Owens’ job claims

In the profile we aired this morning of Democrat Bill Owens, I talked about his job creation claims, and his opponents’ pushback on them. On his website and through out his campaign, Owens makes his claim clear:

Bill is a North Country community leader who helped bring over 2,000 jobs to the region by leading the redevelopment of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base and helping recruit businesses from Canada to Upstate New York.

As I report in this morning’s profile, community leaders around Clinton County vouch for Owens, including some self-described conservatives.

So I was a bit surprised to get a statement from the Owens campaign last night about his big money fundraiser in New York City with President Obama that included this:

When the base was closed he helped create the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation to ensure the land was used to create jobs, and currently there are more than 500 jobs based there as a result of his leadership.

That’s a significant retreat from the “I helped create 2,000 jobs” claim. So I called Jon Boughtin, Owens’ PR man, to ask if that was an intentional retreat. He said no, that they’re not backing away from the 2,000 number, saying, “we’re not treading any new ground here.” He said Owens was involved in attracting 250-300 firms from Canada, including Bombardier, accounting for the other 1500 jobs.

It’s fuzzy math, for sure. How do you determine who should take credit for job creation? It probably takes a village these days to create a job, not to mention an entrepreneur who actually hires someone and pays the salary.

Many people have tried to nail down the 2,000 jobs claim. Voters will have to decide whether they believe it.