Reflecting on 105 Years of Service to Communities

Posted by & filed under CGR Staff.

Erika RosenbergCGR celebrates our 105th birthday today, having been incorporated under our prior name, the Bureau of Municipal Research, on April 20, 1915. 105 years of longevity has a special meaning today, when a global pandemic is wreaking havoc in many communities, taking lives across the world, and altering daily life for all of us.

It’s a time when survival is not guaranteed, but there have been other such times in CGR’s history — as there have been in the history of many of our other Eastman-era institutions, from the United Way of Greater Rochester to the Eastman School of Music to the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce.

Consider this introduction to a summary of part of our organization’s activities in just its third year of existence – 1918. Read more »

COVID-19: Our Challenge Going Forward

Posted by & filed under CGR Staff.

Donald PryorIn these troubled, unprecedented, uncertain times, it is hard enough to navigate our day-to-day lives in these uncharted waters, let alone anticipate how things will look a few weeks, months or even years from now.

But can we at least begin to think about how we use this crisis to move beyond today to explore how in the future we might build new bridges in this community and throughout the country and the world? Read more »

COVID-19: What will it mean for local communities once the immediate crisis has passed?

Posted by & filed under CGR Staff.

Erika RosenbergThe COVID-19 crisis has confronted diverse communities across the country with similar challenges: treating and tracking the sick, making decisions to protect those who appear well as well as health care workers, and taking all possible steps to preserve the functioning of the local health care system.

But once the crisis has passed, what questions will local communities be asking? How might it change how we think about the challenges we were confronting, and new ones that emerge? Read more »