Business loans allotted
The New York Business Development Corp. has approved $1.7 million in loan funds for four small businesses in Westchester County.
Arroway Chevrolet in Mount Kisco, Magnus L.L.C. in Rye, Preferred Auto Service in Chappaqua and Cucina Antica Foods Corp. in Bedford Hills will receive money to expand their operations and to retain and create jobs.
Statewide, New York Business Development Corp. loans are expected to create 10,336 jobs. “I am happy to report that we have seen a strong increase in requests for financing of capital projects and growing confidence among small-business owners that the worst is behind them,” Patrick MacKrell, president and CEO, said in a statement.
ICBA to Treasury: quit stalling
The Independent Community Bankers of America urged the U.S. Department of the Treasury to move swiftly and finalize all Subchapter S guidance, term sheets and application forms for the Small Business Lending Fund, which would provide capital to community banks and foster small-business lending.
The fund was signed into law on Sept. 27, 2010, and while certain C-corporation community banks have been issued guidance by the Treasury, several Subchapter-S and mutual institutions still await terms to access the program, the ICBA said in a letter sent to the Treasury on behalf of its 5,000 members.
Photo: Astorino
State of the County
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in his 2011 State of the County address deemed the overall climate as “fortunate and fragile.”
Headway has been made in the private sector, with Pepsi Beverages signing a new lease expanding its headquarters by about 40 percent and retaining some 900 jobs in Westchester.
Astorino touched on hospitals and educational institutions”™ role in driving economic growth, naming Hudson Valley Hospital Center”™s construction of a cancer center and Westchester Medical Center”™s selling of its bonds to investors to relieve the burden on the county, as examples.
The county executive reiterated his commitment to providing tax relief.
“This fall, I will submit a 2012 budget that once again will call for no hike in the county property tax levy.”
However, he pointed out that the move will require the county to “live within its means,” forcing necessary cuts in spending.
Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers, said the legislature and county executive want the same goal: “a less expensive, more efficient government.”
Astorino said state mandates have consumed $416 million of county property tax dollars and with rising health care costs, the projected deficit for 2012 is $103 million.
He once again called on increased union contributions to health care plans, which would incur a savings for the county of $10 million and would lighten the need for union layoffs.
