President Roger Hull was honored as “Executive of the Year” at the annual business awards dinner this winter of the Chamber of Schenectady County.
He was cited for his leadership in College-city relations and community revitalization.
Shortly after his inauguration in 1990, he joined with business and government leaders to create Schenectady 2000, a revitalization effort based on the premise that a city in which residents take pride will be better able to lure and retain businesses. A largely volunteer organization, more than 1,000 residents have volunteered with business and civic leaders chairing a variety of task forces. Schenectady 2000 has also been responsible for the organization of the Union community service day, in which students, faculty, and staff take part in repainting bridges, picking up trash and planting shrubbery.
President Hull was a driving force in the creation of the Metroplex Development Authority, which has concentrated on large-scale redevelopment in downtown Schenectady. Among the authority's successes have been the construction of a new headquarters for MVP (an area HMO) and a new office building for the state Department of Transportation.
Under the Union-Schenectady Initiative, the College has invested some $11 million in the College Park neighborhood west of campus. The College has acquired and renovated a number of properties to house about 200 students, provides incentives for homeowners and Union employees to purchase homes (including low-interest mortgages, tuition scholarships and closing costs), assisted in the formation of
a neighborhood residents association, and created the Kenney Community Center, which offers a variety of programs for children and residents of College Park.
The College also has created the U-Start Business Incubator Center, which provides professional space at below-market rates to high-tech start-up businesses and such services as a mentoring program with experts from local businesses and organizations as well as Union faculty.
“Union College can play an important role in the revitalization of Schenectady,” Hull says. “I believe that individuals and institutions alike have an obligation to make a difference in the communities of which they are a part.”