New York City is at a pivotal moment heading into a contentious election cycle. Our local economy needs to be rebuilt coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Policies aimed at protecting and growing industrial jobs can improve not only NYC’s economy, but the lives of nearby residents and workers, who are disproportionately low-income and people of color. These are not just vital jobs, but the higher pay and growth opportunities make them family-supporting careers. In fact, the average wage for an employee in the manufacturing sector is around $69,000 as opposed to around $38,000 in retail and $31,000 in food services. As such, the Industrial Jobs Coalition has put together a platform to amplify the voice of industrial business stakeholders in this year’s mayoral, council, and borough president elections.
The industrial sector is essential to the functioning of New York City’s services and infrastructure. Industrial Business Zones contain vital infrastructure, such as road, bridge, pipe, and water main repair and maintenance; car, subway and bus storage, repair, and servicing; electricity distribution; waste treatment facilities; and cold storage. All are managed by companies that need to be in industrial zones and need to be located within the city, to be rapidly responsive to New Yorkers’ needs.
Some of the items raised in the platform include:
- Creating a Central Office to Prioritize Industrial Businesses
- Using Zoning to Protect Businesses and Support Their Expansion
- Updating Business Incentives
- Improving Industrial-Use Transportation Infrastructure
- Prioritizing Funding for Industrial Business Support
If interested, please add your business’s name to support the Industrial Jobs Coalition Platform here. Once there’s a critical mass of signatories, they will be submitting this platform to city candidates and to the press, to ensure that our sector is represented and supported by the next slate of elected officials.
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