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Cornell Cooperative Extension, JCC announce partnership

JAMESTOWN — Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County will move its offices to Jamestown Community College’s Jamestown Campus in mid-December.

“We are excited to announce a new partnership with JCC,” stated Emily Reynolds, CCE Chautauqua executive director. “Our offices will be located in JCC’s Katharine Jackson Carnahan Center, a highly accessible and visible location that will allow CCE to expand its programs.”

CCE Chautauqua’s 4-H youth development classes and the L.E.A.F (Learn. Empower. Achieve. Farm.) and L.E.A.F. Jr. workshops are currently being conducted in the Carnahan Center.

According to Reynolds, creation of the partnership was made possible with support from the Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities, Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello, former State Senator Catharine Young, and JCC President Daniel DeMarte.

“I am excited to see this move that will not only provide a great new location for CCE, but it will also foster a new collaboration between CCE and JCC,” said Borrello, “Agriculture is a key driver of our economy and as JCC enhances its support for local businesses this move will have a positive impact on enhancing agriculture.”

CCE Chautauqua has served the residents of Chautauqua County for over 100 years with low cost, high quality programming in agriculture, youth development, and nutrition education, Reynolds added.

“This joining of forces will maximize potential and growth in Chautauqua County by building on our strengths,” said Cathy Young, executive director of Cornell AgriTech Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture. “Agriculture continues to be an essential economic driver locally and for the state, and Cornell Cooperative Extension has been a cutting edge source of expertise and education that has grown jobs and opportunity, and improved lives since it was formed in 1914.”

Emphasizing the role of JCC as an academic and workforce development resource, Young also noted, “With advanced new farming technologies, consumer-driven trends regarding healthy foods, and the beverage industry’s vast expansion, there is a need to create meaningful partnerships. I salute everyone who made this initiative a reality.”

“Cornell Cooperative Extension puts knowledge to work in pursuit of economic vitality, ecological sustainability, and social well-being,” said Reynolds. “We bring local experience and research based solutions together, helping New York state families and communities thrive in a rapidly changing world.”

The new partnership between JCC and CCE Chautauqua is a natural fit, according to Dr. DeMarte.

“We share similar values and common goals focused on strengthening campus and county connections and creating a culture of innovation in such areas as agribusiness, protection of the environment and natural resources, sustainable energy, food security, and improvements to the economic well-being of the Southern Tier region,” DeMarte noted.

CCE Chautauqua offices are currently located on Turner Road in Jamestown. CCE Chautauqua began in the federal building in Jamestown, moving in 1978 to the Frank Bratt Agricultural Center, a one-stop facility that hosted the CCE Chautauqua, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and county Soil and Water Conservation District programs. The USDA and soil and water programs relocated to Fluvanna Avenue in Jamestown nearly six years ago.

CCE Chautauqua, a 501(c)(3) governmental agency, has an educational mission that operates under a form of organization and administration approved by Cornell University, New York’s land grant university.

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