It has often been said that industry comes to New York state in spite of the state, not because of it. Come to find out, that may not necessarily be true.
Dennis Mullen, the chairman and chief executive officer of Empire State Development Corp., was in town last week to view the region's latest crises: the announced impending closure of three local Pfizer research-and-development plants and the ordered closure of the Champlain Bridge in Crown Point. It's part of his job to find ways to mitigate these calamities by finding replacements for both.
While in town, he visited the Press-Republican's Editorial Board and was asked about the difficulties of trying to rouse economic development in an environment of stifling taxes and regulations.
He acknowledged that New York is beset by those twin maladies, though he had just returned from California, where the problems he saw are far more severe than this state's.
But, while high taxes are surely a detriment to the effort of attracting business and industry to settle here, he pointed out certain assets that offset and can even overwhelm the tax problem.
One of the tools Empire State uses in wooing industry, of course, is tax abatement, and New York has generally been generous in that regard. Empire Zones can offer lower property and sales taxes, and localities are empowered to negotiate deals on their own property taxes.
And there are other inducements, Mullen noted.
Chief among them might be that the Northeast has 25 percent of North America's population. It is plunked right down in the middle of perhaps the most attractive market in the world.
Everyone who has spent any time in northern New York is well acquainted with the advantages of being within shouting distance of Canada. The Province of Quebec and the City of Montreal have proven time and again to be beacons of prosperity even in the darkest times.
Some areas trying to do business with industrial prospects cannot provide sufficient water. This area clearly does not have that shackle to contend with.
Colleges and universities are abundant in upstate New York and throughout the state. They add vibrancy to their communities, as well as offering prospects for a comprehensively educated labor force and a stable economy.
Some areas of the state have large population centers, which represent workers ready to be trained. The Capital District and the Hudson Valley boast the world's center of nanotechnology development, and that will increase the attractiveness of the entire eastern half of the state as that culture grows.
So, while taxes are an impediment for Empire State Development — and PARC and The Development Corp. locally — Mullen and others who court industrial prospects are far from unarmed as they compete for those companies' attention.
It's good to know that, in the wake of the Pfizer decision and as the pursuit of companies there and elsewhere in the region continues, we have some extremely useful attributes.
