ProgressCNY 2015
An Eagle Newspapers publication.
February 4, 2015
Stories from the businesses, industries and issues that impact the Central New York economy
What’s next?
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CNY students speak about prospects, student loan debt
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By Hayleigh Gowans
ith the rising cost of college, many students are leaving school with a significant amount of student debt to pay off. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, there are more than 40 million Americans with student debt. The amount of money students owe after graduation has risen dramatically, too. In 1993, the average amount borrowers owed was $9,450 and in 2012, this figure was $29,400. For many students, half the battle of paying off loans is finding a job after college that will allow them to make payments while still being able to support themselves financially. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, of the 40 million people who are in debt to student loans, nearly 7 million borrowers have defaulted on their students loans, which will cause borrowers credit ratings to go down. The purpose of colleges and universities is to prepare their students for the workforce so they can get a job to support themselves — and for many — pay off student debt. Eagle Newspapers went to Syracuse area colleges to ask students, “What do your prospects for after graduation look like?” At right are some of their responses: see What’s next, page 3
Katie McAlear, Freshman Music Education, Syracuse University
I’m definitely going to be in a good amount of debt, which worries me. I’m probably not going to be able to get my own place after college. I’ll probably have to save up and hopefully I’ll get a job. I think the program I’m in is going to help me get a job and put me above other people but it’s still going to be hard money-wise after college.
Emmy Lewis, Freshman
Matthew Sheridin, Junior
Communications, LeMoyne College
After graduation I plan on moving to Boston and becoming an event planner. I was previously in marketing, but I found that wasn’t the direction I should be taking so I went to my adviser and she told me, “You have so many options here.” So I went to the communications department … My dad owns a small restaurant and he’s helping me pay for college so when I get out, I shouldn’t have any debt. I’ll have debt to my dad so I’ll be slowly paying him back.
Criminal Justice, Cazenovia College
I want to go to the NYPD. I think in the criminal justice program, there’s certain classes where you’re not just reading out of a book, you’re getting real life experiences. I can use my experience here out there. I will have debt, the school did help me with scholarship money but I am paying a lot to go here.
Slow going for regional START-UP NY ventures By Ashley M. Casey With a full year under its belt, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s START-UP NY initiative looks like it’s making slow headway in Central New York. A recent story from IndustryWeek said START-UP NY has created 2,100 new jobs in New York and $98 million in investments across the state, but local ventures are still waiting on results. Unveiled in 2013, START-UP NY (SUNY Tax-free Areas to Revitalize
and Transform Upstate New York) allows businesses to establish, relocate or expand in tax-free zones across Upstate New York, sponsored by local colleges and universities, both public and private. The relationship allows a business to grow and students to gain real-world experience and knowledge in their chosen fields. In exchange for their partnership with these schools, START-UP NY businesses receive a 10-year tax credit relieving them of paying business,
corporate, sales, property, state or local taxes and no franchise, license or maintenance fees. Businesses are also off the hook for income tax for the company or employees under certain conditions. START-UP NY’s website lists nine educational institutions in CNY involved in Cuomo’s initiative, six of them with plans for aligning themselves with START-UP NY businesses, including SUNY Oswego, SUNY Upstate
Medical University, Onondaga Community College and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Onondaga Community College did not respond to Eagle’s requests for an interview, but the administrators spearheading the START-UP NY
efforts at Oswego, Upstate and ESF shared what they’ve seen so far. SUNY Oswego “SUNY Oswego was one of the first schools to submit a draft campus plan to the state for approval as part of this initiative,” said Pamela See startup, page 10
ProgressCNY Legal, Banking & Finance
Will Scaffold Law reforms come up again in 2015? By Jason Emerson With the start of a new year and a new state legislation session, advocacy groups have begun to reassert their particular political priorities. One of the issues on the minds of business and trade groups and employee unions is whether the Scaffold Law will be reformed or left alone — continuing the perennial debate on whether the law protects workers and harms businesses, or the other way around. The so-called Scaffold Law — NYS Labor
Law sections 240 and 241 — was written in 1885 and intended, at the dawn of the skyscraper age in New York City, to protect workers and ensure they were not injured in height-related accidents by imposing safety regulations and financial liabilities on business owners and construction contractors. The law requires owners and contractors to construct scaffolding and other safety systems to protect workers on buildings, and imposes an “absolute liability” for elevationSee scaffold law, page 11