task Force members are identified below. This Task Force included a diverse group of people representing a myriad of institutions, community organizations and neighborhoods. It is important that we approach this work with a deep sense of civic duty to our residents, particularly those who have been disproportionately impacted by structural barriers. The City of Albany and Mayor Sheehan extend their gratitude to the following individuals for committing to lend their time, expertise, and resources to this initiative.
- Hon. Alfredo Balarin Albany Common Council
- Hon. Andrew Joyce (PDF) Albany County Legislature Chairman
- Angelo Maddox Jr. (PDF) Fresh & Fly Clothing
- Anna Kuwabara (PDF) Albany Symphony
- Anthony Gaddy (PDF) Upstate New York Black Chamber of Commerce
- Bob Belber (PDF) ASM Global/Times Union Center
- Carm Basile (PDF) Capital District Transportation Authority
- Chiquita D'Arbeau (PDF) Albany Housing Authority
- Hon. Corey Ellis Common Council President
- Hon. Daniel McCoy (PDF) Albany County Executive
- Hon. Darius Shahinfar (PDF) City Treasurer
- Dr. Dennis McKenna (PDF) Albany Medical Center
- Dominick Purnomo (PDF) Yono's/DP's
- Hon. Dr. Dorcey Applyrs Chief City Auditor
- Eileen Larrabee (PDF) Open Space Institute
- Faye Andrews (PDF) Albany Community Development Agency
- Georgette Steffens (PDF) Downtown BID
- Giovanni Otero Salvation Army
- Dr. Havidan Rodriguez (PDF) SUNY, University at Albany
- Jahkeen Hoke (PDF) Business for Good Foundation
- Hon. Jahmel Robinson Albany Common Councilmember
- Jason Benitez (PDF) Capital Region Chamber of Commerce
- Jeffrey Buell (PDF) Redburn Development
- Kate Baker (PDF) Small Business Development Center, University at Albany
- Kaweeda Adams (PDF) Albany City Schools
- Kevin Hicks (PDF) Albany County Airport Authority
- Mark Eagan Capital Region Chamber
- Matthew Peter (PDF) Albany Parking Authority
- Michael Castellana (PDF) SEFCU
- Michael Whalen (PDF) M&T Bank
- Mickey Jiminez (PDF) Capital District Latinos
- Peter Gannon (PDF) United Way of the Greater Capital Region
- Nolene Smith Baby Institute
- Neenah Bland (PDF) Albany Community Action Partnership
- Raphael Tucker (PDF) City of Albany Youth & Workforce Services
- Dr. Roger Ramsammy (PDF) Hudson Valley Community College
- Sarah Reginelli (PDF) Capitalize Albany Coporation
- Hon. Sonia Frederick Albany Common Councilmember
- Tammis Groft (PDF) Albany Institute of History and Art
- Tracy Metzger (PDF) TL Metzger & Associates, LLC
- Tricia Brown (PDF) North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters
Working Groups
These five Working Groups comprised of Task Force members, align directly with Treasury Guidance set forth and allow for members to dive deeper into sector specific work as needs and recommendations are identified. Task Force members were asked to serve as experts in specific industry sectors and were essential on the assigned Working Groups, but their input was valuable and encouraged across all working groups. Elected officials and Co-Chairs served at-large rather than on a specific Working Group in order to ensure that Working Group findings are tied together where necessary. There were two sessions for each working group throughout the summer of 2021, Round 1 – Needs Assessment, and Round 2 – Recommendations. Working Group notes are linked below.
Complete list of working groups and their respective members.
Announcements & Press Releases
- Mayor Sheehan announces launch of "Restart Albany"
- Mayor Sheehan, Co-Chairs Whalen & Hoke Announce City of Albany COVID Recovery Task Force Members
Meeting Materials & Reports
- Kickoff Meeting Presentation - April 23, 2021
- Kickoff Meeting Minutes - April 23, 2021
- Meeting #2 Recording - May 18, 2021
- Meeting #2 Presentation - May 18, 2021
- Meeting #2 Minutes - May 18, 2021
- Meeting #3 Recording - June 3, 2021
- Meeting #3 Presentation - June 3, 2021
- Meeting #3 Minutes - June 3, 2021
- Working Group Round 1 –Needs Assessment Session Notes– May 25 & May 26, 2021
- Working Group Round 2 – Recommendations Session Notes– June 21 & June 22, 2021
- Working Group Round 2 - Recommendations - Programmatic Examples
- Meeting #4 Presentation – July 1, 2021
- Meeting #4 Minutes - July 1, 2021
- Meeting #4 Recording - July 1, 2021
- Meeting #5 Presentation - July 22, 2021
- Meeting #5 Minutes - July 22, 2021
- Meeting #5 Recording - July 22, 2021
- Meeting #5 Fact Sheet - July 22, 2021
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