As New York State Comptroller, Carl McCall released a study showing the inefficiency of Western New York�s multitude of competing and overlapping IDA�s. Since that report, lots of water has passed under the bridge. The democratically elected governments of Buffalo and Erie County may have collapsed into unaccountable �fiscal stability� authorities controlled by the right wing, but that has had little effect on the IDA�s. If anything, the IDA�s have gotten worse.

Sensing the political desperation for ribbon cutting ceremonies they now routinely award money to retail establishments, even though this practice makes no sense from an economic standpoint. So while the area�s numerous economic planners may be optimistic about Oneida�s new warehouse being filled by something, a gigantic void is almost certain to remain at the core of the region�s ability to engage in the planning of sustainable economic development.

Way back when, manufacturers from all over upstate New York were eager to have a presence in Buffalo. That was then, this is now.

Likewise, the time to reexamine the role of Western New York�s industrial development agencies has passed. The recent departure of Oneida Ltd. from the Buffalo area confirms what people familiar with the realities of globalization have known since the advent of NAFTA. The company completed a 200,000 square foot warehouse in Buffalo in 1999 but incentives couldn�t keep them here.

See ya! The shuffle off from Buffalo continues at the rate of a stampede. While a Buffalo News article stated that, �economic development officials predict it won't take long to fill the building and replace at least some of its jobs,� it�s pretty doubtful that those will be union jobs. The reason that government got into the �business� of giving tax breaks and cash incentives to industrial companies is that those types of businesses tended to employ lots of people at better than average wages. Workers at well -established manufacturing concerns also tended to have union representation. Oneida represents just another slice of our economy, in this case tableware, that is being �served up� elsewhere. Bon appetit!

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