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.