Clinton to speak on economic development in Albany visit

PHOTOGRAPHER: David Lombardo

Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to visit Albany on Tuesday to give a speech on economic development at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Statewide Regional Council Conference.

The Empire State Plaza Convention Center will host the all-day event bringing together the 10 Regional Economic Development Councils, which are competing for $200 million in funding and tax incentives.

For a conference revolving around job creation and improving the economy, Union College Assistant Professor Bradley Hays argued that the choice of Clinton made sense. As evidence, Hays cited the fact that the nation’s unemployment rate was about 7.4 percent when Clinton went into office and dropped to about 4 percent when he left.

“He had an amazing record in terms of job creation in his eight years in the White House,” he said. “He created roughly 23 million jobs while in office.”

Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tom Wood suggested that Clinton’s track record of success would be particularly applicable to the state’s new approach to economic development. “A lot of the procedures that the Regional Economic Development Councils are following are procedures that were used at the federal level and done quite successfully,” Wood said. “Many of the things that he implemented were successful and I think he wants to share them with us.”

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