Suozzi Joins Local Business, Government and Community Leaders to Push for an Empire Zone in Nassau County

Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, with the support of local businesses, government leaders and community advocates, urged the New York State Legislature last week to approve an Empire Zone in Nassau County. This step will establish significant tax incentives for businesses and help trigger new private sector investment, job creation and economic expansion for underserved and, in many cases, minority communities.

Suozzi, joined by Deputy County Executive of Economic Development Patrick Duggan; Freeport Mayor William Glacken; Mitch Pally, vice president of legislative and economic affairs at the Long Island Association; Robert Klein, vice president of engineering, logistics and technology at Northrop Grumman Corporation; and Christopher O'Hara, representing the New York State AFL-CIO, addressed the need for growth and economic revitalization in local communities throughout the county.

Nassau County is seeking Empire Zone designation for six non-contiguous areas that meet the criteria for such zones set forth in the General Municipal Law. They are Town of Hempstead (for communities like Elmont, Franklin Square, Inwood, Roosevelt, Uniondale and West Hempstead), New Cassel, Bethpage, City of Glen Cove, Village of Hempstead and the Village of Freeport.

"Nassau County, the nation's first mature suburban county, has stopped growing. Nassau County needs an Empire Zone to foster future growth, expand its tax base, create jobs and create new income tax revenues of New York State," Suozzi said. "While 55 counties across New York State are home to 72 Empire Zones - including three in Suffolk County, 10 in New York City and two in Westchester County - Nassau County has no Empire Zones.

"Part of our plan for the future of Nassau County is to restore and revitalize our community's downtown areas," Suozzi said. "Ours is the first suburban county in the country and we are experiencing problems that have not yet been seen in any community like ours. The Empire Zone program is an important step toward achieving our goal to foster positive growth."

"Empire Zones are important to reaching the economic development objectives of Nassau County," Duggan said.

"I believe it is essential for the revitalization of our traditional downtowns, most notably Freeport, Hempstead, Roosevelt, and Uniondale, that we have an Empire Zone in place," Glacken said.

"Providing an Empire Zone for Nassau County has been one of the LIA's legislative priorities for the last 2 years," said Mitch Pally, vice president of legislative and economic affairs at the Long Island Association. "Such a designation will provide Nassau County with the tools necessary to compete with new business in the region. We are very hopeful that this will be the year when Albany approves the designation."

"Northrop Grumman Corporation strongly supports the creation of an Empire Zone in Nassau County. Recent programs with the Empire State Development Corporation and Nassau County Industrial Development Agency have allowed us to make facilities improvements and grow substantially on Long Island. Since the implementation of these recent programs, we are adding 1000 jobs," Klein said.

Nassau County has community support and investment, which is key to the revitalization of the downtown areas. The county already is partnering with the City of Glen Cove to design comprehensive community and revitalization programs which will result in an increase in job opportunities.

Businesses that participate and invest in an Empire Zone are eligible for sales tax exemption, real property and business tax credits. The purpose of the Empire Zones Program is to give companies which are increasing their employment, the opportunity to operate on an almost "tax-free" basis for up to 10 years in designated areas of the state, with additional savings available on a declining basis in years 11 through 15.

While Nassau County is known as the home to an affluent, highly taxed, well-educated population, as well as many mid-size corporations and regional finance, insurance and real estate firms, it also has several communities that have had an influx of poor, minority and immigrant groups who live in segregated areas and are deprived of many economic, educational and social opportunities. These communities are largely located in and around the county's older downtown areas, where often the infrastructure is not sufficient to support the demanding needs of the local residents and businesses. Compounding the problems of economic and physical despair in its low income areas, Nassau County has been impacted negatively by the downsizing of military installations, and a loss of defense contracts from the local defense industry, which resulted in decreased manufacturing needs and industry mergers, taking many jobs away from the county.

The areas for the proposed zones throughout the county are largely located in the county's under-served and often minority areas where infrastructure cannot support the needs of the local businesses and residents, public transportation is lacking and environmental justice issues are rampant. The focus is on job retention and attraction, and these themes will continue as the basis for business expansion and employment generation in the county's economic development zone.