The From the Lobby podcast features a behind-the-scenes look at politics and government from New York State to Washington, DC with Jack O’Donnell, an Albany insider and Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a top lobbying firm that helps clients all over the country cut through government red tape.
Don’t be stuck on the sidelines. Get a front-row seat to what’s happening in politics with Jack! From the issues that affect taxpayers and business owners to the history of the budget process in New York, Jack has the knowledge and depth of experience to cut through the rhetoric and tell you what’s really going on.
Summary of this Episode
Guests
- Chelsea Lemon: Director of Government Affairs for the Business Council of New York State
- Alec Lewis: Vice President and Director of Campaigns at O’Donnell and Associates
- Joanne Pasceri: Director of Communications at O’Donnell and Associates
Major Topics Covered
• Chelsea Lemon, director of government affairs for the Business Council of New York State, discussed her career path and current role.
• A report highlighted the crucial importance of the financial services industry to New York’s economy, contributing 16% of the state’s GDP.
• New York is losing financial sector jobs to other states with more favorable business climates, impacting economic growth.
• The Business Council launched a Civic and Community Engagement Committee to showcase businesses’ community involvement and connect various stakeholders.
Full Transcript of the Episode
Note: This is a generated transcript. Please excuse any typos.
Joanna Pasceri 00:06
Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell. A podcast that gives listeners the inside track on state and federal politics with Jack, a Top New York lobbyist and Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates. I’m Joanna Pasceri, Director of Communications. Today we are taking a deep dive into government’s role in New York’s business community. And at the mic once again with Jack is our Alec Louis, Vice President and Director of campaigns. Alec knows government. He joined O’Donnell and Associates after spending the past decade with the New York Senate Democrats. Alec’s special guest today is Chelsea Lemon, director of government affairs for the Business Council of New York State. Alec is going to talk to Chelsea about her work with New York’s business community and the opportunities and challenges here in New York to create jobs and grow the economy. Hi, Alec and Chelsea and welcome to the podcast.
Alec Lewis 01:04
Chelsea, it’s great to have you on the podcast. And it’s great to be with you from the lobby.
Chelsea Lemon 01:09
Thanks so much for having me, Alec.
Alec Lewis 01:11
Great to have you on the show. And Chelsea before we served together in the state senate for many years, just as background for our listeners, you worked as a legal assistant and associated JP Morgan as a constituent liaison and US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ‘s office and as the Deputy Chief of Staff for then Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, and the state assembly. Now eventually, we ended up working together in the state senate for many years, where you served in a variety of leadership roles for member offices, including as a communications director, legislative director, and committee director. And of course, we also worked directly together as part of the external relations and staff for the senate democratic conference, and on numerous campaigns. So when you look back at your early career in the private sector and your decade of public service, how do you feel those experiences prepared you for your current role with the Business Council?
Chelsea Lemon 02:00
I think it’s really two things. I think the first thing is, you know, I had really great bosses who encouraged me, challenged me, supported me, and they really allowed me to grow in my roles. And, you know, they continue to support me to this day. And I also have that at the Business Council. And I think that trust, as an employee, that trust really allows you to excel. But I think the second thing is, at the heart of every role, you know, whether it was in the private sector or in public service, has been really meeting the needs and delivering for clients and constituents. You know, we’re in when I transitioned from the private sector to the public sector, I was pretty intentional, that I wanted to start working with constituents as my first job in public service, and understand and help them with their issues. And I think that served me really well, at the heart of everything that we do at the Business Council, are our members.
Alec Lewis 02:56
And so as the director of government affairs now for the Business Council, you have a diverse membership in terms of your business community that are really a part of the Business Council. And you specifically issued a report, you being the organization, issued a report highlighting the importance of the financial services industry in New York State. Can you talk about the findings of that report? And why is the financial services industry such an important barometer for the New York state economy post COVID?
