New Grants Propel CVES Forward with Opportunity
If you were to ask what happens in the Management Services Division, make sure you have a substantial amount of time to stop and listen. Management Services is the unseen hand of CVES as so much behind-the-scenes work happens from day to day.
CVES, with key support from Management Services, has obtained multiple grants to support expansion projects and the betterment of education in the region.
Within the past year, CVES received $5 million from the Regional School Food Infrastructure Program and $3 million from the Workforce Development Capital Grant.
“Our aggressive approach to securing additional funding through grants on our facility expansion projects greatly impacts our community, school districts, children and our future,” CVES Deputy Superintendent Dr. Eric Bell said. “These grants have been extremely impactful as they will save local taxpayers $8 million in future costs for these critical infrastructure improvement projects CVES is undertaking.”
REGIONAL SCHOOL FOOD INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT
CVES was awarded $5 million to establish a central food hub, two state-of-the-art educational facilities, and retrofit existing school cafeterias in the North Country Region. CVES Business Manager Hayden Reidy took the lead on applying for these funds that are administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture.
In October, New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball visited CVES to celebrate the grant and hear about the exciting initiatives and future plans for the North Country region.
The visit brought continued light to CVES efforts to prioritize child nutrition and enhance meal quality for students in the region while also expanding culinary arts training in Clinton and Essex County.
“This grant allows us to streamline everything from our foods to our staff and our ability to support our students,” CVES Shared Food Service Director Julie Holbrook said. “It will allow us to raise our quality and exponentially increase our local food while simultaneously assisting our local farmers. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CAPITAL GRANT
Supported through the Empire State Development’s Office, the $3 million Workforce Development Capital Grant will help CVES as it builds its 155,000-square-foot Career and Technical Education Center and an additional 12,000-square-foot accessory building.
Executive Director of Career and Technical Education Michele Friedman worked in tandem with Dr. Bell as well as other CVES team members to obtain this additional support.
“Plenty of time and effort has gone into our planning process for our new CTE Center, and with the support of our amazing team and the Empire State Development Office, we look forward to now creating many new opportunities for our young professionals and everyone our programming impacts,” Friedman said.