With news that Gov. David Paterson may consolidate economic development offices back into one statewide position, local officials said Friday they plan to lobby for the new czar to be stationed in Western New York.
Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster said he’s hoping that despite the consolidation, Paterson will honor the commitment he has previously supported to locate Empire State Development’s headquarters in Buffalo. It was former Gov. Eliot Spitzer who initially made that commitment.
“If that doesn’t happen, I would consider it a betrayal of that commitment,” Dyster said.
Paterson announced earlier this week he is considering ending Spitzer’s year-old system that gave equal powers to upstate and downstate chairmen within Empire State Development. Currently, Daniel C. Gundersen is based in Buffalo and serves as the Upstate Development chairman for Empire State Development. The downstate chairman, Patrick Foye, resigned when Spitzer left office in March following a sex scandal with a high-level prostitution ring.
Dyster said he hopes Gundersen is awarded the unified job and continues to be based locally.
“Chairman Gundersen has driven over 50,000 miles on the road visiting communities in Upstate New York in the past year,” Dyster said. “He’s a breath of fresh air and inspired confidence in all of us.”
Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston, agreed keeping Gundersen on staff is key for the Niagara region.
“We’ve made tremendous strides with him in that position,” she said. “Without him, we may lose some of the standing we have gained over the past year and a half.”
Gundersen also serves as chairman of the board of directors for USA Niagara Development Corp., the state agency that oversees revitalization in the downtown Niagara Falls area.
Both Dyster and DelMonte share the same concern that if the unified position is located somewhere downstate, like New York City, it would mean a lack of economic projects and funding for upstate communities — a handicap that was addressed by Spitzer through the creation of the dual positions and a $700 million Upstate Revitalization Fund.
“The last thing I want to see is a Manhattan-based chairman,” DelMonte said.
Christina Orsi, regional director for Empire State Development Corp.’s Western Region office in Buffalo, told the crowd attending Thursday’s Niagara County Summit for Economic Success that the changes Paterson is considering will not impact the $700 million earmarked for development projects upstate.
However, local officials and residents will have to wait and see what effect the change will have on future state budgets and funding proposals.
“Right now, things are in a state of flux,” Dyster said.
The mayor attended a rally in Rochester to support Paterson just days after the former lieutenant governor took over for Spitzer. At that event, Dyster said Paterson reaffirmed Spitzer’s commitment to having an upstate economic development chairman stationed in Buffalo and sympathized with the difficulties of being part of smaller communities that are typically last in line for funding.
Dyster said he’s now expecting Paterson to hold true to those statements.
“If there had never been a commitment by former Gov. Spitzer, and reinforced by Gov. Peterson, to take this bold step with an upstate czar, then maybe this would be acceptable,” Dyster said, “but I don’t think there’s any turning back now.”
Leaders of the coalition “Unshackle Upstate” also are voicing their concern over the possible changes. In a released statement Friday, leaders from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Utica said the more than 45,000 businesses represented by the coalition feel strongly that the upstate region has been much better serviced by the co-chaired structure.
“The current structure provides the upstate region with a government official with the power to hire and fire staff, approve projects and allocate resources; the powers necessary to effectively move the Upstate economy forward,” said Sandy Parker, president and CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance, a founding partner in Unshackle Upstate. “To dilute those powers in any way would be a huge step backwards in terms of Gov. Paterson’s commitment to Upstate business owners struggling to stay afloat and the people they employ. How can we have a revitalized economy if Empire State Development packs up its bags and heads home to mid-town Manhattan again?”
Contact reporter Rick Forgione at 282-2311, ext. 2257.
Business
DEVELOPMENT: WNY officials stake claim to Upstate czar
- Business
-
-
Vendors sought for Canal Street market
Vendor applications are now available for the 2012 Lockport Community Market, an open-air market to be open Saturdays in July and August on Canal Street.
The goal of the market is to provide a venue for area businesses, farmers, merchants and artisans to showcase their wares, and show the depth and variety of Lockport's business community, according to organizer Heather Peck, program manager of Lockport Main Street Inc.
-
A matter of survival?
That mammoth electric generating station on Lake Road? It ain’t the cash cow it used to be.
The coal-fired power plant formerly known as AES Somerset faces liquidation if a proposed deal to recharge it, through investment, tax relief and payroll slashing, doesn’t pass muster with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
-
Wishes granted
Nine established downtown-area businesses and six new businesses earned funds totalling $180,000 from the State Office of Community Renewal on Monday.
Mayor Michael Tucker, Sen. George Maziarz and Charles Bell of the Greater Lockport Development Corporation made the announcement in front of Micrographics at 36-B Main St. as several of the grant winners gathered and smiled in the breeze.
-
Rescuing the ruins
Greater Lockport Development Corporation will work with a local business that’s aiming to preserve historic industrial ruins downtown.
The GLDC board of directors this week approved a memorandum of agreement with Hydraulic Race Corporation, owner of the Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride tour, stating the agency will act as a “pass through” entity in the event HRC lands state grants to stabilize the Holly and Richmond Manufacturing ruins.
-
First Niagara gets into auto lending
First Niagara’s latest expansion is now into the indirect auto lending business.
The company announced Wednesday it will provide a variety of vehicle financing options through dealerships scattered throughout the northeast. More than 400 have already signed on and First Niagara expects that number to grow to 1,500 by 2014.
-
Claytown pieces available at Clarence pottery shop
Former Clay Town customers who left behind finished pottery pieces can still retrieve the pieces from a Clarence-based pottery shop.
Marie Sperrazza, owner of Clay Hands Pottery, 10086 Main St., Clarence, is holding upwards of 100 finished pieces by Clay Town customers who never retrieved them after the Robinson Road, Lockport, paint-your-own-pottery studio closed. -
Unpaid billions
A growing chorus of bricks-and-mortar small businesses are protesting what they see as tax law inequities driving them to the brink by requiring they collect and remit sales taxes while their electronic counterparts prosper through tax-free goods and services.
-
Hoagie Brothers is back at Taste
Hoagie Brothers has some faithful followers. And the restaurant is hoping to see some of those followers on Sunday.
Duane and Sharon Behm of Lockport say they stop by the South Transit Road submarine and pizza shop frequently. They conservatively estimate about 10 trips a week to Hoagie Bros., not including the times they stop by with visitors. The Behms like to tell as many as possible to come by for a bite.
“We tell people all the time,” Duane said. “It’s excellent, the best subs.” -
Good Karma
There’s a lot of good stuff at Cafe Karma, a new specialty sandwich and coffee shop now open on Main Street.
Located at 21 Main St. in the Lockview Plaza, the shop was formerly The Daily Grind, a coffee shop that had been there since it opened in 2006. Co-owners John Verbocy and Dennis Farley opened Cafe Karma about three weeks ago. So far the response has been good.
“It has been amazing,” Farley, a Newfane native, said. -
Duffy headlining annual Chamber of Commerce gala
New York State Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy will be the keynote speaker at the Niagara USA Chamber of Commerce’s annual Honors dinner next week.
- More Business Headlines
-
Vendors sought for Canal Street market
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
