Governor plans boost in upstate economy
Spitzer, in visit, offers funds for development

By Tom Precious
The Buffalo News
January 16, 2008

ALBANY — Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer is coming to Buffalo today to outline the challenges facing the upstate economy and offer what he says will be long-term plans to boost the region. Included are new partnerships between higher education and local businesses, a $1 billion upstate development fund and $100 million to improve state parks and lure tourists to the region.

“This isn’t going to happen this year. This isn’t going to happen next year,” Spitzer said of the work needed to stop decades of economic slide upstate.

Among the initiatives he will announce in his first State of the Upstate address is renovation work at the Niagara Falls State Park and a new campaign to market upstate business opportunities to Canadian companies.

The governor will outline the specifics of his $1 billion economic-revitalization proposal that will be included in his upcoming 2008 budget plan. Already being opposed by some downstate lawmakers, the fund would earmark upstate for special funding to help restore downtown areas, draw new industries, improve housing and bolster the agricultural industry.

The governor last year pledged to report annually on the condition of upstate.

“The very notion of giving an annual State of the Upstate speech is going to require that I and my successors are going to have to be held accountable for what they do contribute or don’t contribute — it will force us to pay attention,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

The governor will likely portray a region in economic jeopardy but will almost certainly highlight what he says are success stories during his first year in office. Spitzer on Tuesday said companies had pledged to create 8,001 new jobs upstate over the past year, while 24,018 jobs have been retained with state help.

“It’s a step,” he said. “But I don’t want anyone to think I’m Pollyannaish. We also had businesses that moved out and closed up.”

State officials were silent on details of some of Spitzer’s Western New York proposals. The governor is expected to say that local economicdevelopment experts say the state has not done enough to tap into the Canadian market.

With the U.S. dollar weak against the Canadian dollar, the Spitzer administration believes it can attract companies from north and west of the border into New York. The administration is proposing a fund for new marketing efforts to “aggressively” market upstate to Ontario and Quebec businesses.

The governor will propose a $100 million renovation plan for the decaying state park system — with 80 percent going upstate, he said.

A state parks official said the park at Niagara Falls will get about $5.5 million, which which will go to reopening the Goat Island bridge, which has been closed except to pedestrians since 2004; rehabilitating parking lots and other areas; replacing the roof at the visitors center; and making extensive improvements to the Cave of the Winds attraction.

The governor also will call for new collaborations among public and private colleges and local business interests — a model that has worked successfully in places like Albany and Ithaca. He also wants to expand agribusiness opportunities.

Expectations have been raised, in part by Spitzer, about the importance of today’s speech. Spitzer has said the success of his administration will be judged by efforts to improve upstate.

Already, various upstate interests were providing their wish lists for the governor’s attention. Some business groups were looking for Spitzer to not just announce more spending plans for upstate, but to embrace their calls to cut the costs of doing business and living in New York. For instance, they say he can back their plan to carve out upstate for special treatment for regulatory relief from rules that make the cost of public and private construction go up.

“Throwing more money at the problem is yesterday’s solution,” said Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Kenmore. He said the state can help upstate by cutting some of the regulatory and other burdens that downstate can afford but that upstate cannot.

As a calling card before the governor’s speech today, officials announced $100 million in funding for various programs geared to restoring neighborhoods in economically depressed areas. Of the $100 million, $74 million will go upstate — with $19.2 million going into the Western New York region.

The largest single grant awarded statewide — $5.7 million — will help Buffalo demolish abandoned and vacant houses on the city’s East Side. City officials say it will pay for the city’s efforts to tear down 400 structures and make the land ready for future development. The administration of Mayor Byron W. Brown estimates there are 10,000 abandoned houses in Buffalo.

Brown said the city is hoping to tap into other pots of money to fund new uses for some of the properties demolished, including retail, new housing and green space.

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus will get $4.5 million to renovate a vacant, four-story, 120,000-square-foot building that formerly housed Trico Products. The downtown biotechnology campus purchased the former windshield manufacturing plant last year in a Bankruptcy Court sale.

Matthew Enstice, executive director of the campus, said the building will be renovated to house start-up biotechnology companies that are growing at the campus and to attract other firms to Buffalo. The grant will cover more than half of an expected $8 million renovation cost, he said, with work expected to begin by June.

Brown noted that 10 percent of the $100 million fund will be spent within his city. “Certainly, it’s a reflection of the governor’s commitment to upstate and Buffalo,” he said.

In the City of Tonawanda, $2.5 million will be spent for the ongoing demolition of the former Spaulding Fibre complex, a 47-acre, long-vacant site. With another $7.1 million in commitments from the state for environmental remediation work at the complex, Schimminger said the project should be close to “the ultimate goal of a clean, shovel-ready site all set for redevelopment.”

Lockport will receive $1.5 million for repairs to Commerce Square, the former Harrison Radiator plant, on which the city’s development agency foreclosed in 2006 after the previous owner defaulted on $1 million in city loans.

Lockport Mayor Michael W. Tucker said the city applied for $2.5 million but is happy with the lesser amount. “We’ve got to fix the roof and fix the elevators. The whole plan has been to make that building more attractive so we can get rid of it at some point.”

North Tonawanda received $500,000 for two projects — to demolish the former city incinerator at 745 Walck Road and to help turn the Teddy Bear Building at 64 Webster St. into a boutique hotel. Just how much was dedicated for each project was unavailable Tuesday.

City officials had asked for more than $1 million for a total of four projects, including repairs at the Carnegie Art Center and the Riviera Theatre.

Other projects funded though the new pot of money include:

• $2 million for the Jamestown Renaissance Project.
• $1.5 million for Gowanda’s Academy Place project.
• $1 million to demolish the Agway facility in Olean.

tprecious@buffnews.com

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