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NY Engineers Roundtable | Navigating the Funding Frontiers

Recording, presentation slides, and additional resources from this event are available below.

Date:Tuesday, April 4, 2024 | Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM EDT

Location: Syracuse Center of Excellence, Room 203, 727 E Washington St., Syracuse, NY 13210

Description: Join the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center (SU-EFC) to find out how to make your funding applications stronger to support your municipal clients. In this hybrid event, in-depth discussions with state and federal funding agencies will provide information about environmental reviews (e.g. NEPA and SEQR), preliminary engineering reports, dos and don’ts for successful applications, and a primer on the “co-funding” process. SU-EFC, in partnership with the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA), is excited to host municipal engineers and representatives from private consulting firms for our roundtable event. We encourage project managers and grant writers from engineering firms consulting with local governments, municipal town planners, engineers, and water infrastructure managers to attend. 

Presenters included representatives from:

  • New York State Homes and Community Renewal
  • New York State Departments of State, Health, & Environmental Conservation
  • New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation
  • US Department of Agriculture, Rural Development

Resources for Download:

Presentation Slides:

Discover Funding Opportunities & Experience the Funder Games

We did not record this these meetings, but we encourage you to review the presentation slides provided below.

Date:Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Location: Association of Towns 2024 Annual Meeting & Training School, New York Marriott Marquis, NYC

Part 1: Municipal Infrastructure Funding Experience: Uncover Opportunities

Discover funding opportunities for clean and safe water infrastructure and other community investments in the first part of our Municipal Infrastructure Funding Experience. Meet state and federal agency representatives for valuable information on state and federal funding programs, co-funding opportunities, and a panel discussion. This session is ideal for 2024 grant or financing seekers.

Part 2: Municipal Infrastructure Funding Experience: Welcome to the Funder Games!

Welcome to the Funder Games! Part 2 of our Municipal Infrastructure Funding Experience offers an interactive session where you and your team will tackle challenges in the fictional Town of Calamity Falls. You’ll work directly with state and federal funders to enhance your understanding of funding opportunities and collaborative financing for community investments.

Resources for Download:

Launching EFCN’s National Water Leadership Program

In April, the Environmental Finance Center Network’s (EFCN’s) Water Leadership Program announced the inaugural cohort of 38 water professionals from around the country who will participate in a three-month professional development program. The program aims to give rising water leaders the training and resources needed to face the challenges of utility management with confidence and improve the quality of life of their residents. Through the pilot program, water professionals will participate in three months of sessions focused on asset and data management, disaster resiliency and planning, environmental justice, strategic communications, culturally responsive leadership, and other subject areas that are critical in an increasingly diverse and rapidly changing water sector.

The program is funded by a grant awarded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program, which launched in 2021. The pilot program is one of several receiving a total of $3.8 million in funding to help build the water workforce and connect individuals to career opportunities in the drinking water and wastewater utility sector, as well as expand public awareness about job opportunities at drinking water and water treatment utilities.

Improving Water Quality in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, more than 250,000 residents lack basic access to clean water or sanitation. While there are several barriers, one obstacle is a lack of coordination. How can we make sure all groups can  advance community goals of ensuring clean water? One community that is creating a new model for engagement is Las Curias, in greater San Juan.

Hybrid Funding Roundtable | State and Federal Funding, Financing, and Resources for Municipal Infrastructure Roundtable Discussions

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Syracuse Center of Excellence, 727 E Washington St., Syracuse, NY 13210

We did not record the Hybrid Funding Roundtable on March 29th, 2023 but we encourage you to watch the recording from our virtual Fall Funding Roundtable available here.

Are you interested in learning more about funding and financing municipal infrastructure in your town or village? At the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center (SU-EFC)’s upcoming hybrid event, you can learn about funding opportunities for safe and clean water management, renewable energy, and other community investments from state and federal agency representatives. Lunch will be provided.

In-person attendance is encouraged, but sessions will be livestreamed for hybrid viewing. If you would like to attend virtually, please indicate so on the registration form.

Presenters will include representatives from:

  • New York State Homes and Community Renewal
  • New York State Departments of State, Health, & Environmental Conservation
  • New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation
  • US Department of Agriculture, Rural Development

Resources for Download:

Webinar | Getting Started with NEPA: What communities need to know to engage with the National Environmental Policy Act

Monday, March 6, 2023

Online via Zoom | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST

Watch Recording

The National Environmental Policy Act is one the most far-reaching environmental laws in the United States. If you are new to environmental project development and planning, this webinar is a great place to begin learning about NEPA. Join us for a discussion of important NEPA background and processes, knowing when NEPA applies, and what NEPA means for local projects.

View/Download | Flyer

This webinar is presented to you by the NYS Tug Hill Commission, EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC, and the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center.

Webinar | Knowledge Transfer: How to make sure you know what you don’t know when you experience staffing changes

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Online via Zoom | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EST

View Recording

When employees leave their positions, they take with them all of the experience and knowledge that may have been essential to the work they did, and critical to your organization, community, and current and future employees. If that knowledge is lost, it can undermine organizational capacity, and cause disruptions in services and performance.

In this webinar, we will share examples of the impact of when knowledge transfer goals were not met, examples of ways to prevent too much knowledge loss, and will discuss completing a Position Knowledge Inventory. This allows organizations to get an idea of the knowledge and responsibilities required to fulfill all current positions in order to seamlessly transfer key information to future employees.

View/Download | Flyer

Resources for Download:

This webinar is presented to you by the NYS Tug Hill Commission, the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District, the Northern Oneida County Council of Governments, and the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center.

Webinar: Introduction to the New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network

Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Time: 10:00am-11:00am EST

Recording Now Available

Description:

Scientific breakthroughs show that levels of coronavirus genetic material in wastewater systems can provide an unbiased measure of coronavirus transmission for a community to guide public policy and response to the pandemic.

This free, 1-hour webinar introduces the New York State wastewater-based epidemiology network. The network provides real-time monitoring of wastewater for coronavirus RNA. In collaboration with the New York State Department of Health and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Dr. David Larsen’s team is working to scale a wastewater surveillance network across New York State to aid the response to public health threats.

By January 2022, this new network aims to include at least one wastewater treatment plant in each New York State county to monitor for COVID-19. Join us to learn more about the current progress for monitoring wastewater for public health benefit and ask questions about the network during a facilitated discussion. Wastewater treatment staff are encouraged to attend.

For additional information, check out the Wastewater Surveillance Network website!

Presenters:

  • David A. Larsen, PhD MPH, Associate Professor and MPH Director, Falk College Department of Public Health, Syracuse University
  • Mary B. Collins, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
  • Dustin T. Hill, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher, Falk College Department of Public Health, Syracuse University

Webinar Resources to Download:

Partners:

This webinar is organized by Syracuse University Falk College Department of Public Health and the SU Environmental Finance Center, and is co-sponsored by the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) and NYS Water Resources Institute.