Can all the king”™s horses and all the king”™s men put the state Economic Development Corp. back together again?
Since former Gov. Eliot Spitzer split the agency in two as one of his first acts as governor, much has changed in the past 12 months, including the man sitting in Albany”™s executive mansion.
Spitzer”™s downstate EDC Chairman Patrick Foye has resigned and the agency”™s downstate President Avi Schick has been appointed temporary chairman. The turmoil comes as some mid-Hudson counties are questioning the value of continuing to be part of the downstate designation.
Both Columbia and Greene counties have already requested and been accepted into the upstate domain of Dan Gunderson, EDC co-chairman, and several other counties have put in similar requests, including Dutchess, Sullivan and Ulster. Putnam remains undecided.
Dutchess County executive William Steinhaus wrote to Gov. David Paterson in late April, saying his county has an “unusual” economy, describing it as healthy but fragile. He asked that Dutchess be included in “upstate New York … for the purposes of your economic policies, strategies and the upstate economic stimulus initiative.”
Steinhaus said Paterson has referred the request to his staff for review.
What prompted the longtime county executive to make the request? “We thought the timing was perfect to interject our ideas and recommendations as they review the structure of the state”™s EDC efforts and make our Dutchess needs known,” Steinhaus said. “We”™re the southern anchor of a technology corridor with strong ties to IBM and related spin-off businesses. We want to be sure Dutchess County is positioned to be successful.”
Steinhaus said the mid-Hudson region is caught between what is considered downstate and upstate, a designation that has left counties caught in the middle wondering if they will be forgotten, or if they already have been. “Simply stated, we are victims of our own success,” Steinhaus said. “In Orange County, Ed Diana and his economic development team have done a wonderful job, but like us, Orange County is caught in between what is considered to be upstate and downstate.”
Ed Diana, however, says Orange County is staying in the downstate designation, at least for now.
“There”™s roughly a $1 billion earmarked for upstate, $1 billion for downstate and another $1 billion for special projects. As one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, we prefer to stay as is. We”™ll do our due diligence, but we”™re not asking for a change in our designation at this point. Rochester, Utica, Syracuse and Buffalo are likely to be the part of the upstate region where that money is going to be used.”
Jonathan Drapkin, president of Pattern for Progress, which represents the nine mid-Hudson counties, says the splitting of the state into two economic development agencies has been a burden, not a blessing, to the region. “When people think upstate, they think of anywhere north of New York City,” he said. “What I”™m hoping to see is the state take this unusual set of circumstances its been thrust into and make some changes: re-design the New York State Economic Development Corp. and make it a single entity again with regional directors.”
Drapkin pointed to other cities that are in need, but are not in the western portion of New York: Newburgh, Poughkeepsie and Kingston, as well as urban villages like Monticello and Ellenville. “It doesn”™t matter whether you are in Syracuse or in Newburgh ”“ the needs may be great in Syracuse but they are just as great in Newburgh.”
Pattern”™s president was critical of Spitzer”™s decision to make not one, but two 2008 “State of the State” speeches. “The second ”˜State of the Upstate”™ address further polarized the downstate and upstate regions,” he said. “We are supposed to be one state.”
While concerns for the upstate economy remain on the state”™s front burner, somewhere between Albany and New York, several counties feel they are getting short shrift when it comes to economic stimulus, a change Drapkin and other members of the business and economic development community would like to see change. Agriculture plays a major part in every county north of New York City, not just the western portion of the state, Drapkin said, and stimulus packages for the region”™s farmers must be put into place to keep it and the tourism it brings healthy.
In Drapkin”™s opinion, the five boroughs need to be taken out of the economic equation because “New York City”™s status is unique. We depend on Wall Street salaries and bonuses to bring money into the state coffers. The city”™s tourism dollars do come to us ”“ look at how many visitors travel here to visit Woodbury Common and other Hudson Valley attractions.”
Drapkin says Paterson has created a search committee to look into the upstate-downstate distinctions and whether it should recommend filling Foye”™s shoes and continue to keep the state divided, or reunite the state EDC under a single leader.
