“International Business Machines (IBM) has a long history in New York – its headquarters is located on the New York-Connecticut border in Armonk; it used to be one of the largest employers in the state; and it was part of a 2011 deal to bring $4.4 billion in investments to upstate New York through the creation of a high-tech computer chip manufacturing plant. The success of the company and the overall state economy have travelled similar paths, both flourishing at times, but when IBM laid off scores of employees, the state suffered.
Given its massive business interests it isn’t surprising that the company contracts with a host of New York-based lobbying firms. But IBM’s choice of a new firm in 2013 is raising eyebrows.
That year, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo ramped up his Buffalo Billion economic development program, IBM retained Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. A few months later, IBM was part of a September 2013 Buffalo Billion deal that saw the state pledge $55 million to create information technology infrastructure in the beleaguered western New York city Cuomo had targeted for roughly a billion dollars of investment. In turn, IBM pledged to bring 500 information technology jobs to the area.
Whiteman Osterman & Hanna is one of Albany’s largest firms, with 75 attorneys, a wide variety of service offerings, and a location across the street from the state capitol. The firm has been influential in securing development deals with SUNY Polytechnic and its nonprofits that oversee the distribution of Buffalo Billion funds.”
read the entire article
King, David Howard. The Gotham Gazette 25 May 2016.