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Long Island's economy needs higher-paying jobs

The Northrop Grumman Corp. plant in Bethpage. The

Photo credit: Howard Schnapp, 2011 | The Northrop Grumman Corp. plant in Bethpage. The company said March 4 that it will move 850 jobs off Long Island by next year, leaving just 550 workers out of a workforce that exceeded 25,000 in the 1980s.

Sen. Charles Schumer's complaints about the loss of hundreds of Northrop Grumman workers won't stop Long Island from bleeding high-paying jobs.

The departures from the region's first big company -- yes, even 20 years after its heyday -- smarts. But the question now is how to grow high-paid positions to replace them, because the region's small businesses can't support the local economy forever.

Why...

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