The following is a letter that was written to Kassata Edwards (of WRGB Channel 6 News), who covered The Business Council’s Legislators’ Reception, along with the protest outside Hotel Albany (formerly known as the Crowne Plaza Albany). The author is Pete Bardunias, President/CEO of the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County:

“Hello Ms. Edwards,

Thank you for the fair and balanced report on the protest at the Business Council event last night. Channel 6 did a good job of laying out the facts as you saw them for people to understand. I’d like to add a few things which may be helpful, although I in no way claim to speak for the Business Council of New York State or any other entity present last night.

I was an attendee at the event, the guy with the little round band aid on my face chatting as the camera pans the room in your video. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I walked in about an hour earlier with one of the protesters, who I approached because she was wearing a Business Council credential. The lady with the dark hair and small rimmed dark glasses. If you look at your video she is unpinning the badge from her sweater while she is chanting and then puts it in her pocket. Perhaps she is the one who let the people in through a back door, but she most assuredly came in the front, along with me.

What disappoints me the most is, as we made small talk in the elevator, she claimed to own a small business. If so, then it’s a shame she didn’t utilize the resources of the Chambers of Commerce who were present there, and I honestly wish I could sit down with her and clear up any misunderstandings as to what these organizations are all about. The Chamber of Southern Saratoga County, for example, has 950 members, 65% of which have less than 10 employees. We would gladly address her concerns just as we would any small business who becomes a member. The big issues mentioned in the parking lot by the protesters – fracking, health care, taxation, family issues, etc. are all very much on the minds of chamber executives and our members too. It’s a shame they were out there in the rain instead of inside engaging in civil discourse which is what the many attendees of that reception were doing. I did not attend the President’s event later in the evening, but rather went home to my family in Clifton Park.

BCNYS President/CEO Heather Briccetti is a fine executive who has worked hard and deserves the position to which she has been appointed. Again I won’t speak for the Business Council, but I am proud that my Chamber of Commerce supports businesses large and small, from Mom and Pop entrepreneurs (such as what this woman claimed to be) all the way to some of the largest companies on the planet. Southern Saratoga County is a place where all these various interests and factions come together, and work hard to make a difference in leading New York out of its economic doldrums. I am very proud to be part of this community at such an important time in our history.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts in this email. Should I be able to offer any other assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me, my information is below.”

Governor Cuomo has launched the NY Youth Works Program, which was signed into law on Dec. 9, 2011. The program offers tax credits of up to $4,000 for certified businesses hiring eligible youth between Jan.1, 2012 and July 1, 2012. Through supporting job training and employment for persons ages 16 to 24, the program will encourage businesses to hire unemployed, disadvantaged youth in certain areas of the state.

Please click here to learn how you can participate in the program.

Last night, The Business Council held its 2012 Legislators’ Reception at Hotel Albany (formerly known as the Crowne Plaza Albany). Heather Briccetti, President and CEO of The Business Council, spoke to the 700+ attendees (who included Business Council members, legislative leaders and guests from around the state) on the organization’s agenda for 2012. Priorities for the Business Council include:

• Supporting the Governor’s call for no new taxes, fees and assessments in the state budget;
• Imposing limits on new spending growth, and adopting additional fiscal reforms including a new pension tier;
• Instituting mandate relief for localities to allow them to manage their own spending levels under the real property tax cap;
• Finalizing regulations to allow the safe and timely development of the Marcellus Shale;
• Reforming the state’s SEQRA, permitting and other programs to provide predictable, workable time frames for the approval of new investment projects;
• Passing a constitutional amendment to allow casino gaming;
• Adopting broad reforms in the state’s business taxes to reduce compliance costs and make the state’s tax code more supportive of in-state investment and job creation;
• Promoting public/private partnerships and procurement innovations such as design build to promote, and get the most out of, new investment in public infrastructure;
• Reforming the state’s rigorous, expensive regulatory climate to eliminate unnecessary and inefficient compliance mandates;
• Opposing new group health coverage mandates, which drive up employer and employee costs and make group help plans increasingly unaffordable; and
• Reducing lawsuit costs, including adoption of long-needed reforms to the state’s so-called scaffolding law, and rejecting expansion of the state’s “Martin Act.”

We made great strides in 2011 by working together to improve the business climate in New York, and promoting private sector investment and job creation.

I look forward to partnering with Governor Cuomo, the Senate and Assembly and, most importantly, our members, for an even more successful – and job filled – 2012.

Kathryn Caggianelli of the Troy Record did an in-depth piece on new Business Council President and CEO Heather Briccetti:

“The characteristics that make a defense attorney successful are not unlike those that propel a lobbyist to victory while fighting for their cause, according to Heather Briccetti.

And she should know. A mother of three sons who resides in Brunswick, she has enjoyed a career championing the underdog.

Briccetti, an attorney, was recently named president and chief executive officer of The Business Council of New York State. She was acting-president for nine months prior to being selected to head up the organization, formerly led by Kenneth Adams. She joined the Business Council in 2007 as vice president of government affairs.

“I like doing defense work. I’m certainly not suggesting that there is anything criminal to defend with regard to businesses that are members of the Business Council,” she laughed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that it takes the same personality to be a successful lobbyist.”

Briccetti, 46, was born in Tunisia to Peace Corps parents, who after completing their assignment in Africa, moved back to the U.S. and pursued careers as public school teachers in Syracuse. At the time, she was 2 years old.

She credits their humanitarianism and leanings toward liberal politics as at least part of the reason she is passionate about lobbying for the underdog, and ultimately the greater good.

After graduating from the State University of New York at Binghamton at the age of 19, Briccetti returned to Tunisia for a summer and discovered that the country, at the time, boasted an extraordinary educational system and opportunities for women that rivaled those available to men.”

