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SCHENECTADY COUNTY
Success of Metroplex lauded Authority has brought decade of improvements
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    The Metroplex Development Authority — born 10 years ago in January — has fundamentally changed Schenectady County over the past decade and these changes will help the county better weather the recession, local officials said.
    “Almost no one will be untouched by recession, but the answer is we will weather it substantially better because of what we accomplished, especially because some of these projects were done early. It would have been difficult to fund Proctors today,” said Bradley Lewis, Metroplex vice chairman and a professor of economics at Union College.
    Over the past decade, Metroplex has helped revitalize Schenectady’s downtown, helped attract more than $300 million in investment, put more than 40 buildings on the property tax rolls and helped create 3,000 jobs, both high-paying and entrylevel positions.
    County Legislator Gary Hughes, D- Schenectady, said the county’s diversified economy will help it in the long run.
    “Because we are in the position we are in and because of Metroplex, we are not in same dire straits as some other metropolitan areas in the country,” he said.
    Getting to this point was not always easy, and many people are quick to take credit for the success. But the bottom line is that none of it would have happened without Metroplex, Lewis said.
    So what makes Metroplex so successful? It is like any other traditional economic development agency, with access to the same tools and resources. But it also has something unique — a dedicated funding stream. It collects a portion of county sales tax worth approximately $7 million annually.
    No other economic development agency in New York state has this taxing ability. Other agencies, and they exist in almost every county, depend on revolving loan funds or grants to fund projects. Metroplex uses these sources as well, but it uses its revenue stream as a guarantee to pay off bond debt, which helps it get better rates and allows it to obtain “other people’s money” for projects, said Ray Gillen, Metroplex chairman.
    In the beginning, Metroplex gave away money for projects — $20 million to Proctors and $12 million to MVP for its garage — and it also invested money in questionable deals, such as the failed Diamond Cinema proposal — all prior to Gillen’s arrival. Metroplex spent two years and $3.7 million to prepare a site to build the cinema, only to abandon the project after further investigation into the developer’s proposal found that he had little actual investment in the project.
    Metroplex also designated Omni Development of Albany as its preferred developer for downtown projects. The choice narrowed the field for other developers interested in working with Metroplex and reduced competition. Under Gillen, Metroplex abandoned the preferred developer concept.
GILLEN ON STAGE
    Five years ago, Gillen, then 45, was named chairman of Metroplex, and he brought a new playbook to the economic development contest. He is to be reappointed chairman at the March meeting of the Schenectady County Legislature.
    The Metroplex chair is unpaid, but Gillen is also commissioner of economic development for Schenectady County and will earn $155,000 this year. He is one of the highest paid county employees, making more than County Manager Kathleen Rooney.
    Gillen was born and raised in Schenectady and attended St. Helen’s school in Niskayuna and SUNY Buffalo. After graduation, he worked in Washington as a policy analyst in economic development. He then went to work for the state because he wanted to put programs in place, not develop policies, he said. Then he came to work for Schenectady County.
    Several business leaders said the business climate in Schenectady County before Gillen was marked by bickering and lost opportunities.
    “It wasn’t about personalities or about people. It was that no one had a clear-cut plan on where Metroplex was going to go,” said Matthew Mazzone, chief financial officer for the Mazzone Management Group. “Ray put it all together.”
    Mazzone decided to come back to downtown Schenectady after a 20-year absence to build a bistro and wine bar called Aperitivo Bistro, high-end loft apartments and office space.
    “Ray Gillen and Metroplex had a huge part to do with our coming back,” Mazzone said. “He sought us out. He was the key to getting us to do that project, all things being equal.”
    Before Gillen, the economic development climate in the county was confused, fragmented and marked by infighting among 31 different economic development groups. Gillen worked with leaders of the county Legislature and city government to bring together the groups under one umbrella. Consolidation made it easier for developers to talk deals and for everyone to be on the same page about projects, Gillen said.
    Metroplex board member Neil Golub said Gillen said took politics out of economic development in the county. Golub is the only original member of Metroplex’s first board who remains. He is to be reappointed to his third fiveyear term in March.
    “Since Ray has been on board, I cannot think of a time when politics or any outside negative has hit our board. I have never observed a quid pro quo. That board has been focused on doing the right thing, and he has been a marvelous leader,” Golub said.
TRANSFORMATIVE FORCE
    Golub is CEO of the Golub Corp., the parent of Price Chopper supermarkets. He and former Union College President Roger Hull laid the foundation for Metroplex when they created Schenectady 2000, a private-sector civic booster group formed in 1993.
    Schenectady County Legislature Chairwoman Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, is responsible for recruiting Gillen to the job and helping him transform economic development in the county.
    “One of the greatest accomplishments I have had as chair is the appointment of Ray Gillen. If you look around our community, you can see how much stronger we are because we have professionalized economic development,” Savage said.
    Gillen, a Democrat, was working for Republican Gov. George Pataki as director of industry development for the Empire State Development Corp. when he came over to the county.
    Democrats took control of the county Legislature and full control of city government five years ago.
    Jan Smith, spokeswoman for GE Energy, said the county’s business climate improved under Gillen and county and city leaders.
    “When the new group came in, they said we should have a climate for change. There has been an effort on [their part] to work with us and us with them,” she said.
    Smith credited the changed environment with GE’s decision to locate 500 jobs related to solar and wind power generation to its Erie Boulevard facility by 2011.
    “The way a community feels about a business is a factor you consider when making a decision. We had a number of options where we could have put those jobs. The state and county really wanted to work with us to make it happen, and it did,” she said.
    Gillen said Metroplex has a plan to develop industrial parks in the surrounding towns while working to improve key business corridors in the county. He said Metroplex is using less of its money these days and sometimes not any money at all for projects. But it remains active behind the scenes creating and retaining jobs, he said.
    Gillen downplays his role, saying .................. http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00102

