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* I saw yet another TV ad last night for “Start-Up New York” on my local station. So, I surfed over to the website…

What is START-UP NY?

START-UP NY offers new and expanding businesses the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible university or college campuses in New York State.

Partnering with these schools gives businesses direct access to advanced research laboratories, development resources and experts in key industries.

Who is START-UP NY for?

To participate in START-UP NY, your company must meet the following requirements:

* Be a new business in New York State, or an existing New York business relocating to or expanding within the state

* Partner with a New York State college or university

* Create new jobs and contribute to the economic development of the local community

* New York isn’t a “right to work” state, yet this program appears to be having some success after a very slow roll-out and expensive national ad campaign…

157 business have already joined START-UP NY and committed to create 4,278 new jobs and invest over $225 million across New York [over five years]. That’s a great start.

We don’t have to copy it. We don’t have to spend as much as NY on advertising. And, like with NY, it will take time to accomplish whatever we set out to do.

* All I’m saying here is that perhaps we can look at doing other things besides lowering the pay, benefits and job protections of working people to get something moving in Illinois.

…Adding… Molly Parker has an interesting piece in The Southern about federally mandated workforce development changes in Illinois…

They are drafting policies to refocus economic development strategies that leverage viable business clusters already blooming in a particular area. In the five-county region covered by the Southern Illinois Workforce Development Board – Jackson, Williamson, Perry, Jefferson and Franklin – those clusters have been determined as, in this order, health care, transportation, distribution and logistics and manufacturing.

They also are attempting to close skill gaps identified in the regional workforce by beefing up access to technical education programs for high school students, and offering access to technology training for older adults.

They are reshaping programs that train people new to the workforce, or who are being retrained for a second career after a layoff or other life event, and they are crafting new programs for incumbent workers to keep their skills updated as companies adapt to new technologies or ways of doing business.

With regards to adult education, bridge programs are being implemented to transition someone from a high school equivalency degree to a post-secondary education to a job. There’s a greater emphasis being placed on vocational rehabilitation to help people overcome barriers to achieving employment, as well as targeted programs to help youth enter the job market, particularly those who drop out of school and lack employable skills.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:25 am

Comments

Yes.

Comment by X-prof Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:28 am
You are so right! Unfortunately, our superstar staffers are focused on pushing forward their bosses anti-union agenda rather than looking for other ideas.

Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:32 am
If it’s not sanctioned by Griffin and the Kochs — then Rauner ain’t gonna do it.

Besides, you can’t raise nearly as much money — and gain as much rhetorical traction — with something that partners with a university and sounds … well, interesting.

Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:32 am
While New York is not a right to work state, the construction trades have been losing ground in a big way. The reason is simple - cost. In NYC, construction costs became so prohibitive with union labor that the market simply could not take it. Where unions once controlled 90% of construction jobs, they’re down to 60% in New York City. The unions are now adjusting course and negotiating reasonable salaries and work rules in order to stay in the game.

Comment by phocion Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:34 am
Also too, “lowering the pay, benefits and job protections of working people” will not create the type of economic ecosystem that high tech companies are looking for.

Comment by Bill White Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:35 am
One thing that will help, is for the Governor to start to realize that when he slapped the GA down with the full veto, he also “vetoed” hundreds, if not thousands, of other budgets and plans for hundreds and thousands of businesses throughout the state from non-profits to municipalities to vendors providing services to the State of Illinois. Is he willing to continue down this road all the way to 2020? Or is he going to grow up and out of the vulture circling and realize there are LIVES behind those numbers.

Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:35 am
“perhaps we can look at doing other things besides lowering the pay, benefits and job protections of working people to get something moving in Illinois.”

If “lowering the pay, benefits and job protections of working people” isn’t a means to an end, but rather an end in itself, the current behavior makes pure and perfect sense.

