MELVILLE, NY (WCBS 880) - With the help of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, six bio-pharmaceutical companies are planning to expand and hire nearly 550 new employees on Long Island.

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The Long Island Association’s Kevin Law says the deal was made possible with the help of tax credits and grants.

“Long Island is a high-cost area and we need high-paying jobs to be able to stay here and so these are over 500 jobs in a bio-science, bio-tech field,” he says.

Law said this will also help other businesses grow.

“When one company leaves, it sometimes has a ripple effect, but the reverse happens too. When other companies make a decision to grow, that will attract others,” he says.

“Most of the credit really needs to go to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He is paying so much attention to Long Island and he really sees the opportunities that we have here with our great research institutions,” Law said.

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