As the I-81 project approaches its midpoint, one success has been the initiative to get more residents from the city of Syracuse and the Onondaga Nation working on the job.
Word of mouth is starting to help put more locals into the massive Interstate 81 project job force. Deka Eysaman, of the Urban Jobs Task Force, admits reaching the 15% local hiring goal at the start was challenging, but it’s become easier, in part, because of the success stories infiltrating the community.
“With more of the word about the people who have been able to benefit from programs like Syracuse Build, who have been able to go through the Department of Transportation's on-the-job training program, or those who've been able to work on 81, they're telling their friends and their families and now they're coming to the public info sessions and they're wanting to get themselves involved,” said Eysaman.
The Local Hire Initiative has exceeded the 15% hiring goal on two contracts, and two others are very close to that 15% goal, according to Eysaman. She says in the past, major public works projects like this only ever reached 7% of local hires.
According to the latest metrics from the state, 233 local residents have been hired to help reconfigure the interstate around Syracuse and create an “81 Business Loop,” which will eliminate an elevated viaduct in downtown Syracuse that destroyed a predominantly black neighborhood more than 60 years ago.
Eysaman says they have broken down many of the barriers to local employment through collaboration and a focus on connecting individuals to the jobs and training they need.
“So it's just really like we like open up this onion and we just keep peeling back these layers,” Eysaman said. “I just think as time goes on, more and more we're making it more accessible for more individuals. And we still have not been able to put everyone to work who has raised their hand and said that they want an opportunity on this project, because again there are a lot of little logistical challenges. You got to make sure the pieces fit.”
She also said she’s proud to be helping people from her hometown find work.
"For me, as someone who grew up here, born and raised, to see people that I went to high school with benefiting from this is just, I can't explain it,” she said. “I'm just very grateful and very privileged to be a part of this work that's transforming lives.”
