Peekskill's focus: Helping business thrive

Westchester County Business Journal, Jun 13, 2005 by Seideman, Tony

Local government can help businesses thrive - or create a climate so confining that industry eventually departs.

Peekskill has an enormously positive attitude that makes it easy for a company such as DLC Management Inc. to do good and do well at the same time.

"Having done redevelopment work in probably 25 municipalities across the country, it has been an absolute pleasure to do business in Peekskill," says Adam Ifshin, president of DLC Management. "This is a mayor and a City Council that get it. They just get it. They know what they have to get done to make the city a better place," Ifshin says.

In part, that's because of a twopronged approach taken by the government; first, offering support in loans for new businesses and second, keeping the regulatory burden as light as possible. Extensive resources are available to companies that need funds to get started or keep going and local officials are committed to a longterm vision of healthy, productive growth.

"Our Office of Economic Development deserves credit for helping a number of important businesses get started or keep thriving in Peekskill in recent years," Mayor John Testa says. "We've modified and improved our programs so that more loans are available and the entire process is simpler."

Funds and grant-getting expertise have helped such visible businesses as The Peekskill Coffee House and Azimuth Production get their start.

Some of the city's most visible and successful new ventures got an assist from the city, says Kathy Lockwood, head of the Office of Economic Development. Besides Azimuth, the Peekskill Coffee House, the extraordinary new toy store Sam and Zanzi's, and the globally respected brand-marketing consultancy Arcana Inc. all tapped into the Grow Peekskill Fund loan program.

information about Peekskill's loan program can be found in the Forms and Permit section of the City's website under the link "Grow Peekskill Fund-loan application description." A partnership between the Grow America Fund and Peekskill, the Grow Peekskill Fund can provide loans of anywhere from $25,000 to $2 million to eligible small businesses at competitive rates. To qualify for loans, businesses must be engaged in legitimate for-profit activities and have the ability to create new jobs within the community.

Those interested in working with the Grow Peekskill Fund can contact Lockwood at City Hall. "We have made the process simple and straightforward," Lockwood says. Information required includes such standard materials as three years of tax returns or corporate financial statements, current financial statements, and personal financial statements from those who own more than 20 percent of the company's stock.

One of the most challenging and important parts of the program is putting together a detailed and effective business plan, according to those who've taken part in the Grow Peekskill process. Despite the fact that putting a plan together may be a lot of work, those who've done it say the investment of time and energy usually pays off in providing their companies a detailed platform that they can use to plan for the future.

Providing fuel for growth represents only part of Peekskill's commitment to business. The other side of the city's efforts involve performing a function many communities don't even seem to recognize as crucial: getting out of the way.

One of City Manager Dan Fitzpatrick's top priorities is ensuring that the city effectively handles the difficult balancing act of enforcing building codes and other laws while ensuring that businesses still feel welcome.

Ifshin says Peekskill is accomplishing just that. "They made us dot all our is and cross all our Ts - but they haven't allowed any bureaucracy to get in the way of having the project go over."

Businesses should be aware that Peekskill has one of the most aggressive code enforcement programs in the region. A great deal of time and effort is going into preserving the health, safety and quality of life of the city's residents by making sure predatory landlords follow the law.

Since 1997, the fines for operating an illegal business have leapt from $250 to $5,000 for a first offense. The number of code enforcement officers in the city has also soared, which has tripled the amount of fines collected in the last year.

Working with businesses means more than cooperating with individual companies, and Peekskill officials understand that. They are highly supportive of the city's Business Improvement District, and work hard with other organizations from The Peekskill Artists Council to the Rotary Club.

One of Peekskill's biggest and longterm projects is the creation of its Artists District. Initial efforts behind the district began in the 1980s with the preservation of the Paramount Theater and the establishment of the Paramount Center for the Arts.

Changes in local zoning codes allowed landlords to fill once empty apartments with artists in the mid-to-late 1990s. Just a couple of years ago, art lofts opened that have given the city a new creative energy opened.