Report Receives Positive Response from Business Leaders, Government Officials, Nonprofit Sector and Community Residents
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (May 2014) – Since Nonprofit Westchester (NPW) first announced the results of its report released in conjunction with The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies in March, Joanna Straub, NPW Executive Director has been on a mission to take the findings on the road and has already presented the report to hundreds of business leaders, officials and dignitaries in the county.
“People have found the report to be fascinating and incredibly important to the community at-large,” Straub said. “The response has been nothing short of great, particularly among those who work or volunteer for nonprofits. But, this response is not limited to our sector; business leaders and public officials are telling us just how important nonprofits are to the community, the economy and our quality of life.”
The study, entitled “Westchester County Nonprofits: A Major Economic Engine,” found that 53,987 people, or 13.6 percent, of the county’s total workforce is employed by nonprofits. That’s one out of every seven workers. Additionally, this sector generated $6.9 billion in revenues and paid roughly $2.7 billion in wages and compensation – including hundreds of millions in federal, state and local taxes.
From left: Greg Arcaro, Executive Director of Community Planning Council of Yonkers; Joanna Straub, executive director of NPW; and Steven Brown, President of the Community Planning Council of Yonkers and President of Greyston Foundation.
In April, Straub presented the report to the Westchester County Local Development Corporation and Jim Coleman, Executive Director of the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency. She also spoke before the Community Services Committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators with Chairperson Legislator Alfreda Williams of Greenburgh. Additionally, she discussed the report as keynote speaker during the 94th Annual Meeting of the Community Planning Council of Yonkers.
Earlier this month, Straub was able to give a presentation to attendees at the Not-for-Profit Leadership Summit XII presented by the Westchester Community Foundation and United Way of Westchester and Putnam, where more than 700 of regional leaders and nonprofit representatives were in attendance.
“We are pleased with the responses we have received thus far and plan to continue to spread the word throughout the summer so that the community understands the economic as well as quality of life contributions that nonprofits make to our community,” Straub added.
For more information about Nonprofit Westchester or to read a copy of the study, visit www.npwestchester.org or call 914-332-6679.
Nonprofit Westchester
Nonprofit Westchester (NPW) provides the nonprofit sector with a single unified voice for the role it plays in the economic vitality and sustainability of the county, focusing on sharing resources, connections, and information to strengthen Westchester in partnership with the for-profit and government sectors. The organization represents more than 80 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in the county under a cooperative mission to strengthen the impact, capacity and visibility of the nonprofit sector for a more just and caring community. In 2014, NPW released a study done in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies called “Westchester County Nonprofits: A Major Economic Engine,” which concluded that nonprofits are a multi-billion dollar industry and make up the largest employment sector in Westchester County. For more information, visit www.npwestchester.org.
