In recent months there”™s been a lot of give-and-take in the region. Unfortunately for the Hudson Valley, in too many instances other states are giving incentives and taking companies away from here.
Westchester stands to lose hundreds of jobs currently in Tarrytown when Bayer consolidates operations in New Jersey, where the pharmaceutical giant is based. And, Finnish communications giant Nokia Corp. plans to close its U.S. office in Harrison as part of a global consolidation and shrink its workforce by 7,000 employees over the next two years.
Some of this has been tempered by a biotech boom of sorts in the valley. The most recent newsmaker being drugmaker Acorda Therapeutics, which plans to relocate from Hawthorne to Ardsley, invest some $36 million in the former OSI Pharmaceuticals”™ facility and create 190 jobs. Other pharmaceutical companies, such as Regeneron in Tarrytown, continue to invest and expand here.
Still, the tristate region is a predatory place.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts made headlines last year after it announced plans to move its corporate headquarters from White Plains to Stamford early next year. That move has already begun.
The Nutmeg State”™s $90 million incentive package was an offer Starwood couldn”™t refuse.
And Connecticut”™s Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vows to keep up the aggressive work. He has proposed a “First Five” program offering multimillion-dollar grants and tax credits to the first five businesses that bring at least 200 new full-time jobs to the state.
What”™s New York”™s game plan?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this year said he would create 10 regional economic development councils under the chairmanship of Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy. The state would provide upward of $200 million for competitively determined economic development projects recommended by the councils.
Business people and industry observers have been eagerly awaiting details, which the governor was expected to announce this week.
So, where will these councils be located, who will head them and what will the criteria be in determining who gets what?
To find out, the Business Journal went straight to the source and spoke with Lt. Gov. Duffy in an exclusive interview in June as the legislative session was winding down.
“At this point, there”™ll be 10 councils. The boundaries have been established. It mirrors the Empire State Development and Department of Labor boundaries in terms of how they”™re set up,” Duffy said.
“You”™ll (Westchester) be in the Hudson Valley group. There could be some adjustments down the road (but) the geography is pretty well established.”
New York City will have its own council, as would Long Island. Empire State Development Corp. will manage the day-to-day operations of each council.
As for who is being appointed to the councils, that “has not been finalized yet,” Duffy said, but members would be “leaders” in business, education, government, small business ”“ including representation from women- and minority-owned businesses ”“ and large business.
“It”™s been very much a grassroots-up approach. We are not sitting around a table selecting names. We are asking people from each region ”“ elected officials, business leaders, community leaders ”“ who they think should be there.”
The “essence” of the councils is twofold, Duffy said.
“One focus is to create a bottom-up approach, region by region, to focus on economic development priorities as a region and also to focus on building capacities.
“The governor wants to transform the economy of our state and he wants to do this in a way that focuses on job creation. This will involve a tremendous effort from each region to come up with their plan and their focus. And while there certainly could be some competition for a pot of money or funds, the focus is not on competition, but it”™s on synergy. Governor Cuomo does not want to pit one part of the state against another.”
Duffy said an additional group will be formed with representatives from each of the 10 councils who will meet in a statewide group that he will chair as well.
“That is being thought through and what that will accomplish is really create a synergy across (the state) establishing relationships and looking for opportunities from upstate to downstate, from midtown Manhattan to Buffalo to Rochester.
“I”™m a former mayor and ”¦ if I was in my old position I would be doing somersaults. I would be thrilled to be a part of this because it really is such an incredible concept.”
In addition to business, community and government reps, Duffy said commissioners and “leaders of all the state agencies,” such as the DEC and labor, will be asked to attend the meetings.
“The governor”™s goal with that is to ensure that during these discussions if there are impediments with state government, if there are ways that we can improve our services to help expedite and facilitate economic development, those decision-makers will be right there.
“What we have found in the past and also in past administrations, sometimes you would hit a brick wall, agency to agency. The agencies sometimes were acting independently and not acting in a manner that was inappropriate but independently, based on their own individual missions.
“I”™m not a business leader, but I understand business. It is incumbent upon us as a state, not so much to focus on us creating jobs (but) to create an environment where the private sector can create these jobs and flourish and expand. ”¦ that”™s all part of building the economic fabric of the state.”
When asked about New York”™s strategy in terms of dealing with Connecticut ”“ and whether the Empire State could benefit from Malloy”™s plans to raise taxes ”“ Duffy replied: “Gov. Malloy is a friend and former colleague ”¦ when he was the mayor of Stamford, I was the mayor of Rochester. And I do know what happened in terms of taxes. I won”™t speak to what Governor Malloy did, but I will speak to what our governor has done.
“Our governor bridged a $10 million gap without raising taxes. Our governor has been right on point with his top three legislative priorities. He is close to batting 1,000 in terms of what he is trying to accomplish. He has singlehandedly changed the perceptions of the state with his leadership within a six-month period of time.
“I can”™t speak to the competitive issues, but I can say New York is open for business. We want to keep the businesses that we have and help them grow and expand. We want to bring new business in. ”¦ I”™ll stay away from the direct competition, but I would say we”™re fighting for the future of New York.”
