Gov. Andrew Cuomo has done it again. In his first State of the State address, he called SUNY the economic engine of New York and he has spent the years since proving it.
In 2011, he made SUNY the linchpin of tech-industry agreements that are bringing billions in investments and upwards of 6,000 jobs to the state. He followed that in 2012 with the first of what would be three rounds of NYSUNY 2020, again placing our campuses at the center of the state's economic activity; and when he formed economic development councils in every region, no organization was more prominently represented than SUNY. The governor began this year by incentivizing workforce development partnerships between local employers and our community colleges.
And now, he aims to make all of SUNY's upstate campuses tax-free zones for new businesses, pairing the industry's most promising venture capital with the massive human capital of SUNY's half a million students and more than 88,000 faculty and researchers.
"Tax-free NY" will do more to position SUNY as the state's economic engine than we have ever seen, or dared imagine.
Nowhere in the country will new businesses stand to benefit more by partnering with higher education. Nowhere will public college graduates have greater opportunities to earn a degree directly influenced by the needs of today's job market.
Tax-free NY represents New York and SUNY at their very best, and colleges and universities in every region are eager to see it adopted.
Nancy Zimpher is chancellor of the State University of New York.