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Is county better off now? Most say yes
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

Is Schenectady County’s economy better off today after 10 years of effort by the Metroplex Development Authority?
The answer is a qualified yes, said community, business and political leaders.
“There is no question of it. Anyone who looks at the face of Schenectady County recognizes Metroplex has been a huge benefit,” said Schenectady County Legislator Robert Farley, R-Niskayuna. Farley helped write the legislation that created Metroplex.
    Metroplex was launched Jan. 1, 1999, following authorizing legislation by the state the year before.
    According to state data, sales tax receipts are at record levels — $68 million in 2004 versus $85 million in 2008. There are more Schenectady residents working — in jobs both inside and outside of the county — than five years ago: 71,300 in 2004 versus 72,100 in the second quarter of 2008.
    And there are more people living in the county than five years ago: 148,000 in 2004 versus 151,000 in 2008.
    In a tightening recession, developers and businesses continue to move forward with the construction of around 700,000 square feet of commercial, retail and office space in Schenectady, all of it financed. The work includes the largest office building in the Capital Region, the Golub Co. headquarters on Nott Street.
    To Schenectady County Legislator Gary Hughes, D-Schenectady, that spells success.
    “I get around the state a bit, particularly around upstate. In the places I go, I don’t see the level of construction activity that I see here. That is a testament to what Metroplex has accomplished,” he said. He is director of communications for MVP.
    The downsides are that unemployment and poverty are up.
    Unemployment was 6 percent in December 2008 versus 4.3 percent in December 2004. But unemployment is up everywhere because of the recession, said Leif Engstrom, program manager for the Capital District Regional Planning Commission.
    “If you are looking to say that unemployment is going from 5 percent to 6 percent and that is an indication we are suffering a dramatic economic downturn, that is not necessarily the fact,” Engstrom said. “You have to look at the overall number of jobs. If you see growth in the number of jobs or at least stability, that would indicate there is not a significant economic decline.”
    The Rev. Phil Grigsby, director of the Schenectady Inner City Ministry, an advocacy group for the poor, gives Metroplex mixed reviews. He said that while Metroplex had to work on improving the business climate downtown, “there was some hope that Metroplex would broaden its scope and address some the neighborhood issues. Many of the neighborhoods have declined, especially the Mont Pleasant business district.”
    The poverty rate is 11 percent in the county and 21 percent in the city, based on the latest U.S. Census figures.
    Grigsby said poverty has increased because of the fl ow of people in and out of the county.
    “People are leaving because of the loss of GE jobs and moving further out, and the people coming in are often of lower income,” he said.
    The area’s attraction is lower housing costs and stability of employment.
    Grigsby said social service rolls are down but food stamp rolls are up in the county because welfare has work-first criteria. “But many of the jobs are not full time and [are] without benefi ts,” he said.
    Still, local leaders say they remain optimistic about the county’s future.
    “We have a stronger economic base. You have to look at job creation, at the numbers for GE Energy and Railex and at the revitalization of our business parks in Rotterdam and Glenville,” said Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature. “You will see job opportunities here today that were not here five years ago.”
    Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said the next five years will be challenging for both Metroplex and the county due to tightening credit markets.
    “But we have a strategy and it is working. Our approach to partner with large developers has proven to be the correct one,” he said.
    Banks will finance projects with................. http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00104

