Torelli takes economic reins
By KATHY KAHN

Mike Torelli, who helped bring business to Orange County, will now be doing the job for the mid-Hudson region, including Westchester.

Torelli is the new regional director for the Empire State Development Corp. The former Orange County Partnership business-attraction manager began the job this month. Torelli’s territory includes Westchester Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess and Sullivan counties, as well as Orange.

From his new office on Airport Centre Drive in New Windsor, Torelli can watch the construction of Drury Lane, connecting Interstates 84 and 87 and bringing traffic directly into Stewart International Airport by late December.

The question on many minds: What impact does Torelli think the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey takeover of the once-privatized airport will have on his greatly expanded backyard?

During a telephone interview with Torelli and A.J. Carter, senior vice president for the state economic agency’s communications department, Torelli said he sees Stewart as the “economic catalyst for the entire region.”

The state Department of Transportation had already conducted long-range plans for merging the two interstates and is moving the tollbooths so traffic can flow in and out of Stewart with little interruption. A new exit, 5A off of I-84, will connect Stewart directly to the Boston-Washington corridor. “The plans to build up the area around the airport were in the works for several years,” says Torelli, “long before the Port Authority came on the scene.”

The Port Authority, however, has provided the necessary clout and financing to get the ball rolling, not just in finishing Drury Lane on time but bringing the airport up to speed in several areas, including cargo expansion, working to attract new airlines and providing business park developers with a reason to smile. According to Patrick Foye, the development corporation’s downstate co-chairman, Orange County is experiencing a shortage of warehouse space.

Torelli said he will “partner with all the local economic development and industrial development organizations to bring potential business to the proper location ­ whether it is Orange County or Westchester County ­ the goal is to get businesses to grow and to attract new ones to New York.”

Regionally, he said, the mid-Hudson office’s mission is the same as the one Foye outlined: “Attract business by having an innovative economy ­ clean-tech, nano-tech and biotech are the types of manufacturing jobs we are focused on for our area.”

While northern New York struggles, is the Hudson Valley’s economy sinking a bit slower than the rest of the state? “Certainly not,” Carter said. “We have a vibrant economy.”

IBM is a major anchor for the Hudson Valley; it was the catalyst that began the “Tech Valley Initiative” in Albany, a vision being rolled out by dozens of counties up and down the valley. But what can New York do to stem the flow of IBM business to other states and countries?

“IBM is a Fortune 100 company and they do very well,” Carter said. “The whole solar initiative we have started … (is) part of our goal to attract clean industry. IBM is a large employer, and it is attracting other large employers … Hitachi, Toshiba, Freescale and Infineon all have taken up residence at its Fishkill Research Park.”

As Dutchess and Westchester enjoy IBM’s presence, so has Rockland made inroads with drug companies. “It’s created a niche in the pharmaceutical industry, with companies like Wyeth and Novartis,” Carter said. “Westchester has Regeneron in Tarrytown. These are industry clusters everyone looks to attract. We would also like to attract smaller high-tech companies to the area.”

Torelli sees high-tech and drug makers as two industries key to the Hudson Valley, and pledged to work to make conditions desirable for companies to grow or locate within the region.

The new director also realizes New York has felt the business pinch ­ some may prefer to call it a punch ­ as companies continue to cross the border into other states, and even to other countries, where regulations can be less cumbersome and taxes less onerous.

“We are going to work on the barriers to business in this administration,” Carter said. “We are reshaping our tourism industry … We’ve also introduced the ‘zip car’ ­ a membership-only auto club where people who live in New York City can rent a car by the hour and visit the Hudson Valley for the day.”

No one doubts tourism is a big industry for the region; but statistics show typical tourism-related salaries are in the $18,000 to $20,000 per-year range. That’s why luring high-tech industry, with its higher-paying jobs, is in Torelli’s sights.

When all was said and done, Torelli again turned his attention to Stewart Airport. White Plains, Port Jervis and Kingston are all are within an hour of the airport, a fact not overlooked by any of those cities or their respective economic agencies. “It can only mean good things for the entire business community and the Port Authority managing Stewart will bring jobs and business, from manufacturing to high-tech, to the entire region.”

 

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