SEEA Summit Keynote 2025

Slide 5: Impact of Industrial Departure

Title: "From Prosperity to Decline"

• Economic Collapse: Unemployment above national average, income levels plummeted • Population Loss: Syracuse metro lost 100,000+ residents (1970-2010) • Urban Decay: Abandoned factories, declining downtown, residential abandonment • Fiscal Crisis: Shrinking tax base, deferre

Slide 4: New York's Retention Efforts

Title: "Too Little, Too Late"

• Tax Incentive Programs: Empire Zones, Excelsior Jobs, START-UP NY • Infrastructure Investment: Airport upgrades, highway improvements, fiber networks • Workforce Development: University partnerships, retraining programs • Economic Development Councils: Regional coordination strateg

Slide 3: Why Companies Left Central NY

Title: "The Great Migration South"

• Lower Labor Costs: Right-to-Work states offered cheaper workforce • Reduced Regulations: Less business oversight and environmental restrictions • Tax Advantages: Southern states provided better business tax climate • Union Pressure: Weakened labor movement made relocation fea

Slide 2: Major Companies That Called Central NY Home

Title: "Industrial Powerhouses of Central NY"

• General Electric (Syracuse) - Major manufacturing operations • Carrier Corporation (Syracuse) - World's largest air conditioning manufacturer • New Process Gear/Chrysler (Syracuse) - Automotive transmission plant • Allied Chemical (Syracuse/Solvay) -

Central NY Rust Belt: PowerPoint Slide Outline

Slide 1: Why Companies Located in Central NY

Title: "Strategic Location, Perfect Resources"

• Transportation Networks: Erie Canal + railroad connections to markets and raw materials • Natural Resources: Abundant freshwater, salt deposits, water power • Raw Material Access: Pennsylvania coal, Great Lakes i

Post-collapse NYS was left in a spiral of the wrong kind, continuin g to increase tax and financial incentives to try and retain or lure buisiness

New York State's incentive package to attract Micron Technology's $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility in Clay, near Syracuse, totals approximately $5.5 billion in performance-based Green CHI

Atlanta movie industry and example

-lured industry with infrastructure, space and tax credits (same playbook as industry and business)

“Disney’s Marvel Abandons Georgia, Taking Livelihoods With It

Tax incentives lured studios to help build the ‘Hollywood of the South.’ Now they’re going overseas for cheaper labor costs.”

https://www.wsj.com/business/me

Southeast allegory using the Rust Belt

-things have been good for decades - increasing economic boom, companies moving to region, wealth accumulating though not all participating

-Same happened in Rust belt leading up to 70’s and 80’s

-Companies didn’t move to Asia or Mexico - they went to SC, NC, GA