An initiative to target communities with concentrated poverty in effort to build generational wealth under President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, USA, November 29, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Women’s Economic Institute (The WEI) launched a start-up site for minority women entrepreneurs, developers, and vulnerable youth in one of the City’s most impoverished and segregated zip codes.

In November 2021, The WEI partnered with Community Based Organization Near Westside Initiative and opened its doors to a 6,600SF hi-tech, Wifi accessible facility. The new facility will provide training and support for minority women enterprises and would-be developers—putting marginalized women and girls of color on a pathway to job and academic growth, business ownership, and quality affordable housing.

The WEI will provide classroom-based training using the latest technology, analytics, and career/vocational assessment tools; designed around today’s women entrepreneurs of color, young adults (ages 14-24), and women re-entering the workforce. In addition to a small business incubator/accelerator, the facility houses a professional closet, the Kids Place, and a 50+ person hi-tech WiFi accessible classroom offering virtual and in-person courses ranging from entrepreneurism, Quickbooks/Microsoft Certification, and small business development to Civil Service prep, ESL, and continuing education support. The WEI is also poised to offer classes in traditional careers like administrative and clerical and non-traditional careers/trades in construction, plumbing, and carpentry.

According to The WEI founder and CEO Charlene Tarver, a returning Central New York native, the Institute is timely and opens on the heels of COVID-19 and right before the NYS DOT’s 2022 groundbreaking for Interstate 81— a $2.2billion project funded by President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill in a county and city both plagued by systemic, economic, and environmental racial injustice.

We cannot address racial equity in this nation without addressing economic inequity and strategically driving more balance between livable wage jobs, land development, and quality affordable low-income housing. Despite having the largest population of Black and Latino residents in Onondaga County, Syracuse’s inner city (not Downtown) hasn’t experienced actual land development or business growth in decades. The City’s neighborhood and generational wealth gap fall significantly below the national data. —Charlene Tarver, Founder, The WEI

According to the US Black Chamber of Commerce and Forbes Magazine, the Pandemic closed more than 41% of Black and minority women-owned businesses nationally vs. 17% of their white peers. Tarver stated, “across the nation, women of color face systemic racism, a pervasive wealth and income gap (earning anywhere from 48-67 cents for every dollar earned by their white male counterparts), and disproportionate unemployment rates across every industry. Nationally, Black women remain largely unemployed, underemployed, and employed at poverty-level wages irrespective of education levels. Without a more strategic approach, President Biden’s Infrastructure bill will do little to change the economic conditions of Black and Latino people in urban and inner-city communities like Syracuse, NY.

The WEI plans to partner with economic development agencies across New York State, local and county officials, national funders, and banking institutions to pass policy, increase minority real estate development, provide workforce and entrepreneurial training, offer technical assistance to small businesses, and advocate for access to capital.

With these partnerships, The WEI intends to create beneficial resources, networks, and access to technology for women and girls from all four corners of the city, with a particular eye toward cross-cultural training and community building.

For more information on The Women’s Economic Institute’s programs, upcoming events, or opportunities to support the mission, visit The WEI at www.womenseconomicinstitute.com.

ABOUT THE WOMEN’s ECONOMIC INSTITUTE
The Women's Economic Institute is a Central New York-based non-profit think tank strategically focused on building generational wealth in urban cities through business growth, job creation, and equal pay policy for women and girls of color. The WEI serves women entrepreneurs and young adults in highly marginalized communities through targeted economic development and affordable housing, enhancing small business growth/revenue generation, college attainment, and workforce stabilization.

Charlene Tarver
The Women's Economic Institute, Inc
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