The Partnership for New York City Holds Day of Meetings at the White House and Capitol Hill with Over 50 CEOs
WASHINGTON D.C., April 4, 2017—Today, over 50 CEOs, led by the Partnership for New York City, which represents the city’s business leaders and largest private sector employers, held a series of meetings with the President Trump, Cabinet Members and Senior White House Officials. Later today they will also meet with members of Congress.
The Partnership for New York City and their members addressed the policy areas most important New York’s continued growth and vibrancy. Participating members from the Partnership, which collectively employ 7.1 million people nationwide, provided their recommendations for modernizing the country’s infrastructure, preparing the workforce for 21st century jobs, attracting global talent, safeguarding national security and accelerating economic growth.
From the White House, the Partnership met with President Donald J. Trump, Director of the White House National Economic Council Gary Cohn, Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategy Dina Powell, Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Chris Liddell, Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives and Ivanka Trump, Assistant to the President. This afternoon they will meet with members of the New York House Delegation and have a series of breakout meetings with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA).
The White House’s new office of American Innovation convened New York’s business leadership to explore how they might work together to advance modern infrastructure, competitive tax and regulatory policies, and educational systems that prepare Americans for the jobs of the future.
Following their meetings with the White House, Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, said “New York City is the largest single city contributor to our national economy and the federal treasury. We are here to advise our leaders in Washington D.C. on the issues that are critical to the vitality of America’s cities including modern transit, an education system that prepares students for success in the innovation economy, public safety, and a competitive tax and regulatory environment.”
The Partnership for New York City represents the country’s largest urban economy at $740 billion. Collectively, their members contribute $904 billion in annual GDP to the American economy—or 5.4% of the nation’s total, making these employers critical partners in achieving the President’s goal of at least three percent annual GDP growth. Participating executives from the Partnership highlighted the centrality of cities in achieving legislative goals that are broadly shared by the Administration and Congress.
Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup, said “The public and private sectors need to work together to advance the competitiveness of the United States and accelerate economic growth. The Partnership for New York City appreciates the opportunity we had to speak to President Trump and members of his administration as well as leaders in Congress about areas where we believe we can work together to support growth, including infrastructure improvements, tax reform to increase competitiveness, an education system that adequately prepares students for jobs in the innovation economy, and a robust cyber and homeland security agenda.”
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blackstone, and Co-chair of the Partnership for New York City, said: “New York City and our nation’s urban centers are vital hubs for commerce, innovation, and job creation, which help drive growth throughout the United States. I’m pleased that we had the opportunity to speak today with leaders in Washington – many of whom, including our President, are native New Yorkers – about issues important to the future of our city. We look forward to continuing a dialogue with them about the concrete policy steps we can take to make sure New York City remains a vital engine for our nation’s economy and improve the broader business climate. ”
Tax Reform & Regulatory Relief
Considering the immediacy of tax reform on President Trump’s agenda, members of the Partnership emphasized the need for a more competitive tax and regulatory environment. With some of the highest personal income tax rates in the country, many highly urban states are disadvantaged in attracting global wealth. Partnership Members discussed the necessity of tax reform in order to help New York and other high tax states across the country effectively compete with major international cities for talent and business investment.
Infrastructure
In response to President Trump’s $1 trillion program to rebuild America’s infrastructure, the Partnership spoke with Administration officials and congressional leaders about New York City’s growth, which has outpaced the national average and requires a significant investment in new and upgraded infrastructure. The city has an additional $45 billion in projected infrastructure repair and upgrade needs over the next five years alone. The Partnership echoed the President’s recent recognition of America’s decaying infrastructure, and advocated for inclusion of municipal infrastructure, including investments in public housing, public schools, the City University campuses, transportation, hospitals and hardening its coastlines, in any infrastructure proposal to be advanced by the White House and Congress.
Education & Workforce Development
With approximately 360,000 job openings in New York State, mostly due to a lack of qualified candidates, the Partnership proposed cooperation between the private sector and government to address New York’s acute need to align public and higher education systems with the demands of employers. The Partnerships echoed the President’s call to expand apprenticeship programs and endorsed the creation of a national high school and college internship program, increased flexibility to deploy workforce development funds and amending the Higher Education Opportunity Act and the Perkins Career & Technical Education Act to better accommodate the interests of students, educators, and employers.
Cyber & Homeland Security
New York City continues to be the nation’s number one target for international terror attacks. With increasingly sophisticated technology, New York City and its businesses are also vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The Partnership’s homeland and cyber security agenda supports full federal funding for the counter-terrorism unit at the NYPD and increased collaboration between business and government to reduce cyber security risks. To foster defense collaboration between government and the private sector, the Partnership is working with New York University and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on developing a National Security Technology Accelerator in Brooklyn, a model that not only has the potential to minimize the risks of cyber-attacks and breaches, but also promises to unlock innovative business opportunities and security solutions from DoD’s trove of underutilized research.
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About the Partnership for New York City:
The Partnership for New York City represents the city’s business leaders and largest private sector employers. We work with government, labor and the nonprofit sector to promote economic growth and maintain the city’s prominence as a global center of commerce and innovation. Through the Partnership Fund for New York City, the Partnership contributes directly to projects that create jobs, improve economically distressed communities and stimulate new business creation.
Media Contacts:
Ashley Greenspan
Vice President of Communications, Partnership for New York City
212-493-7511 | 646-856-0546 | [email protected]
Katy Feinberg
Associate Vice President, Rubenstein
212-843-8047│ [email protected]