hulse

hulse

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

big man on campus

so, the other day ryan was the tour guide for senator brian higgins, senator kristen gillibrand and mayor byron brown.  they came to do a quick tour of honeywell and gave a small press conference on senator gillibrands lobbying for r & d tax credits. 
i asked ryan to ask mayor brown if he remembered me from the race for the cure.  hee hee.  "so, mayor brown, do you remember my wife?  you gave her a hug and a carnation."
anyway, we're all real proud of our ry. 

Higgins, Gillibrand boost R&D grants

By Business First - by James Fink
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January 11, 2011 Updated Jan 11, 2011 at 7:50 AM EST

A permanent and less-complicated federal research and development grant could prove to be a major economic development engine for local companies.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Brian Higgins are lobbying their counterparts to make the R&D tax credit program permanent with less paperwork involved. Both made their plea Monday afternoon, using Honeywell's Buffalo research lab as their backdrop.
Honeywell, recently received a $27.3 million recovery grant that it used on research for creating a lithium-ion battery for hybrid vehicles. The battery research project was made economically viable by the grant and is helping to secure the future of the 55-year-Peabody Street plant that employs 150 people.
The R&D tax credit program, renewed 14 times, should be permanent, Gillibrand and Higgins agree. Doing so would eliminate the uncertainty that clouds the program.
"The problem is a business can't count on it," Gillibrand said. "They need to have it for their five-year (business) plans and 10-year plans."
However, with a rising federal deficit, there is no guarantee the program will continue.
"With all investments, it's about choices," Gillibrand said. "This kind of investment pays for itself."
Having such a program would help the U.S. regain its status as one of the top countries that invests in R&D programs. In recent years, the U.S. has fallen to 17th place among those countries that financially help support research and development initiatives.
Before recession took hold of the national economy, New York was seeing an increase in R&D support. It grew by 16 percent between 2003 and 2007.
Gillibrand said making the R&D tax credit program permanent could open the door for 162,000 new jobs.
"It's important we send a positive signal to manufacturing," Higgins said.
Honeywell, which has seen more than 400 patents created from workers at its Buffalo plant and has more than 400 other patents in its pipeline, is one of several local companies to benefit from the federal R&D tax credit program.
Kinex Pharmaceuticals near the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus has used the program to help finance work it has done on ovarian and prostrate cancer research, said Lyn Dyster, who co-founded the firm.
"I know programs like this work," Dyster said. "It stimulates short term investments that create long term benefits."

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