Blueprint to boost business - Westfair Communications

At a press conference today in White Plains, the Economic Development Task Force of the Westchester County Association announced The Blueprint for Westchester, a multimillion-dollar, multiyear campaign to revitalize Westchester”™s economy. Pictured, from left, are: Kevin Dahill, president and CEO of Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association; Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino; Blueprint for Westchester Chairman William V. Cuddy Jr.; WCA Chairman Al DelBello; and WCA President Bill Mooney.

Unveiling its blueprint for economic development, the Westchester County Association this week launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to market the county as a “viable, sustainable and robust commercial center” over the next three to five years.

A major focus will be the county”™s commercial office market, where the WCA”™s economic development task force aims to reduce the countywide glut of vacant office space by 50 percent, or 3 million square feet.

Led by the private sector, the effort will be a collaboration of the county”™s business community with Westchester County government and its economic development office, local municipalities and academia, said commercial broker William V. Cuddy Jr., task force chairman and executive vice president at CB Richard Ellis.

“Any effort like this is going to take a minimum of three years,” WCA President William C. Mooney said of the strategies outlined by the task force formed in late 2010. He said WCA members and staff and campaign partners next fall will begin executing the committee”™s plans to redefine and promote Westchester for 21st century commerce.

The WCA campaign announcement precedes a separate economic development action agenda being prepared by The Business Council of Westchester”™s Coalition for Business Development. That analysis and report is due out by the end of June, said Business Council President and CEO Marsha Gordon.

The WCA outlined strategies that include creating special “SWAT teams” of business executives, government officials, community leaders and educators to guide and inform prospective companies weighing relocation here.

Cuddy said the campaign will promote individual cities in the county for prospective developers and businesses and forge a working relationship between business and the county”™s colleges and universities.

In the past, development efforts “have always concentrated on the I-287 corridor,” said Mooney. “We think economic development should be broadened again” to promote cities such as Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mount Vernon as pro-business and pro-development communities.

The WCA also plans to host events in New York City as part of a marketing campaign to lure commercial tenants north to Westchester and begin to fill the approximately 6 million square feet of vacant office space in the county at the start of this year.

Achieving the task force”™s goal to fill half of the county”™s available office space would add about 12,000 jobs in the county, said Mooney.

“Frankly, we”™re a better deal than New York City,” said Mooney, comparing class-A office building rents of $25 to $30 per square foot in Westchester with rents of $60 to $80 per square foot in midtown Manhattan. “Are we competitive with New York on this? The answer is yes.”

Developer Robert P. Weisz, head of RPW Group Inc. in Rye Brook, a campaign supporter, said Westchester currently offers companies the lowest office rents in the tristate region. “The problem is the lack of demand,” he said. The county”™s high housing costs deter companies whose pay scales do not match the high cost of living here. Weisz said the county needs to attract “mature companies” that can afford to relocate here.

Mooney said the WCA will hire an economic development specialist in one to two weeks to lead the promotional effort.

Other initiatives outlined by the task force include:

Using advocacy centers of influence, such as the WCA”™s Call to Action committee, to bring change and progress in the political and legislative arena on zoning, taxation and other issues.
Supporting the creation of business incubator centers and providing them with access to resources such as venture capital and professional mentors.
Holding a conference of CEOs to address a major topic.
Matching fields of study at the county”™s colleges and universities with demand from growth industries, including information technology, finance, medicine and heath care, professional services, biotechnology and green industries.
Providing access for research and collaborations.

With the release of its development blueprint, the WCA launched a fundraising effort to underwrite what Mooney said will be a multimillion-dollar initiative. He said he already had three sources pledge a total of $100,000.

Asked whether the WCA will join its economic development effort with that of the Business Council, Mooney said, “I would hope there will be an inclusive process over time. Anyone who wants to join forces with us in this will be welcomed.”

At the Business Council, Gordon noted the coalition has aligned its effort to retain existing businesses and attract new ones with the business-building goals of Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino and the county economic development office headed by Economic Development Director Laurence Gottlieb. Astorino and Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett joined WCA task force members at their Thursday campaign launch.

Regarding the WCA initiative, Gordon said any separate marketing strategy is “divisive” and “counterproductive to showing that we are a county that has its act and message together.”