I am pleased to announce that Leo D. Bernstein & Sons, Inc., a manufacturer of mannequins is moving into its newly acquired building in Port Washington, creating 240 new jobs, including 40 jobs relocating from California to its Long Island plant. With the assistance of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, the company purchased a vacant 91,200 square foot building by authorizing up to $8 million in low-interest, tax-free bonds issued by the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.

This is just one more example that others view Nassau County as a wonderful place to do business. Commerce is the life's blood of every community. New York state is in competition with the other 49 states in the nation to entice commerce to its area. Nassau County is in the forefront offering tremendous incentives to industries that qualify.

The incentives provided by the IDA make it possible for businesses to undertake the often financially difficult task of relocating to Nassau, which was recently ranked by Money.com, along with Suffolk, as the #1 metro region in the Northeast in which to live in communities with less than 2.7 million and as #4 among all metro regions in the Northeast.

In order to make New York state competitive; the state empowered Nassau County to establish various agencies to assist commerce. The Nassau County Department of Commerce and Industry and the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency are assisting existing businesses, and are charged with the task of assisting and attracting industry to relocate in Nassau.

The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) uses non-taxpayer dollars to help grow, expand and bring business to Nassau. Since 1979, the IDA has provided more than $1.5 billion in funds and has created or retained over 68,000 jobs.

The IDA provides various forms of assistance to mid and large-sized companies. Businesses seeking and qualifying for bonds of over $1 million receive assistance in the form of incentive of tax-free bonds purchased by private investors or banks. Eligible tax-exempt borrowers include manufacturing facilities where at least 75 percent of the bond proceeds would be expended on actual production space. Non-profit corporations such as private colleges, cultural institutions, senior citizen housing facilities and charitable non-profit corporations also qualify for tax-exempt bond financing.

Other forms of assistance available from the IDA include exemptions from sales tax on all materials and merchandise, as well as tax benefits on municipal and school district levies. Additionally, since the property is held in the name of the IDA, a tax-exempt entity, a saving on the 1 percent mortgage tax is available for property title held under the name of the NC IDA.

Some examples of recent IDA successes include the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) issuance of bonds totaling $42.2 million to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which resulted in the retention of 688 jobs. By refinancing existing debt by taking advantage of lower interest rates, Cold Spring Harbor Labs was able to purchase and renovate an existing building for educational and research purposes. Without this financing, the expansion of the laboratory would have been in jeopardy, with the potential loss of up to 200 more high paying jobs in Nassau County.

Another recent success involved Hofstra University. Hofstra was issued a bond in the amount of $107,428,167, thereby retaining 2,000 jobs. The project consisted of the construction of several new buildings, as well as the renovation of existing buildings such as the athletic facility, science building, Fine & Performing Arts Center and classrooms, making Hofstra more competitive with other universities in the northeast region.

Nassau County works for you. If your company or organization requires $1 million or more in capital for building, renovations, property and/or equipment, let the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency show you the way. For more information, contact the IDA at 516-571-4160.

As always, if there is anything I can do to help you, please feel free to call me at my office at 571-6000.