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.

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.