TIMES STAFF WRITER
A marketing effort by the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency to attract Ontario businesses that plays on the province’s increasing power costs has caused some waves north of the border.
“We have some ethics in our profession where we don’t go after companies directly,” said David C. Paul, the economic development director for Brockville, Ontario. “This was more of an aggressive approach.”
The IDA recently started a campaign to attract Ontario businesses using the availability of low-cost energy through the New York Power Authority’s Preservation Power Program and St. Lawrence River Valley Redevelopment Agency. An IDA brochure also notes research and collaboration with colleges, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Start-Up NY initiative to create tax-free zones, the county’s labor force, buildings and greenfield industrial sites available for use, the foreign trade zone through the Ogdensburg Commerce Park, an advanced telecommunications network, and the geographic advantage of being in close proximity to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
Mr. Paul said he thought the IDA’s effort amounted to poaching because of the reaction of several companies contacted by the IDA. More here.
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