RESTORE-NY: New Assembly economic-development plan

By Sheldon Silver
Assembly Speaker

While economists may disagree about the status of a national recession, it is clear that New York’s economy - which moved sluggishly through the tremendous economic expansion of the nineties, only to be devastated by the tragic events of September 11th - needs help.

The Assembly Majority has fought hard to design and establish economic development tools needed to promote real job growth throughout the state. In fact, the Assembly’s very successful Empire Zone program is seen by many as the only effective economic development initiative of the last seven years. We also have strongly advocated investing in higher education because of the vast intellectual and research resources available through our world-renown colleges and universities. It is clear New York State must capitalize on the benefits these prestigious institutions can provide in forging successful economic development programs.

Now, the Assembly Majority is, once again, instituting an initiative to provide much-needed assistance to sustain our struggling businesses and nurture emerging technology-based industries. The program, RESTORE-NY (Rebuilding the Empire State Through Opportunities in Regional Economies), was created in the 2002-03 state budget with $150 million in capital funding. This innovative approach seeks to build on our state’s regional economic strengths, using strategies that maximize public and private sector partnerships and the unparalleled research and development facilities accessible through our academic institutions.

RESTORE-NY will provide financial support for the construction or renovation of permanent facilities or infrastructure or for the purchase and installation of equipment or the acquisition of property that promote emerging industries.

Promoting high-tech job growth: There has been much talk in recent years about fostering high-tech job creation statewide. But talk alone won’t create a single job. We must invest real dollars in emerging technologies. That is why a major part of RESTORE-NY is the High Technology-Biotechnology Program that will provide important capital financing to facilitate the commercialization of scientific and medical discovery through partnerships between academic researchers and the biomedical community. This program will provide the biggest bang for our state’s brainpower buck.

These partnerships will develop the next generation of instruments, procedures, preventions and cures that will revolutionize the health care industry and produce untold quality-of-life improvements in our lifetimes.

In doing so, the collaborations will take scientific discovery “from the bench to the bedside” and create good paying jobs at various skill levels in the growing field of biotechnology/biomedicine.

In addition, we hope to capitalize on other cutting-edge technological advances and on increased federal research opportunities by supporting projects in other high-tech industries, such as information technology, photonics and energy technology - where the prospects for good-paying jobs are the greatest.

Securing the state’s existing industries: In addition to investing in new technologies, RESTORE-NY will also benefit our state’s established manufacturers. Since 1997, employment by New York’s manufacturers has dropped by more than 40,000 - accounting for nearly one-third of all manufacturing job losses in the nation during this period.

These lost jobs cut across both old and new manufacturing industries and regions of the state. RESTORE-NY will invest in a targeted program to refurbish, redesign and reconstruct outdated manufacturing facilities and provide for the introduction of new technological methods and equipment. This will allow our state’ s manufacturers to move into growth markets and realize greater product efficiencies and cost containment.

Ensuring a skilled workforce: Recognizing that a vibrant economy needs workers with a wide range of skills, RESTORE-NY will also invest in worker training through rebuilding and rehabilitating our aging, long-neglected training facilities. In addition, new facilities will be built or existing sites upgraded to accommodate the high-tech training needs of emerging industries.

Building on our state’s valuable assets: The Assembly has long recognized that the New York State economy is actually a collection of regional economies that are struggling to survive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. We also realize that while regional differences provide great economic development policy challenges, they also provide real opportunities to build on local cultural, higher education and transportation assets.

With an array of world-class cultural institutions and tourist destinations, we have the potential to stimulate economic activity in every region of the state. That’s why the Assembly’s RESTORE-NY initiative will provide capital support so these unique strengths can be enhanced and expanded to maximize their impact beyond their local community. The Assembly has already received hundreds of applications for RESTORE-NY funding and is in the process reviewing proposals for their job creation potential.

Considering the Assembly Majority’s winning, job-creating track record, it is our expectation that RESTORE-NY will follow on the success of the Empire Zone Program in helping New York build a strong, multi-faceted economy for the Empire State.