Paterson, WNY officials talk development - Memphis Business Journal:

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Paterson came to the Clarence headquarters Wednesdau afternoon to rally support forhis “Bold Steps to the New Economy” initiative. Greatbatch, which recently expanded in Clarence after considering optionws elsewhere is the poster child for the economifc development agenda Patersonis pushing. He held similadr roundtable discussions earlier this week in Albanyand Syracuse. Paterson met with 21 local leaders and executives ranging from University at Buffalop President John Simpson and Erie County Executivee Chris Collins toMark Dettner, managint director and founder. “I came here todayu to listen as muchas talk,” Paterson said.
Paterson’z appearance came against the backdrop of political firestormk in Albany with a battle for politicall control of the New YorkStatr Senate. Paterson, during his hour-long roundtable meeting with the executiveas stayed focused on economicdevelopment issues. however, did serve as a background. “There is a time to addressd these issues,” Paterson told reporters afterthe meeting. “I’m not sure why we are just hearinhg about thisproblem now.” who has run or started a dozen locap companies, said politics does impact how the businesz community views the Paterson government.
“Unless you removr the stigma of New York beingthe highest-taxed state, all the spinoff jobs you want to creatwe with this program will end up in othere states,” the county executive warned. “Tom Golisani is simply the tip ofthe iceberg.” Golisano, in late May, renouncer his New York residency and made Florida his officialo home because of New York’s heavy tax burdenj on upper class citizens. Golisano, the Rochester-basedf billionaire, said the move will save him morethan $5 million annually in state income taxes. Collins said the high cost of state-runb programs such as Medicare contribute toNew York’ws taxing structure.
Out-of-date, union-friendly mandates like the Taylor Law, whicjh offers certain guarantees forunion workers, add to the tax “We don’t want to see the innovations createxd here but the jobs they create go to Texas,” Collins Paterson agrees New York has to “cut its infectious ways of State programs are leading to a projectesd $24 billion deficit this year. Paterson, througn the discussion, also heard repeated pleas to supporgt UB’s 2020 plan that many see as a linchpin tothe region’ss economic revival.
The UB plan calls for significant investmeny in its Buffalo and Amherst campuses while increasintg its presence indowntown Buffalo’s Buffalp Niagara Medical Campus. Simpson said UB 2020 representsz a potentialof $3 billion in new investment in the region while creating 10,000 new The catch is, the initiativr needs significant state legislative and financiak support. “We need to get UB 2020 out of thestartingb block,” said Thomas Hook, Greatbatch president and chief executivre officer.
Hook credited a closew alliance with UB as the source of the many patent and medical industry products that Greatbatch has createds during the pastfive “A lot of the success Greatbatch enjoye d has come from innovations that startedr from UB,” Hook