Westchester County residents who lack college degrees could gain access to free workforce training and pre-college programs under a grant agreement worth up to $46.5 million that came before the Board of Acquisition and Contract on Thursday, July 30.
The five-year SUNY grant, the largest single item on the agenda, would fund pre-college and post-secondary education and workforce training for economically disadvantaged applicants age 16 and older through June 30, 2031. The agreement, listed under the county's College department, would flow through Westchester Community College, which administers the SUNY Westchester Educational Opportunity Center in Yonkers.
The WEOC, at 26 South Broadway in Yonkers, offers free GED preparation, vocational training, and college-level coursework to New York State residents who meet income guidelines. Applicants with 33 or more college credits or a degree are not eligible.
County Executive Ken Jenkins has framed workforce investment as a priority. "We are investing in our workforce like never before," Jenkins said in his 2026 State of the County address, highlighting the county's partnership with SUNY Westchester Community College through a new degree completion program.
Homeless shelter contract in Yonkers
The board also considered a contract worth up to $1,683,830 with Carter Lard Consulting to operate a facility at 101 North Broadway in Yonkers providing single and double room occupancy residences and an emergency overnight drop-in shelter for eligible individuals. The 18-month agreement would run from Sept. 1, 2026 through Feb. 28, 2028.
Carter Lard, a New York City-based minority business enterprise founded in 2017, already operates a separate county homeless shelter at 21 Fountain Place in New Rochelle under a contract worth up to $4.3 million through June 30, 2027.
Pest control, sewer work, and other contracts
The agenda included a $658,242 pest control contract awarded to lowest bidder Veganix Pest Management of Elmsford for service at various county buildings. Five firms submitted bids.
Two sewer-related resolutions sought authorization to advertise for bids: one for internal inspection of trunk and intercepting sewers in the Saw Mill, North Yonkers, and Hutchinson sewer districts, and another for grit removal at seven water resource recovery facilities and two pumping stations across the county.
Other items included a $905,077 agreement with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County for educational programs, a $350,338 state homeland security grant for the county's 911 system, and $408,960 in state funding for homemaker services for homebound seniors.
The meeting, chaired by Deputy County Executive Joan McDonald, opened with approval of minutes from the July 22 session. As we reported July 24, that meeting approved nearly $37 million in infrastructure contracts including a $21.5 million pumping station rehabilitation.
Vote results from the July 30 meeting were not available as of publication.
