When he gets up in the morning, Lyneir Richardson gears up for war. “Every day we wake up thinking how do we win the battle, and ultimately win the war,” said the interim president at the Newark Community Economic Development Corp.
Most metro areas across the country have economic development groups focused on bringing in new business, and they're all in some way competing with each other.
A number of agents who work for them chuckle at the idea that they're locked in a cutthroat tug-of-war match, pulling for capital, jobs and attention from a finite pool of new and expanding companies.
In a series of interviews last week, most promoted their own communities in a spirit of camaraderie. They all said “a rising sea lifts all boats,” or some variation of the phrase.
But like a lineman playfully slapping the backside of the running back who just slipped past him, at the end of the day, regional cheerleaders get paid to tackle each other.
Newark recently lost a commercial coffee roaster, SoCafe, to Dunmore when the company, eyeing expansion, decided Lackawanna County was a better place to grow.
READ MORE: Coffee Manufacturer Socafe Relocating from New Jersey to Northeastern PA, Creating 130 New Jobs
SoCafe Vice President Joseph Fernandes III tapped the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and a state economic development office to find its spot on East Grove Street behind Riccardo's Market in Dunmore.
“There's two wars going on,” said Richardson, who's also executive director at Rutgers University's Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development and an instructor at the school. “The companies are fighting a war for talent, and economic development corporations are waging a war to get companies to create jobs for their communities.”
More companies from New York and New Jersey are moving in on Northeastern Pennsylvania for a smorgasbord of reasons, not the least of which include cheaper real estate, lower taxes and cheaper utilities, which could mean millions of dollars in savings for some corporations!
With millions of square feet of warehouse space available, and a spider's web of interstates feeding straight to major East Coast cities, John Augustine said he's not even calling logistics companies. They call him.
“We don't target warehouses. They target us based on our location,” said Augustine, the president of Penn's Northeast, a regional consortium created to attract employers to the region. “I say over and over, I have 7 million of square feet on my desk, and I do.”
Penn's Northeast spent the year luring new business development out of New York and New Jersey, he said, but when it comes to laying out incentives, he leans more on the region's assets, not government grease.
Penn's Northeast recently had case studies complete, focusing on the plastics and food manufacturing sectors by national business consultant The Boyd Group of New Jersey. Boyd determined that total Northeastern Pennsylvania labor costs are 82% to 85% of those in New Jersey and New York.
READ MORE: Northeastern Pennsylvania has the Lowest Operating Costs
for Food and Plastics Manufacturing
The regions low cost of doing business translates into massive savings for businesses looking to open, relocate or expand in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
