Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.131 | Feat. Senator Chris Ryan

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Good News York: Interview with State Senator Chris Ryan In this episode of Good News York, Matt Masur from Clickstream Studios interviews State Senator Chris Ryan. They discuss the recent announcement that Clickstream Studios is moving into the former spaghetti warehouse space in downtown Syracuse, transforming it into a unique content creation and digital marketing space. The conversation then shifts to Senator Ryan's background, his transition into his new role, the workings of the New York State Senate, and his initiatives for Central New York. Key topics include economic development projects, the Micron project, union roles in workforce development, and positive community initiatives. The episode wraps up with Senator Ryan sharing insights about the collaborative efforts within state government and recommending local hidden gems for leisure activities. 00:00 Introduction and Exciting Announcements 00:58 Meet the Guest: State Senator Chris Ryan 01:22 Senator Ryan's Background and Career 02:52 Understanding the Role of a State Senator 05:47 Positive Developments in New York State 11:21 The Impact of the Micron Project 14:57 Union Contributions and Workforce Development 16:13 Hidden Gems and Local Attractions 17:39 Conclusion and Farewell

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and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials. Hey folks, Matt Meager from ClickStream Studios. Welcome to Good News, York. This is a phenomenal day. We have an incredible guest. You notice that's not Mike. We actually have replaced him with a state senator. It's a wild thing.

We'll get to that in a minute. But first, if you haven't noticed, we broke the news this weekend, that Clickstream Studios, our parent company, is moving into the soon-to-be former Spaghetti Warehouse space downtown Syracuse. It's over 16,000 square feet that we are going to transform into one of the most unique content creation digital marketing spaces anywhere in the country. It's going to be right here. Good News York, this show, we're going to take that up to a new level. It's going to be live. It's going to be incredible. We'll be talking about that a lot between now and then, of course. So stay tuned for all of that and the cool opportunities that we're going to have with it.

But without further ado, let's get to today. Enough of the future. As I mentioned, we have a very distinguished gentleman who was so gracious to join us and take a few minutes of our time. This is one of our local state senators. Mr. Chris Ryan, welcome to Good News York. Yeah, thanks for having me. Absolutely. Thank you very much for having me.

Absolutely. So, Senator, if you don't mind, let's jump right in. So if you wouldn't mind, let's talk a little bit about yourself and just sort of how you came to where you are today. So if you would, just give us sort of the abbreviated version of what you did before you came to elected office. Yes. So it's obviously my first year as a senator. Prior to that, I was on the county legislature for 13 years. Wow. County government. Before that, I was on the Gettas Town Board for six years. So this is my 21st year in government service. I worked at Verizon, but I moved up the ranks through the union leaderships.

At the end of my career there, I was the president or the communications workers. Oh, wow. We represented about seven to 800 members in and around Central New York, mostly work at Verizon, but we have smaller contracts, a couple other ones, America and Red Cross and negotiate contracts, collective bargaining agreements, you know, make sure that the middle class worker is taken care of. That's awesome. And I think that that's sort of like with a union and kind of transcended into politics, I think at an early age, but also family coming from electives.

My uncle was in on the county legislature for 30 plus years. He ran for state assembly. Families involved. My cousin was on the city council. I just ran and went to spawn the county legislature. So kind of meshed together in two plus decades later. Here I am. That's incredible. If you could for folks, and unfortunately, I find a lot of folks aren't necessarily familiar with some of these things, but could you just kind of in a nutshell explain a little bit of your role as a senator? What does the New York State Senate do for us?

Well, we make the budget, well, it's a governor's budget, but then we adopt the budget. We make those changes, modifications, make the laws, policy and legislative branch for the state of New York. Us, the two houses, the Senate and the Assembly. pass bills, we have to make it the Senate bill and assembly bill both have to be passed. Then it gets delivered to the governor's desk and whether she makes amendments, signs, or vetoes. They have it. So we're in session, you know, for the most of the half of the year and then afterwards. It's also working with legislation, working with constituents, constituent services, out of the community, do a lot of, out, you know, in the community businesses and helping out and volunteering.

