ALBANY –- The Cuomo administration is formally growing today with the expected Senate confirmation of two officials who will run the economic development and agriculture agencies.
Kenneth Adams, the former president of the Business Council of New York State, saw his economic development agency nomination sail through three Senate committees earlier today in advance of an expected full Senate floor vote later this afternoon.
Adams was nominated by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to be the president and chief executive officer of the Empire State Development Corp., which is the state’s lead economic development agency.
Adams’ job makes him part cheerleader for the state with businesses looking to move to or leave New York state, and he will be involved with Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy in a plan approved in the budget to create 10 regional councils that will compete for $130 million in capital funding. The councils, not yet named, will act in an advisory capacity, and Adams said today part of their job will be to identify impediments to job growth within their region. Adams revealed few specifics about the new regional council approach; the Cuomo administration has said it will announce the new regional teams in mid-April.
The former Brooklyn businessman pushed a similar theme in his confirmation hearings as he did while leading the Business Council, the statewide business lobbying group. “Like the governor, I believe New York has no future as the tax capital,’’ Adams told a Senate Finance Committee.
Also expected to be confirmed today is Darrel Aubertine, a North Country farm owner and Democrat who lost his State Senate seat in last fall’s election, to be the state’s new agriculture commissioner. His nomination was approved this morning by two Senate committees.
UPDATE: Adams and Aubertine unanimously approved by Senate this afternoon.
-- Tom Precious
