SYRACUSE — SyracuseFirst and CenterState CEO are launching a new partnership to encourage more support for locally owned businesses.

Members of SyracuseFirst, a nonprofit launched in 2009 to promote buying local, will now have access to a dual membership in both organizations. SyracuseFirst has 220 members, including local companies and nonprofits.

The organization will maintain its own identity and Chris Fowler will continue as executive director.

One of the chief goals of the partnership will be to bring local companies together to do business with each other, says Jane Amico, CenterState CEO vice president of chamber services. The more connections and relationships the groups can foster among Central New York businesses, the better, she says.

Both organizations hold numerous networking events and combining resources makes sense, Fowler adds.

“Here we are, trying to get the same people involved,” he says. “Why not try to get all these people together and coordinate?”

Working with CenterState will allow for more education and promotion in the business community on SyracuseFirst’s events and other initiatives, Amico notes.

“We want to build on the events we’ve had that have been successful in the past,” Fowler says.

The partnership will allow the groups to share resources instead of compete for the attention of the same companies, Amico adds.

“Our missions are very much in alignment,” she says.

In addition to encouraging more business-to-business activity among local companies, SyracuseFirst also performs outreach to consumers and aims to get municipal and government leaders thinking more about using local vendors, Fowler says. The group has run events in the past like a Buy Local Bash that brought together local restaurants, food companies, musicians, and others.

The event drew more than 500 people both times it was held, Fowler says. The group also ran a Shop Syracuse Week during the holiday season for the past two years to encourage consumers to shop at local stores.

The group is launching a series of Cuse Mobs to support local businesses and educate consumers on the benefits of buying local, Fowler says. Known as cash mobs in other cities, the events began popping up last year, according to Syracuse First.

Organizers encouraged participants to ‘mob’ local companies and asked them to spend some cash at a pre-determined location. SyracuseFirst is organizing a Syracuse version of the event through social media and on the group’s website at www.syracusefirst.org.

CenterState CEO, with 2,000 members, is the region’s main business group.