Mike how can you even imply that this county is better than any other county around when our taxes are thru the roof, crime is on the rise, streets are falling apart, there are no decent jobs, and the bright spot in your article is proctors which costs the taxpayer money every year to keep it afloat. The only reason that we have more people in the county now is because they're coming here from other areas to obtain the lucrative welfare handouts that this county doles out. Could this article be in response to some inquiries made about the Metroplex Audit and the absence of the results made to the Comptrollers Office?

What happened to the company who used to build trains in Scotia? Why is the two blocks of State St near Proctors the only area that shows any improvements? The Golub headquarters is only a lateral move and no jobs were created by it. Stealing businesses from surrounding areas with handouts doesn't mean any jobs are being created the jobs are just moving from the areas around Schenectady into the city. If the last 10 years were truly a success as you suggest then why haven't our taxes gone down because we the people see our tax bills get larger every year due to fiscal mismanagement in this county IMHO.

You are so correct shadow. The gazette must have been in full cheerleading garb for this article. FIRST, where are these 3,000 jobs? And what is the median income for these supposedly new jobs? Second, the plex can take NO credit for GE jobs. No authority, nobody, no government tells GE who, what, when and how to hire. If GE hires, it is their decision!

I also like the way they throw Neil Golub's name around. Implying that since he is involved....all is ok! The plex, in all of it's glory, has don't nothing more than build a few bars and kept a few select contractors busy. And they have made Philip Morris (CEO of Proctors) happy and employed by making his 'arts' dream come true. And the plex has 'relocated' business. As shadow stated, taking from one community and dropping them into another. And after a decade, if it is so successful, why are our taxes so damn high and increasing yearly?

It is a scam at best. And all at our (we the taxpayer) expense!!! IMHO

I think I'm gonna be sick. I've never read such a piece of propaganda in my life.  

No wonder Olender is still in business, everyone's in bed with each other.