That's incredible. So something I've always been sort of interested in because I don't think anybody ever takes the time to talk about it. But I always love the behind the scenes, how do things work a little bit? And I've always been interested. Obviously, you've been in public service for a long time, but like you said, this is your first year in this office. What happens when somebody gets elected to a new office? Like, is there a, you know, we've all started new jobs and there's the first day orientation and all these things. But when you come to elected office, is there anything like that?

How do you learn the ropes or even where to go in the Capitol buildings and such? Well, the good news, I knew where to go on the Capitol building and that led a set of office building because I was there doing years of lobbying on behalf of unions and middle class workers, right? But, you know, it's, I don't know, it would be difficult. You know, being in government for 20 plus years, knowing it, county legislature, making laws, proposing laws, public hearings, you know, Roberts rule, understanding how the intricacies work. I think it would be pretty overwhelming and pretty different. I mean, it's a big place. A lot of people move a lot of legislation. So I would think it could be intimidating, but I was able to hit the ground running because of previous experience.

But also, I'll also go back in my career. I've been the beneficiary. I've had good mentors too. And I've always been able to pick up the phone and some of my predecessors, whether it be friends or unions or whoever they are and shaping policy. But, you know, you got to have advocates. You got to have mentors. Yeah. You got to be able to call people for advice.

And listen, too. You can't just. I like hearing that. Yeah, yeah. Brokered opinions. Give multiple opinions and then take it. But if you think you're going in with all the answers, you're going to have a tough, tough time. I appreciate that you have that mindset of taking the input of so many different people.

I think you're absolutely right. That's the key to success in anything, right? What are some of the most positive stories? What are some, I know, like I said, there's all kinds of controversy and there's all kinds of things that folks want to focus on. At the same time, I know there's a lot of other really great positive things that are happening, things moving in a great direction in New York State. What's some of the first things that come to mind when I talk about those good things? From a policy perspective, and an Albany perspectives, oh, that's a lot. I could say a lot.

But, you know, from an Albany perspective, you know, I think. I think we were able to bring home Central York delegation or something. Like we was able to secure, I brought him about a billion dollars for the district, where there's $450 million for SUNY Upstate. We need a new emergency room and emergency department, which is helpful to also helping the county and also with the mic around $116 million for the water that's going to be brought in with the wastewater, but a lot of economic development opportunities too. We were able to help the manufacturers associate Central New York to do great, great

great work, school lunches, universal pre-K, those are impactful on families. Yeah. Trying to, with striking out with the affordability, making sure that Century NERCers aren't getting hit in the pocket rights, making things more affordable. School aid, foundation aid, so, you know, and really trying to access and impact access to health care, especially rural health care. That's something I've set out to do and we're trying to help with some grant money for educational, not educational systems, but also the health care system. So we're doing that. But, you know, and then there's also the opportunity to get to meet a lot of people,

municipalities and help out, whether it's helping a volunteer fire department or something with funding. And also, you know, we also have to get, we were able, we've been doing a lot in the community lately. Two good stories that I'll have. We were, this past Saturday, I was up in Fulton at the Walmart. And there was a partnership with the honor, the Spuyl County Sheriff's Department, Phoenix, Fire Department, the mayor of the village of Phoenix, we were able to, it's called Shop with the Hero. Okay.

And go out and everybody that, so many people donated, $325 gift cards. They would take children at need and, you know, kind of restores. The good part about this job is you meet so many good people, we're doing so many good things that you wouldn't hear otherwise because, you know, every, they love to, you know, impact or just the negative impacts and controversy. But there's a lot of good people doing a lot of good things in this community, and I'm glad I'm a part of it. Well, we love it. And honestly, that's one of the reasons that we love talking to elected officials like yourself is because you get that exposure, in many cases, better than most of us. You know, you get invited to all the cool events and all the things happen. And that's why we love talking with you and these different things, and especially hearing about these different investments that you're bringing to our area. You know, we've talked in the past with Senator May, and she's talked a little bit about some of the similar things.

