Mackenzie Hughes launches new practice areas

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Mar 23, 2007 by Tampone, Kevin

SYRACUSE - Writing lengthy, detailed grant applications is no easy task, especially for someone who's never done it before.

"They're a maze, I think, to many of our clients," says Alfred Popkess, a partner at Mackenzie Hughes, LLP and chairman of the Syracuse-based firm's business department. "It really is complex and a puzzlement to a lot of businesses."

To help those businesses navigate such uncertain waters, Mackenzie Hughes is launching three new practice areas that will focus on government grants grants, economic development, and public law and policy Jeffrey Brown, a partner in the firm and former state assemblyman, is overseeing the new areas.

The firm has done government-related work for businesses in the past, but never concentrated heavily on it or formed groups around it, Brown says. The new practice areas allow the firm to help companies with a wide array of government issues.

All three will deal with local, state, and federal governments.

The economic-development area will focus on helping businesses navigate and access government incentives like tax breaks and bonding from industrial-development agencies. The firm will work with companies at all stages of obtaining the incentives, from deciding whether they're eligible to securing them.

On the grants side, Mackenzie Hughes will help clients find and apply for the seemingly endless array of grants available for companies, says Brown, who is also co-chairman of the firm's environmental land use, economic development, and public-law practice group. He says business leaders frequently talked to him about the number and complexity of public grants during his three years in the Assembly.

"What I hear a lot is that they just keep coming," he says. "There are different [grants] with different requirements. It's tough for people to keep up with those. It's tough for an organization who hasn't written a grant before to get it right because they are so competitive."

The public law and policy area will concentrate on helping companies with regulatory issues, concerns relating to the state budget, and general navigation of government.

All three areas should help the firm's clients excel, Brown says. Many of the problems the practices will handle are things Brown encountered during his time in the Legislature, he adds.

"It seemed like every week I was talking to someone in the business community who said they were struggling to make a go of it here in New York State," he says. "It can be complex and it's always changing."

Ten to 15 attorneys will work - in the new practice areas, including lawyers with experience on the Legislature's Bill Drafting Commission and in the Office of the New York State Attorney General. The firm has also hired an attorney and a paralegal with experience in grant writing, Brown says.

Mackenzie Hughes employs 72, including 35 attorneys. In addition to Syracuse, the firm has an office in Florida.

Brown formerly represented the 121st Assembly District before losing his campaign last fall for the state Senate seat held by David Valesky.