When John K. McKinley was asked why he chose New York to locate his company, the chief of Texaco said it was because of the maturity of the state, its business-friendly status and its stability.
A lot has changed since 1977 when the global energy company moved its headquarters to White Plains and then moved it out. Maturity and New York no longer seem to go hand-in-hand as evidenced by this summer”™s political, patronage and power-driven antics in the state Senate.
A lot has even changed since 2002 when Gov. George Pataki was ecstatic after Site Selection magazine in its March edition ranked the state third in the nation in attracting new and expanded corporate facilities.
The press release from the governor”™s office said in part, “In 2001, New York attracted 988 expansion projects, compared with only 75 in 1994 when the state placed a disappointing 20th.”
If he described the No. 20 ranking as disappointing, we wonder how he would feel with the state”™s current abysmal rankings in the national polls.
In its latest ranking of pro-business states, Pollina Corporate Real Estate, a Chicago-based brokerage company, the top 10 in ascending order were Virginia, Utah, North Carolina, Wyoming, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kansas, Georgia, Florida and Nebraska.
In speaking of the study, Ronald R. Pollina, president of the company, said in part: “The effort to make America more business-friendly must come from all levels of government. Many states are doing such a poor job of creating a pro-business environment that they can”™t even come close to competing with each other, much less compete globally.”
Echoing those sentiments, Site Selection magazine earlier this year ranked the top economic development groups of 2008. They were: Greater Houston Partnership, Texas;
Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio; Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, Sioux City, Iowa; Greater Statesville Development Corp./Mooresville-South Iredell Economic Development Corp., N.C.; Dallas Regional Chamber, Texas; World Business Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati USA Partnership, Ohio; Indy Partnership, Indiana; Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, Pa.; and Community Development Foundation, Tupelo, Miss.
Dare we ask where New York is in doing its part in attracting business?
Higher taxes, more fees, more sales taxes ”¦ the anti-business drumbeat goes on.
Any relationship that the state has had in attracting or even retaining business is on life-support.
The one major aspect that neither we nor the state can monitor is the number of businesses that don”™t even consider New York as a possible relocation spot. On how many radar screens do we not even show up as a blip?
The one glimmer was the recent relocation of OSI Pharmaceuticals from Long Island to Greenburgh. Sure a lot of tax incentives and breaks were given to the biotech company to stay in New York and consolidate its American operations, but the return on investment is expected to be great in the creation of hundreds of jobs and the resulting positive impact on the regional economy.
A pro-business regulatory climate needs to be reinstated in New York ”“ make that the nation.
And as the U.S. House Democrats try to push through a health care measure that would inflict a penalty of 8 percent of payroll for any business owner with a payroll in excess of $400,000 a year who fails to provide health insurance, we have our doubts.