And it's just so great to hear that, you know, a lot of folks think that we're sort of forgotten in Aldenie and to hear our representatives go, now we're working in the states investing in our area and things like that is wonderful. I will say this. You know, we do have a good partnership, our central election, myself and Senator May. You know, it helps having, you know, members that are in the majority conference. But, you know, but then also, you know, some magnanimally has been there for every chair as a transportation committee has been there for a, long time. He's a good mentor of mine. Assemblyman Sturpe. He's been there for ever Pam Hunter. And awesome. But also working across Sal too with what, you know, Assemblyman Will Barkley is also the minority leader for the Assembly, the Republican. We have a really, really good

working relationship, working with him to impact lives and matters for Spiegel County. It's been really good. We're working on the nuclear facility up there that's kind of, we're trying to push for that, that's going to mean thousands and thousands of jobs, hundreds of jobs afterwards is built. But yeah, it's good. We have a really good delegation. That's great. And it's, and obviously, without all that we're doing, it's impactful. That's great. How do you find you interact with folks from other parts of the state? You know, one of the things that we love to do, the reason we call the show Good News, York, is to really talk about the entire Empire State, including the city in all points. We really see those as valuable assets.

How does that work in government when you, do you have different partners, things like that that are from downstate? Of course. You learn from each other? We do. And, you know, I may not always agree on every policy. Sure. That sometimes with the New York City delegation or downstate. But, you know, I will say this, that every single member is really generally just a really good human being.

That's great. And it's something I also wish the public knew, how really people cared about their community. We always going to agree to disagree. You know, also Staten Island and Long Island, the Long Island delegation, there's more a couple of Democrats out that way that are good that we, I work in conjunction and collaboration with a lot of piece of legislation. Also a good senator from Staten Island and Brooklyn, we kind of work together on some things. So that's good. It's, you know, it's, I learned from that. That's great. Senator, I really appreciate this. I got a couple more questions and I'll let you get back to it. I have to ask, of course, about the Micron Project and just kind of your thoughts on the positive impact that that might bring to us and what we might need to consider and things like that, not even necessarily just for our area, but in other parts of the state. Is this, are they, first of all, are they telling this story in other parts of the state?

state as much as we're talking about it. Yes. For sure. Everybody, well, you know, it's a topic of discussion. There's also tax. But there's also a lot of needs too. We're gonna need people from all over the state. You're talking in excess of 4,000 construction jobs.

Wow. For many, many years. Like perhaps even to build all fabs out. Sure. At least 10 years, more so than that. I mean, we're talking about people who can start a career. Talking about people who will end their careers working there. And they're, we're gonna need that.

We're going to need them from all over the state. So it's also going to be, you know, impactful. But for here, there's, I think the state, one state study, so there's going to be additional 40,000 jobs, whether it's going to be in transportation or hospitality, housing. I'm talking about 20,000 new homes a year. But that's also for the region also. I'm doing a lot with the Oswego County. Their chamber, their economic development teams, the local elected's up there to make sure

there's readiness, make sure the utilities are going to be there. I mean, I'm talking when I say utilities. I mean infrastructure, whatever. What happens when you flush the toilet? Right. You got to, it has to happen. So I think those are, and then the long-lasting effects. But also, we also have to talk about not just site readiness, but making sure that the next

generation of workforce is prepared for those jobs there. What we did up at OCC with a semiconductor. We talked about transportation issues so that these kids have the transportation. they need to learn that trade or that skill set than are able to get the jobs out there. I think it's going to be really, really good for the region. That's great. I remember from the initial announcements when Mike Ron was talking about here, from the very jump, they talked about transportation initiatives to make sure that folks in the city

who might not have good transportation out to Clay would easily have that, and that wouldn't be a barrier for them getting the workforce or for the folks that are already here that really need it. So I love hearing those sorts of things. We're all very excited. You know, everyone here in the business community couldn't be more excited. And I think more of just the workforce, the more they hear about it, the opportunities that are coming are, you know, it's not 40,000 fast food jobs.

Sure. These are great careers. I'd say a story. We were up in, we were doing a tour. I went up to the Hannibal School District. My district was all up to Hannibal. And the superintendent, phenomenal people, by the way, that school board, So superintendent, great, great people.

And we were in the cafeteria lunch and these kids were leaving and they were going through Bose's, they were doing a welding class. And the welding class was full. And my thing in talking to some of the people in the trades, we got to make sure that that doesn't happen. We make sure that every kid who wants to become a welder, there's enough space and capacity for them to do that. Or it's an electrician apprenticeship or operating engineers, heavy equipment. Look at what's happening with 81, right?