THE PEOPLE OF SCHENECTADY COUNTY, ESPECIALLY IN NISKAYUNA AND GLENVILLE, BELIEVE METROPLEX IS WORKING.  MY WIFE SAYS HER COUNTY COLLEAUGES ALL SUPPORT METROPLEX, THAT RAY GILLEN IS A THE ONLY BRIGHT, NICE GUY IN THE WHOLE GROUP.  IF REPUBLICANS ARE TO WIN SEATS IN DISTRICT 3 THEY SHOULD FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES OF WHAT THEY WILL DO FOR THE DISTRICT, INCLUDING USING METROPLEX TO IMPROVE THOSE BORDERS SHARED BY THE TOWNS WITH THE CITY AS RAY GILLEN IS ENSURING GLENVILLE AND NISKAYUNA ARE GETTING FUNDING FOR PROJECTS THERE.  THE DEMOCRATS WILL PAINT YOU AS ANTI-PROGRESSIVE TO IMPROVING THE TOWNS AND WE'LL HAVE NO SHOT THERE.  DISTRICT 4 IS MUCH MORE SOLIDLY REPUBLICAN. MY WIFE SPOKE WITH CHAIRMAN BUCHANAN WHO IS CONFIDENT IN WINNING BOTH SEATS THERE.  HOLLY VELLANO AND LOU ZAMPINO (WHO MY WIFE MET AND SAID WAS VERY NICE) WOULD BE GREAT CANDIDATES FOR THE PARTY. REMEMBER, METROPLEX ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE.  EVEN IF WE'RE SUCCESSFUL IN WINNING SEATS BACK, WE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER WITH THEM FOR MAJOR PROJECTS OF MUTUAL NEED RATHER THAN SPECIFIC BUILDINGS LIKE GILLETTE HOUSE WHICH OFFER THE COUNTY TAXPAYERS NO RETURN ON OUR INVESTMENT.

I personally don't care if people think that we're anti-progressive, show me some proof in the form of reduced taxes and maybe we'll start to think that Metroplex is actually working and worth the millions of tax dollars spent funding it.

This horrible press release is printed verbatim by the Gazetto! Then they wonder why nobody reads it. Thank God for Rev Grimsby who gave the only honest assessment. No jobs, weakening County property taxes with give aways to the wealthy, kills competition and increases the regressive Sales tax on poor people. Other than that it's a great thang!

   Metrograft is a total flop; La Sartoria, Big Hose, Van Dyke, Robinson's Square aka (Gillen's Ditch), Cardio Mag, WI-FI, Parisi's Steakhouse, etc. 7 Restaurants closed last year alone! Every City Business District has collapsed. Of course, Gary Hughes(D-MVP) is trotted out in support of this taxpayer ripoff. He also supported hiring Lumpy Kosiur, with no announcement in violation of Civil Service. Death Ray is a bright spot? Someone of Williams paisanos should take a look at St James Square. Since Metrograft took over it's worse. By the way your totally wrong with the candidates in District 4 for County Leg.

These two articles were the biggest whip cream blow_obs since Linda Lovelace! just gratuitous! That priest was the only one who mentioned the neighborhoods going to hell, the MP, Eastern Avenue, Stockade, Woodlawn, Bellevue and Central State street all are rotting and filled with blight. Jesus himself couldn't save them now, forget the new Gazette messiah Ray. No wonder I call Gazette Izvestia part of the TASS news agency? People in the area William the loud mentioned can't see the forest through the trees. they have new trees downtown, sadly enough the whole forest has burned to the ground and people act like this is a success? At what taxpayer cost? $100,000,000 ??

I'm sure Mr Marcella would call Mt Pleasant (another are of the CITY) a success ... wouldn't you?

The Gazetto goes back into the bag for Metrograft. They keep grabbing credit for GE jobs they had nothing to do with. Meanwhile Trustco, Sunmark, 5 small businesses on Jay St and Translation Services close or move losing over 1,000 jobs and nobody says nuthin. Other than Father G, who's hardly a REP-no one can utter the truth. There are no new jobs and the City continues to depopulate.

      Downtown is like the facade town in Blazing Saddles, great frontage with nothing behind it. In fact Silver Diner looks exactly like that complete with the wooden supports. Where's the facade of balance in this horrible report? Here's the sad truth; Downtown was better 10 tears ago-more jobs, more shops, fewer governmental gin mills.

