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New York State Spent Millions On Program For Startups That Created 76 Jobs

Posted by samzenpus on from the bang-for-your-buck dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes Last year, the New York state government launched Start-Up NY, a program designed to boost employment by creating tax-free zones for technology and manufacturing firms that partner with academic institutions. Things didn't go quite as planned. In theory, those tax-free zones on university campuses would give companies access to the best young talent and cutting-edge research, but only a few firms are actually taking the bait: According to a report from the state's Department of Economic Development, the program only created 76 jobs last year, despite spending millions of dollars on advertising and other costs. If that wasn't eyebrow-raising enough, the companies involved in the program have only invested a collective $1.7 million so far. The low numbers didn't stop some state officials from defending the initiative. "Given the program was only up and running for basically one quarter of a year," Andrew Kennedy, a senior economic development aide to Governor Cuomo, told Capital New York, "I think 80 jobs is a good number that we can stand behind."

13 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Too early for criticism. by LionKimbro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wait a second -- this program has only been running for one quarter of a year?

    76 jobs doesn't sound that bad, on such a short time frame.

    Sounds like a pre-mature judgement.

    1. Re:Too early for criticism. by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Informative

      exactly

      this topic is political posturing against Cuomo. not that Cuomo doesn't do fucked up things. and he does deserve criticism. but not on this topic

      cutting taxes for ten years to grow start ups is a great idea

      do we point at pregnant women's bellies and give them our sympathies for their stillborn?

      do we point at elementary school kids and decry that they've become meth heads?

      to say this judgment is preliminary is beyond obvious. it's a weak lame shallow farcical smear attack on Cuomo

      believe me, Cuomo has done some ugly corrupt shit, like protect Silver (unsuccessfully) by shutting down the Moreland Commission

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

      there's plenty of good shots to take against Cuomo

      but if this lame way too early attack on a clearly great idea is the best Cuomo's opponents can do, it shows his opponents to be pathetic and weak and so Cuomo is doing pretty good

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    2. Re:Too early for criticism. by D-Fly · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yeah, it had only been operating for three months in the surveyed period, and they'd only spent $1.7 million dollars, meaning about $21,000 per job. Not too bad, and it's only 2 percent of the program's projected budget, according to the second linked article. The Dice.com 'article' is ridiculous equivalent to hiring a coder, then the next morning issuing a performance evaluation saying "he's only written 12 lines of code!"

      --
      \
    3. Re:Too early for criticism. by thaylin · · Score: 5, Informative

      Where do you see that they only spent $1.7m? They spent $53m. The 1.7m number was the contribution form the companies involved. Would you like to redo your calculation there?

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    4. Re:Too early for criticism. by Holi · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://www.governor.ny.gov/new... Startup-NY was launched in October 2013. Not sure where you get 1/4 of a year from.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    5. Re:Too early for criticism. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's trying to bring business back to NY and make NY more business friendly

      Wouldn't it be better to do things that help all business, like lower taxes and improve infrastructure, rather than spending tax dollars on subsidies and advertising? This sort of spending is just a race to the bottom, as other states ramp up their own subsides. Saying it is justified because of the 80 jobs is silly, because many, if not all, of those jobs would have likely been created with or without the subsidies. Maybe they could send a few million to convince an economist to move to NY, and explain the Broken Window Fallacy to the politicians.

    6. Re:Too early for criticism. by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

      i live in an area that is being bombarded with thee ads daily

      Verily, you are mistaken. I doth not advertise, forsooth.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. No, the program didn't fail by Vermonter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Last year, the New York state government launched Start-Up NY, a program designed to boost employment by creating tax-free zones for technology and manufacturing firms that partner with academic institutions."

    See, this is what you are supposed to think, but here is how the truth of the matter reads:

    "Last year, the New York state government launched Start-Up NY, a program that allows state politicians to give tax money to their buddies while having the appearance that they care about jobs and the general public."

    1. Re: No, the program didn't fail by Vermonter · · Score: 4, Funny

      And your koolaid cup needs a refill.

  3. Re:How would you promote job growth by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Their fair share is obviously whatever things cost and I don't feel like paying for myself.

  4. Re:How would you promote job growth by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People with EARNED INCOME pay the highest tax rates. Ever wonder why Steve Jobs and other CEO's take a $1 salary? They don't want to pay taxes on EARNED INCOME. Meanwhile, they pay lower taxes on PORTFOLIO INCOME (i.e., stocks and bonds) and PASSIVE INCOME (i.e., real estate). If you don't want to pay your fair share of taxes, stop working for EARNED INCOME.

  5. Re:How would you promote job growth by nobuddy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Easy. The cost of maintaining a country is based on the GDP. If the calculated budget is $100, and you hold 12% of the GDP, your fair share is $12. If someone else holds .01% of the GDP, they owe $.01.

    Fair share is not every citizen pays the same. This is no a socialist economy where everyone contributes the same to get the same benefits. Some people hold far more than others, so their fair share is much higher. They also reap far more of the benefits of those taxes. A man that owns 10,000 trucks in a trucking company gets a hell of a lot more benefit than the guy that rides the bus across town to his job at McDonald's.

  6. I tried Start-Up NY by rbrandis · · Score: 5, Informative

    I tired to use Start-Up NY. We called and were told that it was only for out of state businesses opening in New York. They referred me to a small business consulting group at Stony Brook University. They referred me back to Start-Up NY. I had the impression that no one I spoke with knew what they were talking about, and really weren't interested in helping at all. I have even considered writing to Governor Cuomo. I think that Governor Cuomo's concept here is very well intentioned and could be a great benefit to the state. But, from my experience the administrative staff are not executing the Governor's program as intended.