According to the Small Business Administration, it is small businesses that continue to drive the economy.
- Small businesses make up over 98% of all
New York businesses and employ over 44%
of the State’s workforce.
- They create nearly 8 out of 10 new jobs in the
State.
- Small Businesses face many challenges to their
success in the marketplace: access to capital;
adaptation to new technologies; recruitment and
training of workers; and affordable space.
The Assembly Majority has long championed policies and programs that provide financial and technical assistance to this vital sector of the State’s economy. This plan would provide:
- Entrepreneurial Assistance Centers
$1 Million
Entrepreneurial Assistance Program Centers (EAPs) provide vital assistance to minorities, women, displaced workers, and persons with disabilities in starting or growing a small business. While other programs exist that focus on business development, EAP centers serve some of the State’s more distressed communities, and provide critical technical assistance to women and minority entrepreneurs in their own communities.
Despite a proven record of performance, the Executive’s budget proposal eliminates funding for this program. The Assembly Majority’s plan would enable these centers to continue to serve the next generation of small business owners.
- Small Business Mentoring
$250,000
The Assembly Majority’s plan would enable experienced businesspersons to provide technical assistance to small business owners through a business mentoring program. This would help avoid many failures of small businesses by providing timely and focused consultation with individuals who have experienced the range of problems that confront new businesses.
- Small Business Capital Access
$1 million
Recognizing that small businesses have unique problems in obtaining the financing necessary to grow and prosper, the Assembly Majority created this program that provides incentives to participating banks to increase lending to small businesses.
- Strategic Training Alliance Program/Small Business High Tech Training
$500,000
The Assembly Majority’s plan also recognizes that training in a small business environment can be very difficult to accomplish. The proposal authorizes the Strategic Training Alliance Program to invest in technology that could make skills training affordable and accessible to the small business community through a digital network linking colleges and training providers with businesses across the State.
- Small Business Development Centers
$375,000
Small Business Development Centers are located on State University campuses throughout the State. They provide a wide range of professional support services to the small business and entrepreneur community and act as a liaison to the federal Small Business Administration. The Assembly Majority’s plan provides additional support to this program to leverage federal matching grants.
- Small Business On-line Business Permit Program
$500,000
Small businesses most often suffer the consequences of unnecessary barriers erected by an inflexible bureaucracy. The Assembly Majority’s plan establishes the Office of Small Business Permits to act as a “one-stop” source of information and assistance on State agency permits.
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