Orange & Rockland, which has operated an economic development program for more than two decades, is pumping up efforts to get its incentive programs out to incoming or expanding business.
“No pun intended, but we putting new energy into this endeavor,” said Richard Struck, the utility”™s director of economic development. Struck, who was in charge of O&R”™s economic development strategy for several years, stepped out four years ago to assume other duties. Now, he”™s back working to help make Orange, Sullivan and Rockland counties more attractive to site selectors.
“Even though economic development has slowed, our new president, Bill Longhi, believes this is the perfect time to scout out new locations, begin investigating incentives out there and to start to plan for new or expanded facilities,” Struck said. “It is also a time when companies can obtain good pricing on construction costs, purchasing and leasing expenses.”
O&R offers its own economic development incentive rate: 10 percent of the delivery costs are reduced for new and expanding businesses. “That”™s the part of the customer”™s bill we can control,” said Struck. “Since many of the suppliers are other companies, we can”™t control that pricing, but we can control what we charge to deliver, and we”™ve had a number of customers take advantage of the savings.
“New expanding companies with over 40,000 square feet that increase their electrical usage would qualify. The program does have one caveat: they need to be manufacturers or providing businesses services, such as IT or data,” Struck said. O&R has another incentive program for small- to mid-size businesses as well.
With 300,000 customers and just 20,000 commercial users, O&R is seeking to expand its own business base to offset charges now hitting its residential consumers.
“We have to be mindful that private homes can”™t continue to bear the burden; we have an inventory of properties 20,000 feet or larger, so if we are contacted by our local development corporations or site selectors, we have properties for them,” Struck said. “We are working closely with the Empire State Development Corporation as well.”
For county development programs that rely on the Empire Zone benefits to attract business, the program”™s projected demise in June is more than just a challenge. “The Excelsior Program can be a question mark for those looking to relocate,” Struck said. “Right now, thanks to the Empire Zone, Orange has been able to attract President Container to Wallkill. We participated by giving it our own development incentives. President Container will invest over $40 million in Orange as a result.”
Like its economic allies, O&R hopes the Empire Zone program will be allowed to continue until a more attractive replacement can be implemented, or the Empire Zone tweaked. “It”™s up to the Legislature,” said Struck, “but something needs to be done to make New York an attractive place to do business.”
O&R says it is working with economic development companies in all three counties, “stepping up to the plate to work with brokers outside the area to bring them to the west side of the Hudson.
“Getting properties to market that are shovel ready are key,” Struck said. “Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation has a shovel-ready program, and we are working with them, the Rockland Economic Development Corporation and the Orange County Partnership. We believe we provide the underpinnings of economic development in the region and are identifying locations in our territory where we have enough power to support additional growth.
“Since clients are often asked to contribute to upgrades, by helping to locate businesses closer to available sources, it speeds up the approval process, so critical in our current economic environment,” he said.
Part of attracting potential business is offering an expansion program that cuts costs for large businesses. In Orange County, O&R has been given permission to extend gas lines to accommodate business growth.
Longhi, O&R”™s president and chief operating officer since 2009, serves on the board of directors for the Orange County Partnership, Rockland Economic Development Corp. and the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp.
“This is the first time we”™ve had a president serve on those economic boards; we are committed to helping our strategic partners help attract and expand new companies,” Struck said. “We are definitely ”˜open for business”™ and we all need to step it up to fight back this recession.”