But, of course, that’s just crazy talk.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:39 am
From the other thread:

== But GE officials pointed to Greater Boston’s concentration of elite universities and nimble tech firms as the main draw. “We want to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations,” chief executive Jeffrey R. Immelt said in a statement. ==

Comment by Bill White Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:40 am
You would think a business savvy Governor would be all over this: private / public partnership, business incentives, small businesses creating good paying (mostly non-union) jobs.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:41 am
“Partner with a New York State college or university”
—————-

Have a friend of mine with a really tiny business here in IL who has tried to partner with a 4 year state university. They are software folks (code cutter types), and they develop web based software applications for business and local government.

They literally provided (and still are) software (’sandbox’ versions) for the students to work with over a course (this is production software, no dumbed down educational version) so the students can actually experience what’s potentially going to happen when they go out into the real world - or even an internship. Btw, they don’t charge a dime for the ’sandbox’ version of the software.

What’s in it for the company? For them, because they are so tiny, it’s a great marketing tool. They don’t have the money to compete with the big boys in advertising, but they have product. So they are taking a flyer. And it’s working. It’s year 3(?) and it’s starting to have an effect in the marketplace (tiny, but something).

Think of it as “Green Sprouts” marketing (that’s what they call it).

They have had some limited success (one such ‘partnership’ has been incredibly successful), but it’s a tough slog. And the academics don’t make it easy, because in at least 2 other instances, the academics have just ignored the offer (again, free ’sandbox’ versions of different application software packages).

Aren’t interested. In those cases, the academics come across as not being willing to change. Because if you move from ‘no software’ to ‘including software’, you are going to have to revisit, and probably re-write your lesson plans. Hard work.

IMO, copy the idea. Certainly can’t hurt.

If you want this plan to be a success, just keep the freakin paperwork and jumping through bureaucratic hoops to an absolute minimum.

Otherwise it will be a waste of time.

Comment by Judgment Day Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:51 am
“We’ll just have to use our heads - dammit!” (Three Amigos)

Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:55 am
Nice timin’ Capt

One day after SuperStars announce the hostage takin’ of higher ed… you start promotin’ a program includes partnerin’ with the U’s.

If we have any universities/students/faculty left we might try the same.

BTW the NY program highlights regions outside Manhattan (that would be like downstate here for the SuperStars)
BTW-2 can someone tell SuperStar Goldie SIUC has aviation costs because it run the last state school aviation program in IL?

Comment by Annonin' Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 10:57 am
We were a tech leader at the beginning of the 1990’s. While U of I didn’t invent the Internet, many things they created through research made it useable to the general public.

High tech is were the job growth is at. These are not union jobs. Manufacturing nationally only created a few thousand jobs. Why compete for a few thousand low paying jobs by going after the unions?

If you want to make Illinois great, go for the high tech, medical, and other high growth, high paying jobs. We have the university system to support that if they get the funding they need.

Governor and the legislators that you control, are you listening or are you stuck in the 1940’s?

Comment by A Jack Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:01 am
How many times did a Bruce Rauner business acquisition get shaken up and succeed? Survive? End up better? How many times did the customers of a Rauner business acquisition get better service or product?

Rauner didn’t “succeed” that way. It appears that his succeed came at the expense of his acquisitions. If you woke up one day and found a Rauner operation as your new boss, you didn’t come out ahead after the business you worked for got “shaken up”.

It is cheaper in the short run to blow something up, clear away the rubble and put a new scheme into place, than it is to work within the parameters and make it better. Our governor knows how to blow things up, not make them better. His “success” knows how to do one thing - destroy, replace, pocket the difference, call it a success, then skedaddle.

This is perhaps why we only see one plan from this persistent rascal. He is persistent. He is a rascal. Finding another way to solve a problem isn’t what he does. Instead he fights. And fights. And fights. And fights. That is persistency to our gubernatorial rascal.

And it is no way to govern. No way to reach any lasting bipartisan agreements. No way to solve a problem. No way to be a governor.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:07 am
—
Instead he fights. And fights. And fights. And fights. That is persistency to our gubernatorial rascal.
—

Rauner needs to understand: there’s no charm or honor in “persistence” when you get nowhere and can’t move forward.

