POTSDAM – Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Tax-Free NY” plan to offer completely tax-free zones for businesses that set up shop at State University of New York campuses will be explained in Potsdam Thursday.

State Deputy Secretary of State for Local Government Dede Scozzafava, formerly North Country assembly member and mayor of Gouverneur, will be at SUNY Potsdam at 2 p.m. Thursday to make a presentation on the governor’s initiative.

The “tax-free” plan, announced Wednesday, would forgive sales taxes, property taxes, business taxes, and income tax for employees for 10 years to companies “with a relationship to the academic mission of the university, new businesses, out-of-state businesses that relocate to New York, startups and existing businesses that expand their New York operations while maintaining their existing jobs,” according to the outline from the governor’s office.

The plan hopes to “replicate the economic success of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering” at the University at Albany.

The governor’s announcement of the plan said it will be a “game-changing initiative that will transform SUNY campuses and university communities across the state into tax-free communities that attract start-ups, venture capital, new business, and investments from across the world.”

“Tax-Free NY will supercharge our efforts to grow our economy by transforming localities in Upstate New York into virtual tax-free communities for new businesses and new jobs. Under Tax-Free NY, communities across Upstate will become a magnet for new businesses, new startups, new venture capital, and new jobs, taking our economic development and job creating efforts to a level never seen before,” Cuomo said Wednesday.

Deputy Secretary Scozzafava will speak in the Fireside Lounge at SUNY Potsdam’s Barrington Student Union at 2 p.m.