Last weeks report No Return On Our Investment by the NY IDA coalition has recieved positive press from a number of news outlets recently.
The Wall Street Journal covered it, and the Buffalo News' Matt Glynn wrote an article in the business section of the News about the findings of the report.
It's great to hear that folks are concerned that our State is spending more and more on IDAs while job creation is diminishing, and that IDA reform makes sense now more than ever.
An article in WNY Labor Today quoted CEJ director Allison Duwe, saying "These public authorities simply haven't created the jobs, let alone good jobs for local people, and they've shown complete disregard for transparency and public opinion by spinning off new agencies to skirt reform efforts." The full article at WNYlabortoday.net can be found here.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
New Report Highlights Failure of Economic Development Agencies
A report released today from the statewide NY IDA Coalition finds that New York State’s main economic development tool, Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs), are spending spiraling amounts of tax dollars each year while failing to create jobs and hiding from public scrutiny.
No Return on Our Investment: the Failure of New York’s Industrial Development Agencies identifies emerging and troublesome economic development issues and uses concrete examples of IDA-subsidized projects and workers, residents and small business owners throughout the state to highlight the flaws of the state’s 115 IDAs. The report also proposes common sense reforms for IDAs that would ensure economic development dollars are reinvested in our communities to boost opportunity, rebuild prosperity, and set New York on a course to long-term economic recovery and sustainable growth.
No Return on Our Investment was produced by New York Jobs with Justice and Urban Agenda, with assistance from the Coalition for Economic Justice.
**The NY IDA Coalition is a broad coalition of public policy experts, government watchdogs, labor unions, community and religious organizations, and concerned small business owners, workers and taxpayers. The statewide coalition is anchored by New York Jobs with Justice and the Coalition for Economic Justice.
No Return on Our Investment: the Failure of New York’s Industrial Development Agencies identifies emerging and troublesome economic development issues and uses concrete examples of IDA-subsidized projects and workers, residents and small business owners throughout the state to highlight the flaws of the state’s 115 IDAs. The report also proposes common sense reforms for IDAs that would ensure economic development dollars are reinvested in our communities to boost opportunity, rebuild prosperity, and set New York on a course to long-term economic recovery and sustainable growth.
No Return on Our Investment was produced by New York Jobs with Justice and Urban Agenda, with assistance from the Coalition for Economic Justice.
**The NY IDA Coalition is a broad coalition of public policy experts, government watchdogs, labor unions, community and religious organizations, and concerned small business owners, workers and taxpayers. The statewide coalition is anchored by New York Jobs with Justice and the Coalition for Economic Justice.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
CEJ and Friends Strike Again!
Once again, our Strike for Justice fundraiser proved to be a great success, as friends and supporters of CEJ took part in the revelry of a late-summer night's bowling.
Before we say more, we'd like to take a quick time-out to say thanks to all those who attended and who sponsored teams, as well as the staff at Kenmore Lanes for being great hosts. If you missed it, we apologize if we didn't properly inform you as to how awesome it was going to be! Lucky for you, it is an annual event, so you can come next year!
There is something oddly humbling about wearing bowling shoes. Maybe it's the result of lack of comfort combined with the uniformity of attire which brings about that feeling... or it could just be the fact that most of us are terrible bowlers! Either way, it helps you to not really care about that gutter ball you just threw. At CEJ events, though, we appreciate that, which is why the worst bowler took home an awesome prize - a gift certificate to Rustbelt Books and an autographed high-gloss photo of Bill's running back Fred Jackson.
Of course, there were many things to "compete" for, and the best bowler and best team also took home prizes, as well as best "team morale", which went to the team with the best combination of team name and costume. The Springville All-Star Marching band clearly won the team morale award, showing up in full performance outfit with instruments in tow, playing them as they bowled. No small feat, considering one of those instruments was a giant sousaphone!
During the course of the event, a friend and I got to talking about an interesting subject. It was 10 years ago that Robert Putnam wrote the famous book Bowling Alone about the decline in social capital - the wealth of our connections with each other - in the US. He detailed how we Americans belong to fewer organizations, sign fewer petitions, know our neighbors less, and meet with friends less often than say, our parents and grandparents used to. Instead of bowling in leagues and large groups, we bowl alone. In a city like Buffalo, with a rich bowling and social history, that is pretty obvious.
I guess it would be pretty cheesy to say that Strike for Justice, in combination with all of our work at CEJ, is our way of reversing that trend.
...Either way, I just did. Enjoy!
CEJ would also like to thank all the businesses who donated prizes: El Buen Amigo, Flying Bison, Swan's Martial Arts Academy, Betty's, Chef's, the Lexington Co-op, the Bills, Bisons, and Sabres, and Rustbelt Books. Hopefully we're not forgetting any!
Before we say more, we'd like to take a quick time-out to say thanks to all those who attended and who sponsored teams, as well as the staff at Kenmore Lanes for being great hosts. If you missed it, we apologize if we didn't properly inform you as to how awesome it was going to be! Lucky for you, it is an annual event, so you can come next year!
There is something oddly humbling about wearing bowling shoes. Maybe it's the result of lack of comfort combined with the uniformity of attire which brings about that feeling... or it could just be the fact that most of us are terrible bowlers! Either way, it helps you to not really care about that gutter ball you just threw. At CEJ events, though, we appreciate that, which is why the worst bowler took home an awesome prize - a gift certificate to Rustbelt Books and an autographed high-gloss photo of Bill's running back Fred Jackson.
Of course, there were many things to "compete" for, and the best bowler and best team also took home prizes, as well as best "team morale", which went to the team with the best combination of team name and costume. The Springville All-Star Marching band clearly won the team morale award, showing up in full performance outfit with instruments in tow, playing them as they bowled. No small feat, considering one of those instruments was a giant sousaphone!
During the course of the event, a friend and I got to talking about an interesting subject. It was 10 years ago that Robert Putnam wrote the famous book Bowling Alone about the decline in social capital - the wealth of our connections with each other - in the US. He detailed how we Americans belong to fewer organizations, sign fewer petitions, know our neighbors less, and meet with friends less often than say, our parents and grandparents used to. Instead of bowling in leagues and large groups, we bowl alone. In a city like Buffalo, with a rich bowling and social history, that is pretty obvious.
I guess it would be pretty cheesy to say that Strike for Justice, in combination with all of our work at CEJ, is our way of reversing that trend.
...Either way, I just did. Enjoy!
CEJ would also like to thank all the businesses who donated prizes: El Buen Amigo, Flying Bison, Swan's Martial Arts Academy, Betty's, Chef's, the Lexington Co-op, the Bills, Bisons, and Sabres, and Rustbelt Books. Hopefully we're not forgetting any!
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