A persistent politician is usually a crank — and not someone who leaves a legacy of statesmanship.

Rauner’s proof of this.

Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:14 am
It might also help if our leaders didn’t consistently bad mouth the state.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:23 am
VanillaMan @11:07 nailed it. Hope someone from Rauners staff reads that comment, prints it, frames it and hangs it in his office.

Comment by Underwood Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:28 am
Start Up NY is a huge tax expenditure, btw. Basically, the companies — often companies that would be profitable even without Start Up NY — pay no income, sales, property, or excise taxes. The employees pay no income taxes, regardless of income for the first few five years. (So, a CEO of the company could earn $1 million tax free.)

It sounds like an innovative program, but like any tax incentive when you look under the hood it’s actually a tax giveaway to companies that would exist and are perfectly capable of contributing by paying taxes.

Tax expenditures are just an inefficient way of growing the economy. They also are a big way of government intervention. You want to really grow the economy in Illinois? Do the hard work of creating an infrastructure that makes Illinois a place that offers things business needs that are not available elsewhere: first class educated workers, a superb telecommunications and transportation infrastructure, a high quality of life to recruit the best talent.

That’s real growth. It’s not as sexy as being able to lure a corporate headquarters, and it doesn’t result in splashy press releases.

Put it another way. If Illinois offers the people and infrastructure that can produce, sell, and distribute a profitable widget that can’t be made elsewhere, we wouldn’t need tax incentives to get the widget producer to locate in Illinois. Shouldn’t that be our economic development policy?

Comment by the Other Anonymous Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:33 am
Illinois does extremely well with startups now. New York is trying to catch up with Illinois in that category. We fall badly behind with established small and medium companies.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:41 am
RNUG@ 11:41- “business savvy governor” As was pointed out in another thread, we were misled as to Rauner’s background. He is not a “businessman,” he is a “venture capitalist.” The two are not the same, and do not have the same goals or thought processes.
A lot of people misunderstood this (probably were deliberately misled), and voted for Rauner as a “businessman.” What we got was a different type of animal.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:42 am
Remember when Rauner’s DCEO director (I think) was talking about attracting CA businesses by selling IL’s stable water supply? That’s what we need, sell what IL already has, don’t try to make it some other state.

Comment by Boss Tweed Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:51 am
Anyone familiar with what Boston has accomplished using Harvard and MIT as a hub and for that matter Palo Alto using Stanford- those economies compared to Illinois/Chicago are off the charts. Why has no one been able to manage similar track records with U Chicago and Northwestern is mind numbing. The leadership in MA and in Northern California does not exist here and it’s a tragic loss for our State

Comment by Sue Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:56 am
@Rich +100

And those using this to bash Rauner may want to consider that the idea is 5 years old. The state has had some time to study and emulate it, but no one has done so. Perhaps we shall now.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 11:58 am
Sue- “Why has no one been able to manage similar track records with U Chicago and Northwestern is mind numbing.”

***
What about UIUC?

“Named in 2013 as one of Inc Magazine’s “Top 3 College Town Incubators” and as one of Forbes’ “12 Business Incubators Changing the World,” EnterpriseWorks is an incubator facility and resource center for science and technology focused entrepreneurs. ”

http://researchpark.illinois.edu/enterpriseworks

Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 12:05 pm
the medical tax dist stuff has been a huge boon for spfld. look at the memorial area. lots of rehab and new jobs. example of a program that can be used to bld jobs.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 12:12 pm
All this is well and good but how does it destroy organized labor and its support of the Democratic party?

Oops. Meant to say, the jury’s still out on this economic strategy.

Comment by Sir Reel Thursday, Jan 14, 16 @ 12:50 pm
- Anonymous - @ 11:42 am:

I realize, since I’m serious most of the time, that it’s sometimes hard to tell when I’ve being sarcastic or facetious if I leave off the /s tag. That time I was with the use of “business savvy”.

Comment by RNUG Friday, Jan 15, 16 @ 12:25 am