NEW YORK—Tens of millions of dollars are available to help small-business owners, and those looking at starting their own businesses, and a governor’s initiative is traveling statewide to teach people how to access what’s out there.
Representatives from six state agencies addressed various aspects of owning and starting a small business at Pace University on Wednesday, including taxes, growth, and locating the right resources. People went to learn from all that the state programs have to offer.
For example, the Regional Revolving Loan Trust Fund offers capital loans of up to $75,000, or 50 percent of the total project cost, whichever is less. Fifty million is available through the fund, mostly for minority and women-owned businesses.
The New York Open for Small-Business Outreach Initiative seeks to help owners and prospective owners “cut through all the red tape” to find the resources that are out there, said a media relations staff member from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office, at Pace University Wednesday.
Behind the massive statewide effort to assist small businesses lies an issue close to many hearts—jobs.
“The governor has been focused on jobs,” said Alphonso David, bureau chief for civil rights for the state attorney general. “Jobs is our number one priority here in New York state.”
Small businesses represent 98 percent of all businesses in the state, and out of $76.9 billion in exports in 2008, small and medium-sized businesses generated more than half.
“What I learned is that there are so many resources you can come out with to get and start a business, or ... build on your business,” said Tracey Jones, a counselor for the state’s health services, motioning to a notebook she filled with three pages of notes.
Jones wants to start a business. She has an idea about creating a car service for when families and friends visit loved ones in jail, yet she sounds more confident with her plan for opening her own drug abuse treatment clinic. She just finished 350 hours of training and will take a test to gain her license for drug abuse counseling.
Marie Dudoy owns an e-commerce business based in Brooklyn called E-Favors. The business specializes in weddings, christenings, and communions. She learned the specifics of becoming certified as a women-owned business, which opens up more business opportunities. She found other information helpful, too.
“It’s all worth the time to invest to come and see what’s out there,” Dudoy said. “It’s more user-friendly, rather than going on the website. The website[s] is so complex in terms of all the information that you have—you just don’t know what to do with it—so I thought today is a nice presentation of everything you can find there.”
More information is available through the New York First website.