They're full. Iron workers. There's going to need, there's a huge need for iron workers. So, we're going to make sure that A number one, that there's a new awareness. Number two, that we make sure that we're identifying those next generation of workforce, that that is there for them and also making sure we can deliver. Yeah. Is it fair to say, as a union, man, is it fair to say that the unions are driving a lot of that? I know I see at least the electrical unions are working hard to kind of recruit people into the trade. Do you find all the different unions are, we always think of them as representing existing workers, but it looks like they're also helping to kind of grow their trades as well.

Is that true? They've been really out in front of the traditional training centers, because obviously with more people, any bigger training center. But there's also some Empire State Development dollars that were helped, because they have to roll that out. Like they can't just say, okay, I'm going to put in millions and millions of dollars training center. But I think that's going to pay dividends. But yes, the trades and the Central and Northern Europe building trades association and the Teamsters have had job fairs so they have and then they're great partners and everything I mean they're gonna have to be I mean we're gonna need the people I've always been a big fan of unions but I think that's just another one of those

things that people don't necessarily realize like I said I think they always think about it is after you've gotten the job but they kind of lead the the way on some of these helping you find it to begin with which is pretty cool Senator, last question I will ask you. So as you mentioned earlier, you get to travel and you get to see a lot of these areas in ways that a lot of folks don't. So I would love you to share with us. A couple of your top favorite things, whether it's an activity for a family or a couple on a date night. Where's some hidden gems in our area that folks should check out for something fun to do?

Hidden gems. All right. I don't know, we do a lot of tours for businesses and fire to departments and police departments. So that might not be a great date night to go to the police department. But, you know, driving around, we have, you know, great, great hospitality. You know, Svigel chamber, to see your Svigel in the summertime is unbelievable. Maybe a good date night, I don't know, go out and go out and get a-a-git and get a chili dog at Rudy's and watch a sunset on Lake Ontario. I don't know. See, I, that's like romantic.

I love that answer. To be completely honest with you. I think one of our biggest assets in New York State is just the beauty of nature. I'm a big fan of the Adirondacks ever since I was a Boy Scout and just the Finger Lakes and everything. Oswego would go out by the water. I think that's a great answer, to be completely honest with you. So I love that.

I think that's wonderful. Last question I'll ask you. In the fair. Don't forget the fair. Don't sleep on the fair. New York State fairgrounds and go out and, you know, play the dark game and get a big dinosaur. It is a huge, huge asset. Yeah. Yeah, we love it. Senator, this has been phenomenal. I really appreciate you taking a few minutes. The last thing I'll just ask you is, just as we ask

everybody, sort of your plugs. So if folks want to learn more about yourself, your policies, things like that, where's the best place that they can follow you? Our website. I think we have a Chris right at nysenet. Perfect. Or no, that's the email address. The standard, Senator website. Standard website.

You got it. We're on social media. Perfect. Our communications. I'm going to give a shameless plug. Yeah, please. To my staff. I will say this, as I say it all the time,

hands down best staff in the business. That's awesome. Communications. We, if not, make sure you sign up for our newsletter, do a great job. You can make sure that you know where we're at. We're in a lot of places. We're here.

There, we're everywhere. Whether it's given toys, way toys for Tots. We did Toys for Tots. Wow. This weekend, also right after the shop with the hero, over in the village of East Syracuse with the S.U. Women's Basketball Team. East Syracuse Fire. Village of East Syracuse Fire Department.

So, yeah, and I think it's good because it also shows everything that we're doing also in the community because it's not just the branded, you know, go up to all me, make legislation and I love that. I love that. Senator Ryan, thank you for joining Good News York. Come back here anytime. You got something

good to share. We'd love to have it. and talk about it. And thank you again. Yeah, thanks for your time. Yeah, appreciate it. And guys, that'll do it for this edition of Good News York. Stay tuned for all of the great news we got coming up. We got new episodes of GNY Sports. I think the bill's just won, so Mike might be a little extra happy.

Well, no, I don't know. But follow all of that at Good News, York. Sponsored by Ads on the Go. Get Ads on the Go.com is the website for that. And I guess that's it. Peace out. At Amica Insurance, your time and peace of mind matter. Bundle your auto and home coverage with us and enjoy savings that make life a little easier. As a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers.

We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us. Amika, empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and UniWorld Boutique River Cruises Loik Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about

river cruising and Univorld's 50th anniversary summer specials. Thank you.