Going Inside “Where You Work”

Senator Ritchie’s Weekly Column

Over the past month, “going to work” has taken on a new meaning for me.  A bottling company, a manufacturer of paper products,  an organic dairy farm.  These are just a few of the places I have visited as part of my “Where You Work” tour; an effort to meet with local employers and seek ways to promote local job growth throughout Central and Northern New York.

Learning about what makes these companies tick—and what needs to be done to make them more successful when it comes to creating jobs is just a small part of the battle.

Thanks to a new attitude and leadership that has Albany working together for a change, we have been seeing a turnaround that is helping to put our state back on the right track when it comes to revitalizing the economy.

For the past two years, our state has seen not one, but two on-time budgets that cut spending and lowered taxes—for the first time in our history. 

New programs have also provided a boost when it comes to jump-starting job growth.  Both the Central and Northern New York were included in the four regions which won awards through the Governor’s Regional Economic Development Councils.  I was, and still am a strong supporter of the creation of the Economic Development Councils and their more than $200 million investment in Central and Northern New York businesses that are creating jobs. 

These changes and programs have helped make New York one of the fastest job-growing states in the U.S., including 4,000 new jobs in Central and Northern New York since 2010. 

As your State Senator, I look forward to continuing to push for a pro-job growth agenda that cuts red tape, includes lower taxes and less spending.

If you’re looking for employment, I encourage you to attend one of my career and job fairs, which will be held in Oswego and St. Lawrence Counties.  

The job fairs are all about pairing ambitious job seekers with companies and organizations who are looking for hard working people that will help their businesses grow and become more successful. Last year, more than 50 businesses looking to hire took part in my job and career fairs.   As a result, hundreds of job-seekers were able to find employment.  

St. Lawrence County’s job fair will be held in Ogdensburg, at Odd Fellows Community Hall on September 19^th and Oswego County’s job fair will be held in Fulton at the War Memorial on September 26^th.

The events are free and open to the public and will also feature workshops that will help with job searching, resume writing and more. 

To register for either job fair, click here.  Hope to see you there!

(Senator Ritchie is pictured in the above photo with Michael Hawthorne,  Vice President/General Manager of New York Air Brake)