"It has been a tremendous advantage to the city of Lenoir," said Patricia Kaye Reynolds, economic development director for the city. "If people were expecting this area to become a new Silicon Valley, it certainly isn't that. But it's a whole new type of diverse industry for our area, and that's opened some horizons, too."

Dibble and others stressed that it wasn't just the incentives that won the day here but also other factors. Even the weather helped. Western New York's cooler temperatures means Yahoo! won't spend as much to cool the facility. "There's a sliver lining in every snow cloud," Schumer joked.

The announcement culminated a flurry of activity in recent weeks as state and local officials teamed up in what they called "record time" to land Yahoo! after talks began in early May.

Efforts included a meeting with Yahoo! co-founder David Philo, as well as personal telephone calls and letters from Schumer and Gov. David A. Paterson to Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz. State leaders drew in the Power Authority and negotiated with Verizon Communications, while local officials from different towns worked together.

"This type of collaboration is absolutely a mandate," said Empire State Development Corp. Chairman and CEO Dennis Mullen. "That will give us the competitive advantage to move forward on a national stage."

Western New York beat out competing offers and incentives from Virginia, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. "Today, all our hard work has paid off," Paterson said, speaking by video conference from Albany. "Western New York has all the resources to thrive in the new economy."

But what officials are really counting on is the spinoff benefit down the road. "Word is getting out there," Schumer said. "If we all work together . . . we can get things done. We can swoop in like other states do and get them to come here."

While New York "doesn't have a good reputation within the United States" because of the cost of doing business in the state, the Yahoo! deal could boost its already strong image globally, especially in Europe, said Robert E. DeRocker, senior counselor for Development Counsellors International, a New York consulting firm.

"I think this is a home run, if not a grand slam," he said. "This is exactly the direction that New York state and Western New York want to go in. This is champagne time and also time to build on it."

jepstein@buffnews.com

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