Governor Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to transform State University of New York (SUNY) campuses and other university communities across the state into tax-free communities for new and expanding businesses is an ingenious, forward-thinking move that will prove to be an enormous success.

According to the Start-Up NY website (www.startup-ny.com), the initiative has 3 key benefits:

1) Business will be able to locate in these zones and operate 100% tax-free for 10 years.
– No income tax.
– No business or corporate state or local taxes.
– No sales tax.
– No property tax.
– No franchise fees.

2) Businesses will have access to resources of world-class higher education institutions, including industry experts and advanced research laboratories.

3) Universities and colleges will become tax-free communities that provide their students and teachers access to real-world, cutting edge business experiences.

“We want to reverse that outward migration and we want to get businesses coming back here, to Long Island, to New York State,” stated Governor Cuomo.

As a businessman and entrepreneur whose family is from New York, it’s good to see the state is taking such a bold approach to attract businesses and improve the local economy.