ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Start-Up NY initiative is taking on a barrage of criticism after a recent audit report yielded “no tangible results” from a multi-million dollar taxpayer funded marketing campaign.

A report released by the Office of the State Comptroller on Monday revealed the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) spent $211.5 million on an advertising contract to promote economic development and tourism in New York State. ESDC allocated $36.5 million on attracting business and tourism in regions affected by Hurricane Sandy; but the remaining $175 million was designated for marketing Start-Up NY.

Start-Up NY is an effort to promote New York as a business-friendly state by offering tax incentives for businesses that set up shop near State University campuses.

According to the report, ESDC spent $45.1 million to advertise Start-Up NY between the time the program started in October, 2013 to October, 2014. In that year, ESDC received 18,203 applications, but only 10 percent of the businesses that applied were eligible for the program, and only 41 ultimately enrolled.

The 41 businesses that did enrol plan to create 1,750 jobs over the next five years, which auditors calculated cost more than $25,000 on advertising per job. To date, only 76 jobs have been created.