The Stardust Foundation, based in Scottsdale, Ariz. has announced plans to create a new entity, the Stardust Foundation of Central New York, to be based in downtown Auburn.

This new foundation will continue to expand on the charitable works begun last decade by former Auburnian Jerry Bisgrove. The Stardust Foundation invests by invitation only into organizations that impact the linked concepts of family and neighborhood stability.

The Stardust Foundation was created by Bisgrove, former president and CEO of Red Star Express Lines, a transportation company formerly based in Auburn.

“Stardust Charitable Group is committed to making positive investments in the central New York region that will holistically integrate affordable workforce housing, education, healthcare and quality jobs,” Bisgrove said in a news release. “Stardust will work in collaboration with community leadership to provide positive opportunities and outcomes for the citizens of Auburn and central New York.”

Recently the foundation announced two sizeable investments within Cayuga County. First, was a $250,000 investment to Cayuga Community College to assist in the renovation of its theater, now called The Irene A. Bisgrove Theater. A second investment, in the amount of $1 million, will create the Stardust Entrepreneur Institute.

The Stardust Foundation of Central New York will look to increase collaboration within the region and become a catalyst for positive change. The foundation's board of directors will include John Bisgrove Jr., serving as president, Peter Emerson and Robert Pine, all of Cayuga County.

The board is committed to establishing the foundation's new offices in downtown Auburn.

The board announced that Guy Thomas Cosentino will be the new executive director of the Stardust Foundation of Central New York.

Cosentino currently serves as executive director of Options for Independence, a local not-for-profit organization that works with people with disabilities. He was Auburn's mayor from 1992 to 1996.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to help create this new organization, one that will have a very positive effect on our community,” Cosentino said in a news release.