Editorial Board

The Rochester Downtown Development Corporation has, for the past several years, sponsored an annual State of Rochester's Economy event. Inevitably, panelists face a difficult balancing act. They need to present the facts while still offering the audience a reason to believe things will get better.

That challenge was even more difficult than usual this year. The event took place just hours after an announcement by Verizon that the company is cutting 600 local jobs, and just months after Headlight Data declared Rochester has the slowest growing economy in all of America. The region's euphoria over being selected home to the AIM Photonics Institute has faded over the past year — and troubling new doubts have surfaced following the arrest and resignation of SUNY Poly President Alain Kaloyeros, a dominant player in the photonics project.

There was the usual talk about the need to attract venture capital and startups. There was the usual joke about the lack of sunshine in this corner of the country, and how that really does not matter. There was the usual reminder that we have to figure out what millennials want and give it to them.

But the reason for optimism at this year's event came in an unlikely place: a discussion about our poverty problem.

This issue has not typically been part of the economic development equation. There has been general consensus that if we rebuild the economy and add jobs, poverty will eventually vanish.

But, our state and local officials are beginning to approach the issue from the opposite direction. Reversing the tide of poverty in our city and suburbs will bolster our economic development efforts.

That is because poverty has become a such huge drain on our economy. There are no solid figures to show what poverty is costing the Rochester region, but a national study found that childhood poverty alone is a $500 billion burden on U.S. taxpayers every year. The bigger we allow our poverty problem to become, the longer we will be digging ourselves out from under it.

There are some potentially innovative solutions on the table, such as the Home Stability Support legislation being proposed by downstate Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills). By helping more people pay their rent, he says, New York state and its municipalities could save hundreds of millions of dollars on the back end each year by reducing the public costs of eviction and homelessness. That is money that could be used to cut taxes or provide smart business incentives.

Eradicating poverty is not just a moral issue any more, to be solved because it is the "right thing" to do. It is essential to economic improvement.