By CRAIG FREILICH

North Country state legislators say the paltry results of the Start Up NY program demand a harder look and substantial revision, adding their voices to those putting Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the defensive.

"The program really needs to be rethought and administered differently if we expect all SUNY campuses and regions of the state to benefit," Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell said of one of Cuomo’s pet development initiatives.

Start Up NY allows new and expanding businesses to operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible university or college campuses they partner with for direct access to advanced research laboratories, development resources and experts in key industries.

But an Empire State Development (ESD) report recently revealed the program has created just 408 jobs over its first two years despite spending an estimated $50 million for television ads and promising more than 4,000 jobs.

"The large SUNY schools that already have strong business relationships seem to be the only colleges and universities in the state system benefitting from the Start Up NY program," said Russell, D-Theresa, who represents northern St. Lawrence County as well as Potsdam and Canton. She is a member of the Assembly's Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry.

There are no businesses taking part now in the Start Up NY programs at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton.

Russell pointed out that Clarkson University has experienced success with its established business incubator program. "I think the SUNY system could take a page out of their book," she said.

Russell concurred with the assessment of ESD President Howard Zemsky that the North Country had fared well through the regional economic development council funding, although she suggested it was simply "catchup" for one of the most economically challenged areas of the state.

But she said the paltry results of the Start Up NY program demanded further scrutiny.

Even before the ESD report in July, two Republican North Country Assembly members were questioning the value of the program.

Ken Blankenbush, of Black River, who represents southwestern St. Lawrence County in the Assembly, said in May that a comptroller’s audit of the program raised doubts in his mind about the small return on “millions of taxpayer dollars ... being wasted with little positive impact on job growth or increased development.”

Marc Butler of Newport, whose Assembly district includes a swath of the county from Madrid and Norfolk in the north to Clifton and Fine in the south, said that considering the millions being spent to promote the program, “there should be better measurements of success” at Empire State Development, the state agency overseeing the program.

Butler said the money spent on publicizing the program “has only served to boost the governor’s image.”

In a meeting with reporters during his visit to Potsdam Aug. 3, Gov. Cuomo blamed the “silliness” of “politicians” for drumming up undue criticism.

“Well, first of all, it's the political silly season. I don't know if you've noticed -- you turn on the TV, there's a lot of political silliness going on, you have politicians who will say anything as part of the political debate,” Cuomo said.

He defended his record on job creation and economic progress with statistics showing that there were more jobs in the state than ever before and that unemployment in the state is half of what it was a few years ago.

“More jobs than ever before in history, unemployment dropped in half, and do you think it’s a coincidence, after a 40-year decline, that now you see jobs coming back to upstate New York? I don’t think so.,” he said.

He seems to be in a feud with fellow Democrats in the Assembly that he is blaming for ignoring the upstate economy for years.

“I have focused almost the majority of my time on upstate New York on economic development programs. Why? Because upstate New York was abandoned by that New York State Legislature, which was more concerned with downstate than upstate,” the governor said.