Cornhill Empowerment Center Celebrates Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting
On Wednesday, June 18, 2025, community members, nonprofit partners, and local leaders gathered together for the highly anticipated Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the newly reintroduced Cornhill Empowerment Center. The event, held at 230 James Street in Utica, marked an exciting new chapter for the neighborhood and was a major success.
The celebration was hosted by the Cornhill Empowerment Center’s key partners—the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Mid-Utica Neighborhood Preservation Corporation (MUNPC), and the City of Utica. Formerly known as the Empowerment Center and previously managed by the HomeOwnershipCenter, the facility is now under the leadership of the Community Foundation and will soon offer programming for residents led by local nonprofit organizations.
The event featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony, an open house where attendees explored the space and learned about upcoming programming opportunities, and concluded with a guided neighborhood walk highlighting key sites included in the broader Cornhill Revitalization Project.
“It’s essential that we continue working together, talking, and communicating openly to keep this project moving forward,” said Evon Ervin, Oneida County Legislator. “I’ve seen this neighborhood at its best, its worst, and everything in between. When I see community members of all backgrounds walking past my home in Cornhill, it reminds me of what’s possible. That’s how this revitalization should move forward—hand-in-hand, growing together, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or background.”
The Cornhill Empowerment Center is proud to launch its inaugural program this summer with the STEMpowerment Series—a free, hands-on STEM camp for youth ages 8 to 15. Running from July 7 through August 14, the series is presented by SUNY Polytechnic Institute and supported by Mohawk Valley Community College. Sessions will take place at the Cornhill Empowerment Center.
The STEMpowerment Series is a community-centered program designed to ignite curiosity, build confidence, and inspire youth through engaging STEM experiences. Participants will explore science, technology, engineering, and math through interactive experiments, team-based engineering challenges, and leadership-building activities—all while developing critical thinking and creativity in a supportive environment.
The Cornhill Empowerment Center is set to serve as a model for future neighborhood projects. The Community Foundation, MUNPC, People First, The Collective Impact Network, Oneida County, and the City of Utica are leading a long-term investment of more than $77 million in Cornhill over the next 30 years. This includes the future West Street and James Street Impact Centers, which will act as anchor institutions in this transformation.
“We were thrilled to welcome the community into this space and celebrate the start of this exciting new chapter,” said Tyler Hutchinson, director of strategic initiatives at the Community Foundation. “The Cornhill Empowerment Center represents a collective commitment to unlocking opportunity, preserving the neighborhood’s history, and building a bright future for everyone who calls Cornhill home.”
If interested in hosting a program at the Cornhill Empowerment Center, contact Empowerment.Center@revitalizecornhill.com.
For more information or to register for the STEMpowerment Series, contact John Reade, Director of Pre-Collegiate Outreach at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, at john.reade@sunypoly.edu or 315-792-7343.