To read more click here.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition has compiled a video that includes testimony from a variety of industry experts, Pennsylvania residents and news reports all pointing to the positive economic impact of natural gas drilling.

To watch the video please click here.

To read the PPI report Drilling for Jobs: What the Marcellus Shale could mean for New York click here.

The surge in domestic natural gas production can lower energy costs, reduce pollution and drive investment in the industries that supply equipment the natural gas sector and those that use natural gas as an input to production, like the chemical industry. … The discovery of new natural gas reserves, such as the Marcellus Shale, has led to rapidly growing domestic production and relatively low domestic prices for households and downstream industrial users. Appropriate care must to be taken to ensure that America’s natural resources are extracted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner with the safeguards in place to protect public health and safety. Provided these precautions are taken, the potential benefits to theU.S. economy are substantial. (WhiteHouse.gov, 1/12)

“Obama Discovers Natural Gas”

Last week the White House issued its latest report on jobs and it includes a section on “America’s Natural Resource Boom.” The report avers that a few years ago there were widespread “fears of a looming natural gas shortage,” but that“the discovery of new natural gas reserves, such as the Marcellus Shale, and the development of hydraulic fracturing techniques to extract natural gas from these reserves has led to rapidly growing domestic production and relatively low domestic prices for households and downstream industrial users.” … To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the White House has favorably mentioned the Marcellus Shale, the natural gas reservoir below Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other Northeastern states. … It’s certainly smart politics for Mr. Obama to distance himself from the anti-fossil fuels obsessives, and no doubt his political advisers are hoping it helps this fall in the likes of Ohio and Pennsylvania. (Wall Street Journal, Editorial, 1/17/12)

In a letter to the editor of the Ithaca Journal, Rayola Dougher, senior economic advisor for the American Petroleum Institute, touted the job-creating potential of exploring the Marcellus Shale in New York:

“By quibbling over job terminology, Art Pierce ignores the important economic aspects of natural gas activity in the Marcellus Shale (”Job figures for Pa. gas drilling are overinflated,” Jan. 5).

Every new natural gas job created in Pennsylvania (which pays, on average, $76,036, compared to $46,222 for all industries) leads to the creation of three to four additional jobs. They include jobs in industries providing goods and services to the gas industry and jobs resulting from spending of household income earned from the natural gas industry’s spending.

The person getting the new natural gas industry job is not the only one benefiting. This new job opening provides opportunities for new hires in other sectors. To use Pierce’s example: The gravel worker who took a maintenance job vacated by someone who went to work in a gas-drilling operation likely did so because he would earn more. Likewise, the maintenance worker also is probably earning more.”

To read more click here.

Ryan Whalen reports on YNN in Jamestown - “With the public comment period closing Wednesday, opponents of hydrofracking in Western New York gathered outside the DEC office in Buffalo. They are urging state leaders to listen to what they say is the will of the people.

Rita Yelda, of consumer group Food and Water Watch asked, “Who is going to win? Is it going to be a large industry that maybe has billions to spend on campaign contributions and advertisements, or is it going to be the true voice of the people?”

…Many business leaders say they support fracking.

“Hydraulic fracturing represents high paying job in a part of the state where it has suffered severely during this economic recession,” said Heather Briccetti, president of the Business Council of NY.

Bans on fracking in the Syracuse and New York City watersheds are recommended by the DEC , but not in Western New York. Opponents say that could mean the area gets hit the hardest, noting past mishaps like Love Canal and toxic hotspots in the Great Lakes.”

To read more click here.

The New York Times (1/12, B2, Landler, Subscription Publication) reports, “President Obama said on Wednesday that he would propose tax incentives for companies to bring home manufacturing jobs they had moved overseas, and curtail tax breaks for those that keep relocating jobs abroad. Flanked by executives from the aerospace, chemical and furniture industries - all of whom are building or expanding factories in the United States - Mr. Obama declared that the nation was beginning to see the reversal of a long-term trend toward outsourcing.”

The Los Angeles Times (1/12, Puzzanghera) reports, “The White House said in the coming weeks Obama would propose new tax provisions to reward companies that bring back jobs to the US or make new investments here, and would move to eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.”

The AP (1/12, Kuhnhenn, Rugaber) reports, “Obama highlighted big and small firms ranging from Ford to a North Carolina specialty furniture company as examples of enterprises that have invested in the US rather than abroad.”

The Washington Post (1/12, Goldfarb) reports, “Obama did not give any more details about the proposals he will make. But some close to the White House expect him to repackage old ideas, such as making it harder for US companies to postpone paying taxes on foreign profits, along with new ideas. One idea that the administration has explored is a recurring tax credit for profits derived from selling products developed in the United States, but it is unclear whether this will be part of the package the president will announce.”

Mireya Navarro of The New York Times posted a number of comments provided by both pro and anti Marcellus shale development.

As if the recent series of hearings and the invitation for written comments from the public were not enough, contingents from both sides of the fracking issue in New York State organized rallies and press conferences this week in anticipation of the close of the comment period on the state’s proposed gas drilling regulations on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, gas industry representatives and supporters of the extraction process known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing hand-delivered thousands of letters to state officials in Albany arguing for the economic benefits of horizontal hydraulic fracturing. The drilling method involves injecting chemically treated water into shale formations underground under high pressure to release natural gas.

“Capitalizing on the tremendous opportunity offered by Marcellus Shale development will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, produce private-sector jobs and attract investment”, said Heather Briccetti, the president of the Business Council of New York State, which is part of a pro-fracking coalition that calls itself Clean Growth Now.

To read more click here.