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THE PEOPLE OF SCHENECTADY COUNTY, ESPECIALLY IN NISKAYUNA AND GLENVILLE, BELIEVE METROPLEX IS WORKING.  MY WIFE SAYS HER COUNTY COLLEAUGES ALL SUPPORT METROPLEX, THAT RAY GILLEN IS A THE ONLY BRIGHT, NICE GUY IN THE WHOLE GROUP.  IF REPUBLICANS ARE TO WIN SEATS IN DISTRICT 3 THEY SHOULD FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES OF WHAT THEY WILL DO FOR THE DISTRICT, INCLUDING USING METROPLEX TO IMPROVE THOSE BORDERS SHARED BY THE TOWNS WITH THE CITY AS RAY GILLEN IS ENSURING GLENVILLE AND NISKAYUNA ARE GETTING FUNDING FOR PROJECTS THERE.  THE DEMOCRATS WILL PAINT YOU AS ANTI-PROGRESSIVE TO IMPROVING THE TOWNS AND WE'LL HAVE NO SHOT THERE.  DISTRICT 4 IS MUCH MORE SOLIDLY REPUBLICAN. MY WIFE SPOKE WITH CHAIRMAN BUCHANAN WHO IS CONFIDENT IN WINNING BOTH SEATS THERE.  HOLLY VELLANO AND LOU ZAMPINO (WHO MY WIFE MET AND SAID WAS VERY NICE) WOULD BE GREAT CANDIDATES FOR THE PARTY. REMEMBER, METROPLEX ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE.  EVEN IF WE'RE SUCCESSFUL IN WINNING SEATS BACK, WE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER WITH THEM FOR MAJOR PROJECTS OF MUTUAL NEED RATHER THAN SPECIFIC BUILDINGS LIKE GILLETTE HOUSE WHICH OFFER THE COUNTY TAXPAYERS NO RETURN ON OUR INVESTMENT.

William, are you suggesting that the reps or any other party, belly up to the plex in support of it? Belly up to an authority that has failed miserably since it's inception 10 years ago? Belly up to an authority of no tax relief and only tax increases? Belly up to an authority that supports a non profit like Proctors that cant sustain itself? And the list goes on and on and on......

We are still waiting for an audit that is almost 1 1/2years in the waiting. I would wonder how many of these buildings that the plex sold for next to nothing will be 'flipped'! And not to mention the Big House!!! That is another story! But everyone else here has posted plenty that should prove that the plex is a money pit created for the 'special interest folks'. And again the taxpayer gets screwed!!!

And the gazette is just the vehicle who agrees to print these lies. And they wonder why they are sinking.

And as far as Zampino...isn't he the Tae Kwon Do guy at 5 corners? I wonder where he lives?????

Regarding this editorial from the Metroplex Board that is poorly disguised as a news story, I have several questions:

-  If all is proper with the dealings of the public authority, why has the NYS Comptroller's Office not released the results of the audit?  Should the conclusion after nearly a year without answers, be that there are findings addressed in the report that are being concealed for political reasons?
-  Is this article published to do "damage control" for an imminent release of the audit report?
-  Who in the Democratic government administration wrote the Gazette article?

There are many concerns re: the decisions and actions of the Metroplex that need to be investigated and reported to the public.  These include questionable (IMHO) property sales and transfers, repeated contract awards to favored contractors, and campaign contributions made by the beneficiaries of Metroplex funding to the majority Democratic party.  "Pay to Play"?  Further, claims made by the members of the Metroplex Board, particularly Mr. Gillen, regarding the jobs created and the increase in the county tax base need to be substantiated.  Provide the proof of your assertions; proof that the jobs were created; proof that the Metroplex had involvement.

The few blocks stretch of downtown State Street reminds me of a western movie set.  The facades are attractive.  But, behind the facades sit vacant spaces and little activity.  And, while the public authority dumps tens of millions into the Proctor's block, the rest of the city and county are deteriorating.  

The key word is "believe" it's working. They "believe" the Gazetto and misinformation put out by Death Ray. It's not working.

     As Margaret Thachter noted: "The problem with Socialism is that they soon they run out of other people's money". It can't work, it's not gonna work, and they have already run out of our money. Any dupe that thinks it's "working" especially Niskayuna Democrats should take a walk on State St from Erie Blvd. to Washington Ave. Do it during the daytime. Then tell us it's working. lol!