Chelsea Lemon 03:24
Yeah, so the report shows that the financial services and insurance industry is absolutely crucial to our prosperity and our overall health for New York’s economy. The report shows that we’re losing our competitiveness and our ability to retain and attract more industry jobs to other states that have favorable tax and business climates. I think there’s certainly been resistance from some lawmakers to the value that the industry has, and I think the the report provides us with some really great objective data. So some of the things that we found in the report might not be a surprise to some but New York’s financial sector, it only makes up 5% of the state’s employment, but it’s the largest contributor to the state’s GDP. So it’s responsible for 16% of our GDP. And that’s $327 billion in value added to our economy. And it’s probably also no surprise that it’s the highest paying sector in the state. And I think that’s something that we should really embrace in New York, and want to retain those jobs because those wages ripple throughout the economy. What we found is that every one job in the financial services sector provides another three jobs for the industries across the state. But the report also shows that we’re, you know, we’re losing out to other states and they’re luring these high paying jobs out of New York. So over the past three years, the industry’s growth rate nationally, is at about 4%. But New York is 0.2%. And the states that we’re losing out to like North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, they all saw double digit growth. And also over the past three years, there’s companies that have managed almost a trillion dollars in assets, and they’ve moved their headquarters out of New York. And when they do that they take those jobs with them. So I think it’s pretty crystal clear that our competitiveness as a state is slipping. And the report also shows that it’s not just during the pandemic, I think there’s this perception out there that the finance and insurance industry really started leaving at the beginning of the pandemic, the report shows that those trends were there years before the pandemic, the pandemic only really accelerated them.
Alec Lewis 05:35
So as the report highlights all these challenges facing the financial services industry and the New York state economy as a whole, what can we do from your perspective to really reverse these trends?
Chelsea Lemon 05:45
Yeah, I think nationwide, we see other states really embrace and protect their leading industries, they, they wrap their arms around their biggest industries, and they welcome them, and they want to keep them, and New York doesn’t really seem to do that when it comes to the finance and insurance industry. We’ve seen some hostility toward the industry and its high earners from some lawmakers. And we’re really fighting this idea that the industry and its’ employees aren’t leaving New York when we implement more taxes on them, because the report clearly shows that they’re leaving, I think, in New York, you know, we would love to see New York embrace the industry and businesses in general, rather than implementing policies that discourage growth and innovation or increased taxes on businesses and individuals that contributes so much to our overall economy.
Alec Lewis 06:33
Well, we’ve talked about a lot of the challenges facing New York and the business community, but we also should be thinking about the positive things that are happening and having a forward thinking vision for New York state’s economy. And the Business Council, I know, has taken some steps to highlight what the business community is doing in New York through a new Civic and Community Engagement Committee. Can you share a little bit more about what this committee is doing and what its objectives are?
Chelsea Lemon 06:59
Yeah, so we’re so excited about this. So just recently, we launched our Civic and Community Engagement Committee. And the goal of the committee is to really use our platform as the leading business organization in New York State to connect not for profit organizations, small businesses, larger businesses, and elected officials, and really highlight the incredible things that they’re doing in their community, and their involvement and giving back, I think we don’t do that enough in this committee is going to give us the opportunity to do that. So in addition to doing that, we’re going to host webinars, you know, that would address things like health care, mental health, education and workforce development. And also make sure that there’s resources out there for people to utilize. So we’re really excited about this. And I think it’s a great chance for us to showcase the great work that our members are doing.
Alec Lewis 07:52
Well, Chelsea, I can’t thank you enough for joining us, again from the lobby. And in addition to obviously highlighting some of the challenges facing New York’s business community really taking an opportunity to highlight the positive forward thinking actions that New York’s business community is taking as well to create jobs and grow the economy. So with that, I just want to transition to Joanna and close out our program.
Joanna Pasceri 08:13
All right, thank you, Alec, and Chelsea for that insightful conversation on your public service journey, and how you’re working to strengthen New York’s business community to create new economic opportunities for New Yorkers. For more information on the Business Council of New York State, visit its website bcnys.org. It’s bcnys.org. And for the latest from New York and DC, be sure to sign up for our award winning Monday morning memo, Jack’s Weekly Newsletter, on what’s really happening in politics and government. Get it sent right to your inbox. Subscribe on our website at odonnellsolutions.com. That’s odonnellsolutions.com. And for daily updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn threads and Instagram at O’Donnell and Associates. Thanks for listening, everyone. We’ll be back from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
