Dawidziak: LI: still too tough on business

Here's an open memo to all Long Island government officials: We need to start being friendlier to business. Most of the fiscal ills facing Long Island governments -- indeed, the region as a whole -- can be solved by effective economic development.

Everybody knows that, but few in office seem willing to implement necessary changes to meet our region's economic challenges.

Last week the state made a welcome announcement that $101 million will be coming to Long Island to help spur job creation. But that doesn't change the fact that Nassau and Suffolk consistently rank low in lists of the best counties in New York to do business -- and New York consistently ranks 49th in polls of the best states for businesses. The need for a change in attitude is still clear. If Nassau and Suffolk want to pull out of the fiscal tailspin they're in, they need to change the way they do business with business; they need to take a close look at what they're doing wrong and correct it as quickly as possible.

First and foremost, they need to stop the bleeding. Too many of Long Island's small and mid-size companies have closed their doors in the last three years. That's a lot of jobs gone. With all the billions in aid funneled into Wall Street's coffers, where's the help for Main Street? The bailout should have been structured in a way to ensure the aid made it to the businesses that need it most.

Even more discouraging are the major companies that have moved off the Island.

Just this fall, Arrow Electronics, a Fortune 500 company, terminated its long history as a Long Island-based firm by announcing that Englewood, Colo., would be its new headquarters. While the company says it won't cut jobs on Long Island, the 1,250 new jobs it will create will be in Colorado. The relocation constitutes the largest company headquarters move to Colorado in history.

No wonder Gov. John Hickenlooper took such an active role in wooing Arrow to his state. Arrow's chief executive, Michael J. Long, wrote in the Denver Post that the reason for the company's move "lies in the essence of our company, this state, and the way in which you have welcomed us." He went on to say that, "our decision came down to the state's attitude."

Long Island should take note. There are 49 other states, roughly 3,400 counties and countless other municipalities who would love to give our companies a new home. Two months ago, Florida's Gov. Rick Scott issued a news release claiming credit for successfully lobbying IRX Therapeutics to move from Melville to St. Petersburg, Fla. Scott said he flew to New York personally to convince IRX, as a way to fulfill his campaign promise to boost employment.

This is what we're up against. Meanwhile, we continue to make life difficult for the companies that remain here. We not only need to get much more aggressive about attracting new business but, at the very least, we must stop handicapping those businesses that want to invest in our region.

An important first step would be to streamline the zoning and planning process. It took 13 months to build the Empire State Building in the midst of the Great Depression. It certainly shouldn't take longer than that to resolve land-use issues. We aren't going to attract the investment we need if these processes take years to complete. We don't have years to waste. The efforts of Taubman Properties to build a mall in Syosset, in an industrial area right off the Long Island Expressway, are just the most egregious example.

Nassau and Suffolk are a long way from being named the most business friendly counties in the country. But if we're going to survive, we better figure out how to be less hostile to those who'll make us thrive.Michael Dawidziak is a political consultant and pollster.