Westchester County business and civic leaders say the region is emerging as a textbook case of how retail, real estate, and hospitality can thrive in an “experiential economy” where people value connection, memory, and community as much as products and services. That was the core message of a February 25 webinar hosted by the Business Council of Westchester (BCW) in partnership with Fordham University’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies and its Real Estate Institute. The webinar included a keynote presentation by Sarah Jones-Maturo, President of RM Friedland, followed with commentary from panelists Luisa DeCicco, Director of Human Resources at […]

BCW Member Iona University will launch a groundbreaking summer program in May to prepare students for a workplace where Artificial Intelligence is a daily collaborator. The four-week intensive program focuses on three pillar industries: energy, construction, and hospitality. By blending technical industry insights with liberal arts reflection, the program ensures students develop “human intelligence” alongside technological fluency. “The best way to ask questions about what’s ahead is to start with what leaders in key sectors are already doing,” said Iona President Seamus Carey. “At Iona, we see artificial intelligence as a partner to the real intelligence education fosters—and that the […]

BCW Member Manhattanville University recently kicked off its 2026 cultural season with the debut of the Jazz at Reid Castle concert series. The opening performance, titled Celebrating Brazil!, successfully transformed the university’s iconic Great Hall into a sophisticated, candlelight-filled jazz club for a sold-out crowd of 120. Led by acclaimed trumpeter and flugelhornist Mark Morganelli, the evening featured the Jazz Forum All-Stars, who delivered a vibrant program of Brazilian jazz and Bossa Nova. The cabaret-style arrangements encouraged an intimate connection between the musicians and the audience, a hallmark of the new series. The concert was held February 12. “Playing jazz […]

State, County and Village officials were on hand Thursday for the groundbreaking of the Village of Ossining’s $21 million mixed-use Multi-Modal Transportation Hub, a key project of the Village of Ossining’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). The Transportation Hub is to provide approximately 242 vehicle parking spaces and promote decreased reliance on vehicle use with bicycle infrastructure to accommodate parking and charging, and space designed for an E-bike repair shop. The Hub will also support infill redevelopment and expanded park space in the southwest corner of Downtown Ossining by freeing up valuable land that is currently used for surface parking. The DRI […]

In another big win this week for economic development in Westchester, Gov. Kathy Hochul was in New Rochelle on Wednesday to announce $16 million in state funding awarded to advance New Rochelle’s LINC (Linking Innovation, Nature, and Community) Project, which had been jeopardized by federal funding cuts. The project was threatened with being shut down when the federal funding was rescinded. The state funding will allow the project to proceed. The LINC Project is New Rochelle’s plan to transform into a linear park and neighborhood connector a section of Memorial Highway, which was originally built in the 1960s and was responsible […]

A broad coalition of over 30 organizations, including the Business Council of Westchester, is urging Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposals to reform the automobile insurance system. The coalition highlights that New York’s current “no-fault” system is a breeding ground for organized fraud, and the BCW includes this pressing matter in its 2026 Legislative Agenda. In 2023, the state recorded over 1,700 staged collisions and tens of thousands of suspected fraudulent incidents. These activities, orchestrated by unethical networks of lawyers and medical providers, have driven premiums to unsustainable levels for families and small businesses. Key […]