Published: January 14, 2009 06:12 pm      

NIAGARA COUNTY: IDA’s hiring practices called into question

Local contractors may soon receive stronger consideration in projects supported by the county’s Industrial Development Agency.

Members of the agency’s Board of Directors agreed to meet next month to discuss the possibility of adopting a formal policy on local hiring requirements for developers interested in obtaining tax breaks and other forms of agency assistance.

The push for formal hiring guidelines came following a lengthy debate on the issue during a meeting on Wednesday.

The issue came up during a discussion on the merits of an application for agency assistance from Niagara’s Choice Federal Credit Union which is looking to build a new location next to its current office at 3577 Niagara Falls Blvd.

IDA Board member Robert Connolly, business manager for Laborers’ Local 91, expressed concern about the Credit Union’s choice of general contractor for the project. noting the job went to P.W. Campbell, a Pennsylvania firm.

“They are not local at all,” Connolly said.

Alfred Frosolone, chief executive officer for the credit union, said his company fielded roughly 85 bids for the project, about half of which came from local contractors. He said the company chose Campbell as the general contractor because there was no other firm in Western New York that performed the specific type of work the company required for its financial services buildings. He noted about 40 percent of the overall construction project involved employees from Niagara County companies, specializing in electrical, plumbing, air conditioning and other work. He said a large percentage of the available work also went to firms in Erie County.

IDA Board member and Niagara Falls School District Attorney Angelo Massaro said the project highlighted the agency’s need to adopt a formal policy on local hiring. Board members agreed to take a closer look at a policy adopted by the Lockport Common Council last October. The city’s local law requires a 30-percent hiring target on city jobs in excess of $50,000 and on projects in which developers receive city grants, loans, tax abatements and other incentives.

“This agency should have some criteria that’s legally acceptable in this area,” Massaro said.

Board Chairman Henry Sloma agreed that the concept should be explored, but expressed concerns about placing additional obstacles in front of developers.

“In my mind we are trying to remove barriers,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s consistent with our mission to put barriers in place.”

The board voted 6-1 to grant tentative approval to the credit union’s application for a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement. Connolly cast the lone vote against.

Board member Robert Petrozzi abstained because his company, Fiddler Roofing, was among those submitting bids on the job. Petrozzi said he felt as though the credit union made every attempt to seek local contractors during the bidding process.

With help from the IDA, Niagara’s Choice intends to invest $1.7 million to build a new, 3,000-square-foot location on property it owns next to its current location in the Meadowbrook Plaza. Frosolone said the move will not impact services at the credit union’s other location at 3619 Packard Road in Niagara Falls.

The IDA sent a public hearing on the credit union’s application for 4:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at Vantage International Pointe, 6311 Inducon Corporate Drive, Sanborn.