New report sounding the alarm over New York's current business climate

A new report from the Public Policy Institute of New York shows that regulations, taxation and affordability are some of the main concerns facing business owners across the state. 

Ryan Silva is executive director of the New York State Economic Development Council and one of the co-authors of that report “Blueprint for New York – Creating a Roadmap for Change.”

“We wanted to look at data through a qualitative and quantitative lense but also identify solutions moving forward that can help address some of the concerns,” said Silva. 

Those concerns include:

• An aging and decreasing workforce population
• Job growth that’s below the national average
• High numbers of regulations 

“Being able to navigate the process of trying to get something done, getting a permit approved, reimbursement on funding was across the board creating hurdles,” said Silva. 

More than 500 businesses from all industries across the state participated in focus groups for the report. What Silva and others found is that these concerns are affecting everyone. 

Solutions outlined in the report include:

• Creating better support for businesses, including creating an office of regulatory reform to review economic impact studies on any new regulation introduced by state agencies
• Updating regulations and permitting around land use and development
• Using Empire AI to comb through current laws and regulations

Gov. Kathy Hochul told stakeholders this week she wants to support the business sector and is ready to discuss options.

“I put out the offer here today. Help us identify areas, and I’ll never compromise the health and safety of New Yorkers. So if you’ve got something that removes the restriction that does that, don’t waste my time,” said Hochul. “But if you have something, it’s time has passed, it’s obsolete, it’s duplicative, it’s redundant — bring it to us so we can actually have a thoughtful conversation about this.”

Silva says if nothing changes, business growth will continue to drop in the state.

The governor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment to specifically address the report.