IDA seeks to lure more film, health care, tech firms to Nassau County

J@vier M@rceli

Media and entertainment, health care, information and communication technology and professional services are economic sectors that offer the greatest potential to create good-paying jobs in Nassau County, according to a new report.

Businesses in each sector already operate in the county but there is an opportunity to attract additional firms from outside New York State and to help those that are already here to grow, states the 155-page report commissioned by the county’s Industrial Development Agency last year.

IDA officials, which award tax breaks to expanding companies, cited examples of the types of businesses within the four sectors:

• Film and television production, advertising, internet publishing and market research in the media/entertainment sector.

• Biotechnology research and manufacturing of medical devices and supplies in the health care sector.

• Software, data processing and hosting, information technology consulting, and navigational instrument manufacturing in the information and communication technology sector.

• Technology-focused firms in financial services, insurance and health care in the professional services sector.

“This is where we see the highest opportunities” to attract businesses to Nassau and to create jobs, said Harry Coghlan, the IDA’s executive director since March 2019.

“We already have many of the assets that these industries are looking for including an educated workforce and good quality of life. These industries are cutting edge and will be appealing to our young people,” he said.

The report, written by the economic development consulting firm Camoin Associates in upstate Saratoga Springs, is part of a $300,000 effort to help Nassau compete for expansion projects from out-of-state companies.

IDA revamps website

Besides the report, the IDA has revamped its website, nassauida.org, with more information for the consultants hired by growing businesses to examine regions across the world for possible expansion locations.

The website, for the first time, has a searchable list of offices, factories and warehouses that are available to rent or purchase. There also are pages on the four sectors that the IDA will focus its efforts on, an interactive map with information about Nassau’s villages, towns and hamlets, and data about the workforce.

“We had been focused primarily on retention” of businesses already in Nassau, said Coghlan, who came to the IDA from Clear Channel Outdoor advertising. “I felt it was important to market the county to businesses from outside of New York State…The website is key because if site selectors cannot find the information that they need on the website, you won’t be on the consideration list that they give to the CEO who is seeking to relocate their business,” he said.

Millennium Communications in Syosset also worked on the IDA website and marketing materials. The project received a $50,000 grant from National Grid.

IDA chairman Richard Kessel said he sees great potential to increase film and television production in Nassau as a third production studio is under development and the county’s beaches, downtowns and historic houses are increasingly used as filming locations.

“This industry is ripe for Nassau County,” Kessel said. “We could become the Hollywood of the East Coast.”

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