Archive: Opinions

Last week I was in Florida to attend a family wedding.  One night while vegging in front of the television I was startled into consciousness by an advertisement for my home state.  The ad claimed that New York is very friendly to business and that businesses should locate there to reap the benefits.

It turns out that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is spending nearly $140 million on an ad campaign called 'New York State Open for Business'.  The money is reportedly coming from  a public authority charged with creating lower electricity bills and federal disaster funds aimed at bringing business to New York in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

A simple Google search shows New York is not at all business-friendly.  ChiefExecutive.net found the state to be the '49th Best State For Business', basing that conclusion on a state by state comparison of GDP growth, unemployment, domestic migration, state statistics, and state and local tax burdens.  Despite the ad campaign that makes Cuomo and his crew look good, the comparison concludes Cuomo 'seems to be less concerned now about business-friendliness'.  I found the designation as '49th best state' to be a most amusing way of saying 'second worst' in a not-funny sort of way.

$140 million is a drop in the bucket when you look at what our state spends overall, but I can't help thinking that I would rather see it go to our school districts instead of advertising agencies and television stations.

	New York Report Card (Click here for details and full report) D+ Overall Friendliness F Ease of Starting a Business B- Ease of Hiring D+ Regulations D+ Health and Safety D Employment, labor & hiring D+ Tax Code D+ Licensing C Environmental D+ Zoning A- Training & networking programs

Thumbtack.com Small Business Survey also gives New York low scores.  This survey ranked New York 33rd in overall business friendliness, meaning there were actually 17 worse states in their findings.  The survey also covered cities nation-wide.  The best in the state was Rochester with an overall B+ rating, and surprisingly New York City earned a C (it was scored D+ last year).

This survey found the Finger Lakes was best in business-friendliness, followed by (best to worst) Western New York, New York City, Lower-Hudson, Southern New York, Long Island, and Central New York.  So it seems we live in the most business-friendly region of our state.  Keep in mind that the Finger Lakes is best in business-friendliness in a state that ranks among the worst in the country.

That is like saying Albany is restoring the money it promised schools but reneged on actually paying, when the 'restored' money doesn't equal the amount that was taken away.  Or saying there is a 2% cap on property tax levies when there actually isn't anything remotely resembling a 2% tax cap.

One of the 'New York State Open for Business' ads claims 50,000 new businesses opened in the state last year.  But an NBC news affiliate asked the U.S. Bureau of Labor for the actual statistics, which showed the number is closer to 4,500, and that more than 104,000 businesses in the state closed in 2011.

Most businesses do their due diligence before making decisions like where to locate.  Business people are the kind of people who do that.  When we were thinking about starting a local newspaper we got hold of demographics reports to help us decide whether the Lansing community could support such a venture.  We're not trained in business but I have to think that people who are would go further than we did to make sure their investment is a good idea.  I am certainly not an economic expert, but everything I read and have experienced with my business seems to point to a very business-unfriendly state.

If the ad campaign were truthful I would be behind it 100% because bringing new business to our state is the best possible scenario for prosperity and lower taxes, particularly property taxes.  But when it is so obviously a lie I can't imagine there will be much return for the money.

The gobbledegook that comes out of Albany these days startles me because it is so brazen.  Even I can understand that they are saying one thing when the opposite is true.  We are hearing this kind of nonsense-speak from Albany more now than ever before.

Politically jaded pundits say that Cuomo is positioning himself for a presidential run by pushing initiatives that look good for New Yorkers when in fact they do nothing or make matters worse.  When I look at the press releases that come from the Governor's office I am stunned at the degree to which words can be twisted. 

It's like when Michael Jackson used 'bad' to mean 'good', except that was for entertainment and had no impact on citizens' livelihood or pocketbooks.  Just calling the state business-friendly doesn't make it so.  What New York really needs is actual and substantial programs that will really make it so.

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