Summit Speeches:
Opening Remarks by First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer, PDF
Closing Remarks by Governor Eliot Spitzer, PDF
Remarks by Upstate Chair of the Empire State Development Corporation Daniel Gundersen (PDF)
The I Live New York summit convened key stakeholders from across the state to take a comprehensive look at the economic, cultural, and educational forces that help to create job opportunity, promote entrepreneurship, and develop livable communities. Working sessions highlighted regional best practices and facilitated collaborative strategies to retain and attract New York's next generation.
The net loss of young people has been widely recognized as a pervasive trend, especially in the Upstate region. The summit convened some of the best minds in the state to confront the problem. Specifically, the summit brought together business and community leaders, education and workforce representatives, elected officials, young professional groups, students, and the general public to discuss how the Governor's vision for a thriving innovation economy and Upstate's incredible assets can be leveraged to address this disproportionate loss of young New Yorkers. The summit was a forum for bridging existing success models, discussing challenges, and a laboratory for developing innovative solutions and practical policy initiatives that will be issued in an I Live New York post-summit report.
"By bringing together key stakeholders, I hope to initiate a comprehensive and coordinated examination of the factors affecting Upstate's loss of young people and to explore the public and private initiatives that may help reverse this troubling trend," said First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer in her initial announcement of the Summit.
