Economic Impact

Decisions have consequences, some intentional and some not. When the likely consequences are economic, CGR is the consultant of choice. For both tangible and intangible projects and initiatives, CGR is asked to address challenging questions, and provide responsible, factual, objective and independent estimates.

2006 Client Projects

Forecasting City Income Tax in Ohio – Unlike most New York State cities (NYC and Yonkers are exceptions), the cities in Ohio levy an income tax as well as a property tax on residents and business firms. CGR developed an interactive computer model of fiscal impacts for the City of Gahanna, a Columbus suburb, that estimates the tax consequences of various types of development. In addition to forecasting payroll and profit for various business types, CGR's model incorporates the impact of tax abatements of various length and magnitude, factoring in the required reimbursement to affected school districts.

Catalytic Effects of Emphasis on Clinical & Translational Science at University of Rochester Medical Center – Selected as one of 12 Clinical & Translational Science Institutes by the National Institutes of Health, the University of Rochester Medical Center is dramatically increasing its effectiveness at bridging the gap between the laboratory and the clinician. CGR explored the catalytic effects, both on the medical center and the larger economy, of being selected as one of the first of these new centers. The effects include the consequences of enhancing the medical center's ability to attract new public and private research dollars, and also stimulate the creation of new technology and spin-off business firms.

Higher Education: The Center of Gravity for the 21st Century Economy – New York's higher education sector – including world-renowned Columbia, New York and Cornell universities – has long been acknowledged as a center of scholarship and culture. Only in recent years, however, has higher education been recognized for having an economic impact. CGR was engaged by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities to measure the aggregate impact on the state's economy of the independent higher education sector.

Nonprofit Sector Makes Its Own Contribution to the Economy – New York's Mid-Hudson Valley is home to nonprofit institutions that enrich the quality of life of residents – including museums, foundations, colleges, hospitals and human service providers. Yet these community institutions also contribute to the economic life of the region. The Dyson Foundation reached out to CGR to tally the economic contribution of the nonprofit sector to the economy of the Mid-Hudson Valley .

Big Box Development: Boon or Bane? – The exurban community of Geneseo in Upstate New York is caught in a bitter debate between residents who want to maintain the “status quo” – neighborhood-scale, locally-owned retail concentrated in a village setting – and those who see benefit in Geneseo becoming a “market center” for the surrounding county, and thus would welcome retail development of a much larger scale. Lowe's Home Improvement and a developer partnering with the company are seeking permission to build a store with a “footprint” of about four acres (170,000 square feet). CGR was engaged by the town to develop an independent assessment of the net fiscal and economic impacts of the proposed new store.

Private Lands into Tribal Trust: What are the Consequences for Local Communities? – Fueled by income from the highly successful Turning Stone Casino, the Oneida Indian Nation has acquired over 17,000 acres in 400 parcels across New York's Oneida and Madison counties. The Nation has petitioned the federal government to have these lands taken into trust for the tribe, effectively removing them from Oneida or Madison county jurisdiction and rendering them nontaxable. CGR was engaged to explore the fiscal, economic and jurisdictional consequences of a successful trust application. The case remains unresolved.