BORDER-DEPENDENT BUSINESSES
AND PUBLIC AGENCIES

This sector includes Canadian-owned businesses of all types located in Clinton County, American-owned International border businesses, and Public sector border-related agencies located in Clinton County.  This sector does not include self-employed Canadians in Clinton County.  International border businesses include: private sector customs brokers, warehousers, freight forwarders, truckers, duty free shops, and consultants (other than lawyers and accountants).    Public border-related agencies include:  Immigration and Naturalization, U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol, General Services Administration, Food and Drug Administration, US Department of Agriculture, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Clinton County Sheriff Department's Lake Champlain Boat Patrol. 

The replication study utilizes two separate lists of Canadian-owned businesses (COBs).  One list has 156 COBs identified as operating in Clinton County.  This list includes 37 COBs named by one local businessman only for the purposes of collecting employment and payroll from the NYS Department of Labor and real estate appraised value data from the Clinton County Real Property Tax Office.  A shorter list of 119 COBs, not including the 37 COBs confidentially identified, was used in mail surveys for assessing economic impact on the Culture and Education, Financial and Professional Services, Retail and Tourism sectors.

 The development of the listings of Canadian-owned businesses, international border businesses, and public sector border-related agencies is critical to the accuracy of this study.  The list of Canadian-owned businesses was provided by the Chamber of Commerce.  This list was reviewed and updated by the Canadian Connection Advisory Committee.  In the course of preparing this study, however, certain businesses were found to be no longer in business in Clinton County and other Canadian-owned companies were reported that had not been included in the Chamber's list.  The Chamber intentionally leaves businesses that are out of business on the lists if they may have been in operation during the study year.  Future updates of the list by the Chamber should include consultation with law firms who perform incorporations for Canadian companies.

 The public border-related agencies list was derived jointly by YWA and the Chamber.  The list was reviewed by the Canadian Connection Advisory Committee and is essentially complete and accurate.  In some cases, the agency name as appearing on the list was slightly different from the identification used by the NYS DOL for payroll records.  There were no additions or deletions to the list of 10 public border-related agencies used in both the original and replication study. 

The lists used for this study of Canadian-owned businesses, international border businesses, and public agencies are included in the Appendix to this report.  The firms on the lists are marked to indicate whether they were included in the original study lists, the 1996 replication lists or are additions to the lists for this replication.

Indicators

Employment and Payroll

Total employment in Canadian-owned businesses in Clinton County increased by 586 employees from 1996 to 1998.  Total payroll of Canadian owned businesses in Clinton County was 50% higher in 1998 than 1996.  This increase reflects the expansion  of 248 jobs by Canadian-owned businesses included in the original study and the establishment of 338 new jobs by 18 Canadian-owned businesses identified since the 1996 study that are now operating in Clinton County.  Payroll of the 1996 list of Canadian-owned businesses increased by $9,934,847 with the remaining $11,382,905 representing new Canadian-owned businesses identified for the replication.

 Of the 156 Canadian-owned businesses on the list, 15 are no longer in business in Clinton County. The NYS DOL was able to collect employment and payroll data on 84 (60%) of the 141 remaining businesses from the lists submitted by YWA and the Chamber. In 1997 the NYS DOL collected data on 70 (61%) of the 114 Canadian-owned businesses identified. 

International border-businesses in Clinton County employed 67 more employees in 1998 than in 1996.  Total 1998 payroll of International border-businesses increased by 9% over 1996.  This increase reflects the establishment of 70 new jobs by 7 International border-businesses not identified in the 1996 study that are now operating in Clinton County.  Payroll of the 1996 list of International border-businesses increased $683,883 with the remaining $1,317,463 representing new International border-businesses identified for this replication.

 Public Border-Related Agencies in Clinton County, New York for Calendar Years 1996,1998

Total employment for Public border-related agencies in Clinton County increased 3.7% and payroll increased 13% from 1996 to 1998. 

   Note: Employment includes the number of full-time and part-time employees earning wages or salaries for the payroll period including the 12th of the month.  Payrolls cover all wages and salaries paid to individuals in insured employment.  This includes employees' contributions to Social Security and Medicare.

The share of total employment and payroll in Clinton County related to Canadian-owned businesses, international border-businesses and public border-related agencies has increased by 1.8% and 2% respectively since 1996.

Methodological Notes: 

Data on employment and payroll was provided by the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL) in Saranac Lake based on lists provided by Yellow Wood Associates.  The lists provided to the NYS DOL indicated which firms had been on the 1996 lists and which were new additions for this replication.  The Department of Labor found some businesses not on the lists and some listed businesses that could not be found in the DOL records. Wherever businesses have more than one location, DOL carefully disaggregated employment for Clinton County only.

Recommendations for Replication:

 The next time the Chamber wishes to replicate these indicators, the lists should be updated and sent to the NYS DOL with instructions to reproduce, as closely as possible, the breakdowns provided for the baseline indicators. The final 1998 list should be provided to the DOL with a list of new firms identified by the Chamber. The lists should identify those firms that were included in the lists for the 1994 and 1996 studies as well as this replication.