The new "Jobs 2000" program that won final approval this week "will make New York's recovery bigger, stronger, and faster as the state enters the new millennium," Business Council President Daniel B. Walsh said.

Governor Pataki signed the bill into law Nov. 10 at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.

He was joined at a bill-signing ceremony by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who proposed and championed the "J2K" program, and Assemblyman Robin Schimminger (D-Erie), who sponsored the bill in the Assembly.

Pataki praised the program, saying it "will strengthen New York's position as a leader in high-tech industrial development and job creation.

Senator Bruno said, "J2K will be the bridge that connects our research institutions with our economic development initiatives to bring the state into the new millennium as a leader in high-tech research, industry, and job creation."

Specifically, the J2K program will:

Support the newly created New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR), which will increase the state's investment in research universities and help turn that investment into new jobs.

Create a new New York State Venture Capital Program, which will provide for a $250 million investment in New York State businesses.

Support new employer-focused job-training initiatives.

Provide $81.5 million to a fund to help develop water supplies for businesses and residents.

"New York built its economic pre-eminence on brainpower. And it will make it comeback on brainpower," Walsh said.

Walsh singled out for praise the program's investment in job training, which he said "will be built around jobs that employers actually want to fill-rather than around programs that trainers want to run."

He also praised J2K's emphasis on leveraging the state's colleges and universities to play an even larger role in economic development in New York.

He noted that The Business Council also supported the "Pipeline for Jobs" program and the venture capital fund.

"In recent years, New York lawmakers have enacted many new policies that have begun to restore economic growth," Walsh said. "We can and should do even more to expand our economy, and this new law is a critical step in the right direction."