Across the Hudson, New York legislators have already raised their state's minimum wage, phasing it up to $7.15 over the coming two years over the veto of Governor George Pataki. Their next challenge is filling a $6-billion budget hole.
      New York is one of the costliest states in which to do business, according to a recent analysis by the Albany-based Business Council of New York State. High taxes, energy costs and health insurance premiums are the worst culprits, the report said. On some bellwether indicators, the state has lost ground since the late 1980s, when the council began tracking business data.
      "New York has closed some gaps slightly, but clearly we remain, by most key tax measures, the nation's worst business climate," says Matthew McGuire, the council's communications director. Yet the 2004 Business Climate rankings conducted by Site Selection — based in part on corporate perceptions and in part on 2003 project statistics — found New York to be No. 2 behind Texas.
      Sound economic development policies do ultimately make their way to the Empire State. One example can be found in the 2003 creation of the State Brownfields Cleanup Program, which lures private investors to brownfield sites via liability reforms, tax incentives and clearer procedures governing re-development.
      "New York went from having no incentives program to having one of the nation's most aggressive," explains Terri Smith, redevelopment coordinator at Environment Liability Management, a Princeton, N.J. engineering concern. "It is one of the few states right now that will allow a responsible party [i.e., those responsible for the property being tainted] access to incentives," she says.
      State leaders are assertive in their efforts to leverage private investment. In January 2005, Governor Pataki announced that a consortium of high-tech firms would begin investing over $1.9 billion in a nanoelectronics development center in East Fishkill (see story, p. 122 of this issue).
      New York remains pre-eminent in financial services. In November 2004 , General Revenue Corp. (GRC), a unit of Sallie Mae, opened a 60,000-sq.-ft. (5,574-sq.-m.) facility in Chemung County, creating 220 jobs. GRC invested over $4.7 million in acquiring, renovating and equipping the building. Its location in one of the state's Empire Zones makes GRC eligible for $1.6 million in grants and tax credits in addition to training and site improvement assistance.
      The move came two months after Pioneer Credit Recovery, another Sallie Mae subsidiary, began constructing a $4-million building at Gateway Industrial Park in Batavia. The 60,000-sq.-ft. (5,574-sq.-m.) space will be home to 200 jobs.
      In downtown Syracuse, AXA Financial — parent of storied names such as Equitable Life and Sanford Bernstein — is adding 300 positions to its 700-person work force. Last summer, the company issued a call for proposals for 225,000 to 300,000 sq. ft. (20,902.5 to 27,870 sq.-m.) of space in which to base its MONY subsidiary.
      As rebuilding takes shape at the site of the World Trade Center, financial titans have begun returning to Lower Manhattan. Destroyed in the 2001 terror attacks, 7 World Trade Center is being reconstructed and may open as early as late 2005. Goldman Sachs Group is building a $2-billion headquarters nearly, while Morgan Stanley is leasing 450,000 sq.-ft. (41,805 sq.-m.) downtown.
      Meanwhile, Bank of America has begun leasing 165,000 sq. ft. (15,329 sq. m.) at 50 Rockefeller Plaza, in addition to the investment it's making, along with the Durst Organization, in the $1-billion, 52-story Bank of America Tower overlooking Bryant Park.