The Rochester Community Coalition (formerly known as the Rochester Fair Share Coalition), an organization convened by the Rochester Business Alliance and representing business, labor unions, academic institutions, faith communities, local government and nonprofits, works to effect change on issues important to Greater Rochester's future.

The coalition was formed in March 2006 to help lobby the state government for a much-needed boost in state aid for the City of Rochester. The resulting Voter Voice e-advocacy campaign resulted in 2,150 faxed letters being sent to government leaders in Albany, calling for Rochester to get a fair share under the state Aid and Incentives to Municipalities program. Historically, Rochester has received significantly less per capita funding that other Upstate cities.

In October 2006, Rochester Business Alliance CEO Sandy Parker testified before a group of state Legislative committees on the work of the coalition and its readiness to step forward on other issues.The result was an additional $17.9 million in aid for Rochester.

This year, the coalition expanded the community agenda. Through outreach we identified seven items that our members agreed should be priorities in the 2008-2009 budget. These are the projects that will yield a direct and measurable return for the state's investment, fueling Rochester's comeback by creating jobs in the local economy:

• $34.7 million in AIM funding for Rochester - the level of increase required to achieve equity with our neighbors in Buffalo.
• $10 million for Monroe County government through mandate relief - to help our county maintain and improve essential services without raising taxes.
• $1 million to expand the Hillside Work-Scholarship Program - which helps city school students graduate high school with job skills.
• $50 million for the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology - generating a projected 6,000 permanent jobs at full build-out, adding $650 million in local earning potential and 140 construction jobs over a two-year period.
• $1 million for the Rochester Area Colleges Center for Excellence in Math and Science - which delivers programs for young scientists, engineers, mathematicians and their teachers.
• $50 million for the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at the University of Rochester - to generate $25 million yearly in research grants, create more than 800 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs.
• $65 million to make the Midtown Plaza site shovel-ready for PAETEC corporate headquarters - a new skyscraper where up to 1,200 people will work, in a location that is the heart of this community's downtown redevelopment effort.

Rochester Community Coalition partners:

• Baber AME Church
• Builders Exchange of Rochester
• City of Rochester
• Episcopal Diocese of Rochester
• Greater Rochester Association of Realtors
• Hillside Family of Agencies
• Interfaith Action
• Laborers Local 435
• Monroe County
• Nazareth College
• Rochester Building & Construction Trades Council
• Rochester Business Alliance
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Rochester Tooling & Machining Association
• Small Business Council of Rochester
• SUNY Geneseo/Rochester Area Colleges
• UNICON Rochester
• United Way of Greater Rochester
• University of Rochester
• Urban League of Rochester

Read what members have said about the coalition's agenda (click here).