Imagine you had $500 million to reinvest in New York’s economy. Would you give that money over to companies that agree to create a handful of poverty-wage jobs? How about companies that want to move down the road or even cut jobs in the state overall? Sadly, Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs), New York’s main job creation tool at half a billion dollars a year, make decisions like these far too often.
Here in NYC, there is intense controversy over nearly $100 million in subsidies that the IDA committed to Fresh Direct. The company pitted New York against New Jersey to demand huge public investment, all while refusing to make firm commitments to create living wage jobs, respect their workers’ right to organize, and address environmental concerns at their proposed location in the South Bronx.
There’s another outrageous example in Western NY that you can weigh in on right now. Ward’s Natural Science, a division of VWR has collected tax incentives from the Erie County IDA (ECIDA) going back at least since 1971 for a facility in Tonawanda. More recently, VWR started collecting tax breaks from the nearby County of Monroe IDA (COMIDA) for their warehouse in Henrietta. The company has collected $800,000 in tax breaks so far from its 2001 and 2008 deals with COMIDA in return for creating seven jobs. After the company’s subsidy deal with ECIDA expired in December, VWR announced it was closing the Tonawanda location, laying off 41 workers, and consolidating operations in Henrietta.
Tell COMIDA to end VWR’s tax breaks!
IDAs are not supposed to fund corporations that merely shift jobs from one part of the state to another. In this case, public money—which we could be using instead to fund our schools and firehouses—is subsidizing a net job loss for New Yorkers.
COMIDA also should not support a company that’s been gaming the economic development system in New York and beyond for years. Since VWR was bought by a private equity company in 2007, they have stepped up their game. In California, VWR is raking in tax breaks as they eliminate good union jobs in one part of the state and “create” lower quality jobs in another. In Pennsylvania, VWR is being subsidized to buy new furniture while downsizing their workforce at a new headquarters office.
IDAs should look at the big picture and protect the public interest when entering into subsidy deals with companies. They also need to periodically review just how well companies are living up to their end of the bargain. Hundreds of millions of public dollars are at stake.
COMIDA’s next public hearing is on February 21, and they need to hear from you before then. COMIDA has the tools to stop future tax breaks and recapture public money from companies like VWR: tell them to use it!
