The Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency (TCIDA) voted unanimously to approve revisions to its local labor utilization policy, which was first adopted in 2016. The revised policy creates a 75% construction labor requirement for workers residing in Tompkins County and the six adjacent counties, Cayuga, Seneca, Schuyler, Chemung, Tioga and Cortland. The policy also requires notifying the Building Trades Council and soliciting bids from local contractors. Affordable housing projects are exempt from the policy.
According to Ithaca Area Economic Development President Heather McDaniel, the labor policy “builds on data gathered from recent projects that have received financial incentives from the TCIDA.”
The revisions strengthen the original policy that was enacted to gather that data and better understand the local labor capacity, particularly when it comes to large, multi-story development projects.
“The TCIDA, developers, labor representatives, general contractors and elected officials rolled up our sleeves and developed a policy that will provide construction jobs for local workers and continue to support growth and investment in Ithaca and Tompkins County,” McDaniel said.
County Legislator Rich John agreed, and emphasized the importance of using local labor.
“This local labor policy is the product of a lot of careful thinking, discussion, and compromise to reach agreement on how to encourage developers to build here while also using our homegrown talent to get these projects done,” he said. “I want to thank the IDA members and IAED staff that helped us get to the finish line,” said TCIDA Chairperson, Rich John.
