Long Beach seeks to boost its economic growth

The Long Beach City Council is working to create a local economic development corporation that could bolster revenue as the city contends with a fiscal crisis, attract new businesses to the area and help struggling business owners in tough economic times.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, City Manager Jack Schnirman introduced a resolution to retain the services of the law firm Harris Beach PLLC, which would help the city launch a nonprofit entity to provide funding and resources to reduce unemployment, stimulate job growth and attract new commerce to town.

Schnirman said that economic development projects in New York often involve a local economic development corporation, or LDC, and added that such entities exist in the cities of Glen Cove, Yonkers and New Rochelle.

“One of our first initiatives here was to support local businesses, to recruit new businesses and create a new mechanism in the city supporting economic development,” Schnirman said. “It serves as a useful tool for the city to manage and deploy local economic development efforts and projects, and it really becomes a tool to make things happen.”

According to the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, LDCs are authorized under state law as not-for-profit corporations, are often used by municipalities to attract businesses and are considered an important tool in fostering local economic growth.

City Council President Fran Adelson, who ran on a campaign pledge to attract new businesses to the area, explained after the meeting that Long Beach is ideal for the creation of such an organization. “Really, it’s creating another mechanism for bringing in new businesses to Long Beach, which would help increase the tax base,” Adelson said. “Long Beach is a community that has a walkable downtown with a concentrated shopping area, and people love to shop here. We want to stimulate the economy and continue to make Long Beach a business-friendly place.”