Calls for Incentivizing Job Creation, Business Investments

Repairing Economy Must Be Government’s #1 Priority in 2010

TARRYTOWN – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) today said creating jobs and growing the economy must be the top priority for the federal government in 2010 and proposed policies to help businesses prosper and families thrive.

“The top priority for the federal government must be creating the conditions for small and large businesses to grow and create good-paying jobs,” said Lowey. “Incentivizing job creation and encouraging investment will give businesses the assistance they need to put millions of Americans back to work.”

While visiting Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a Westchester company that has increased its workforce 55 percent in the last two years to approximately 1050 and plans another 40 percent increase by the end of this year, Lowey called on Congress to pass immediately three specific proposals that would help create the conditions for growth:

·      Tax credits for companies that create jobs or increase the wages of their workers;

·      Tax incentives for companies that invest in new facilities and equipment; and

·      Increase maximum federal loan guarantees to help small businesses expand and purchase property and equipment.

Lowey also called on the Senate to pass immediately the Jobs for Main Street Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December. This legislation would invest $75 billion in savings from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) in priorities like job training, infrastructure investments, and helping local governments preserve jobs like teachers and police officers.

“The unparalleled success of the biotechnology industry in the United States may well be the best example of the power of the uniquely American combination of innovation, ingenuity, and entrepreneurship and Regeneron is proud to be among the leading companies in this industry,” said Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D., Founder, President and CEO of Regeneron.   “We encourage Congress to create optimal conditions to support the growth of high technology companies so we can continue to create the kind of jobs that should be the backbone of our economy in the future.”

Regeneron, which opened its first research labs in Westchester County in 1989 with just four employees, now is one of the region’s fastest growing companies. The company’s workforce has steadily increased in recent years from 682 at year-end 2007 to 919 at the end of 2008 to over 1030 by the end of 2009.