http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

CAPITAL REGION
Sch’dy County gets ‘F’ in jobs report
Saratoga County by far outshines other local areas
BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS Gazette Reporter

   Saratoga County has earned an A grade from a state business group for its economic growth over the past decade, far outpacing surrounding counties and the upstate economy in general. Schenectady County was given an F.
   The rankings from The Business Council of New York State looked at job growth, average annual wages per job, total personal income, per capita personal income and population growth.
   Overall, the state earned a D when those categories are compared to other states, according to the council.
   “These are recognized metrics of economic performance,” said Matthew McGuire, a spokesman for the council.
   Saratoga and Putnam counties were alone in earning A grades in the comparison. Albany County got a D, Fulton a C and Montgomery, Schenectady and Schoharie counties got F’s, meaning they were behind the national growth rates in all categories. The council said 31 counties rated F, as did the upstate economy as a whole.    “This index shows just how badly New York’s economy has performed compared to the nation, and it confirms that upstate New York is locked in a profound economic crisis,” said Kenneth Adams, president of the Business Council.
   Upstate and the Northeast generally have seen a decline of traditional manufacturing for decades.
   The solution, the council believes, is in addressing high costs businesses face for health insurance, taxes, electricity and workers’ compensation. The state deal made in Albany last winter to reform workers’ comp shows that the problems can be addressed, McGuire said.
   “Every decision made in Albany should consider its impact on the economic climate,” McGuire said.
   The data was gathered by the Public Policy Institute, the Business Council’s research organization, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and used comparisons between 1995 and 2005.
   Saratoga County exceeded the national average in all of the statistics measured except average annual wages per job; it was one of only three counties in the state where total personal income grew faster than the national average.
   Major new businesses brought to the county in that 10-year period included the Ace Hardware and Target warehouses in Wilton and a Sysco Foods warehouse in Halfmoon. Housing construction boomed during most of that time.
   McGuire said the Business Council study didn’t address the reasons why any particular county did better than others, though it recognized Saratoga County’s success.
   “We know that Saratoga Springs is the state’s most significant smallcity success story, and the county has been aggressive in economic development,” McGuire said.
   County officials said they expect their job growth performance to continue. They pointed to the current construction of a $67 million county water system, which is integral to bringing an Advanced Micro Devices semiconductor plant to the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta.
   The states that earned an A+ for exceeding national growth averages in all five of the study’s categories were mostly in the west and south: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.  

  
  
  

We already knew that Schenectady would get an "F" in job growth as they're too busy pumping all their money into Proctors. The city council has only brought a couple hundred jobs into the city and that's only been recently.

Everytime I get on this message board, and read some of this stuff, it just reinforces the fact that the City/County government are deffinately the problems we have in this area. They have blatenly lost touch with their constituants. They are on a 'political agenda' mission. They have lost touch with 'how to serve'. They clearly are a bunch of arrogant, self serving, controlling dictators.

But ya know what? Where is Mr. Buchanan? Where are all of the good, strong republicans? Is it that there aren't anymore to be found in this area any longer? Or is it that Mr. Buchanan is playing footsie behind the scenes and making deals that are ambushing the process?

Come on people, there is something wrong with this picture here!