| Company | Information Builders, Inc. |
| Date Announced | 3/11/1997 |
| Site | 2 Penn Plaza |
| Total Subsidy | $4.9 million |
|
$1 million |
| Promised Job Creation | 303 |
| Promised Job Retention | 812 |
| Length of Contract | 16 years |
| Competing Sites | Jersey City |
| Conditions | none |
| Notes | Information Builders sells software to large businesses and institutions and accepted $4.9 million in sales tax breaks and discounted energy to stay in New York, leasing three and a half floors at Two Penn Plaza. Founder Gerald Cohen, a native New Yorker, turned down a bigger package from New Jersey worth $27 million, citing his roots in the city and a personal preference for the city as well as commuting problems his employees would face if the firm moved to New Jersey. New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman called Cohen herself to try to woo him to New Jersey. |
| Corporate Notes | |
| Critics | |
| A
note on sources -- or why many of these profiles appear incomplete.
They are. Good Jobs New York compiled the numbers in these profiles from
press releases and news accounts of the deals. Unfortunately, more
detailed information on these subsidies is very difficult to obtain --
even though it should be readily available to the public. In many cases,
neither the company nor the city nor state released certain information,
particularly the terms of the agreement, i.e., the conditions which the
company had to meet in order to receive the subsidy. It should also be
noted that the value of the subsidy may not end up being equal to the
value estimated at the time of the agreement. And it should not be assumed
that the actual number of jobs retained and created will be the same as
the numbers predicted.
Because the public deserves easy access to information about how taxpayer dollars are being spent, Good Jobs New York will update these profiles as we uncover more information. Good Jobs New York - May 25, 2001 |
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