With jobs plan, Cuomo hopes competition is key

Written by
JON CAMPBELL

ALBANY -- When it comes to rebuilding the state's economy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is hoping a little competition is a good thing.

Cuomo's plan to create jobs and spur business splits the state into 10 regions, pitting them against each other for a slice of $1 billion in economic-development grants and tax breaks pooled together through a single application.

But both he and municipal leaders hope that encouraging local governments, businesses and colleges to work together on regional plans will ultimately result in a unified approach to firming up the state's economic footing.

"We compete now, region to region, for jobs and for opportunities with business," said Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks. "This allows us to coordinate a one-voice message in each region about the unique assets and resources that set us apart from the rest of the state."

The idea behind the competitive process is simple: Having the 10 regions compete will force them to come up with the best possible plan to get the biggest slice of funding they can get.

"What we're trying to do is foster the comprehensive regional approach and defy, if you will, the normal government operating framework which has frustrated that," Cuomo said on Wednesday.

Strange bedfellows
Most local government leaders agree it won't be easy. Within the 10 individual regions, there are many different communities that rely on different industries that will have to come together on a strategic approach.

In the Mid-Hudson region, for example, suburban counties such as Westchester and Rockland, which are home to a growing biotechnology industry, are paired with Sullivan County, a largely rural community within the Catskill Mountains.

The same is true in the Finger Lakes region, where the City of Rochester and heavily populated Monroe County will unite with agriculture-based counties such as Yates, one of the smallest in the state.

"You go from urban to suburban into exurban and rural, all within that same region," said Larry Gottlieb, director of economic development for Westchester County. "The question becomes: Can what's good for Westchester or Rockland equally serve Sullivan or Ulster (County)?"

Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef said the idea of encouraging communication among regions is a positive step for the state's suffering economy. But he and all of the other local governments still need to look out for their own constituency, he said.

"When it comes to the Hudson Valley, I want employers to come to Rockland," Vanderhoef said. "I like Orange and Westchester (counties), but we all have our own self-interests of course when it comes to trying to lure or expand businesses, or retain them."

Cuomo's hope is to let leaders within the individual regions decide what's best for them on their own.

"I'm not going to tell Western New York what their economic future is, and the economic future in Western New York may be different than Central New York or the North Country or Long Island," said Cuomo, who added that the idea is for the state to "partner and fund (the regions') vision."

The success of the program will depend largely on who is putting the plans together, Gottlieb said.

Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, the former mayor of Rochester, will serve as chair of councils for all 10 regions, to promote "synergy" among the different plans, he said. Those councils will be charged with developing a five-year strategic plan for their individual regions however they see fit.

Cuomo will appoint two vice chairs to each region, and leaders from larger municipalities and each county will serve in an advisory capacity. A spokesman for Cuomo said the governor's appointees would be announced "in the coming days."

"In principal, the idea of creating an atmosphere of competition is healthy," Gottlieb said. "The question is, who are on the teams that you're putting on the field to compete against each other."

3 S. Tier cities in 1 boat
Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan, whose city is in the Southern Tier region along with Ithaca and Elmira, said he believes a little competition is "healthy" when it comes to economic development, but only when it strikes the right balance.

"If you break it down to have too much competition between municipalities in different areas, that's not good either," said Ryan. "It's better to try to capitalize on your strengths. But it's going to be interesting, let's put it that way."

While the success of Cuomo's jobs plan will play out over the next several years, state Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario said New York is in desperate need of consistency in its economic vision.

"Essentially, as a state we're well behind where we should be as far as attracting and maintaining business," Acquario said. "So I think it's a good first step and a smart way for the state to address jobs and the economy by taking advantage of communities."