”˜Mini-MBA”™ program for scientists
Two biotechnology companies in Westchester will partner with the Westchester/Putnam Workforce Investment Board to train employees in business management skills in a “mini-MBA” program to be offered at the Westchester Community College Gateway Center.
The two-county workforce board recently approved $60,000 in funding for classroom training sponsored by Aureon Biosciences Inc. in Yonkers and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Greenburgh. The private firms will pick up 50 percent of the program cost.
Westchester County officials said an additional program for middle managers will include Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Greenburgh.
David Buckner, president of Bottom Line Training and Consulting Inc. in New York City, will lead the first session, a non-credit three-day workshop for 15 professionals from Aureon that covers strategy, marketing and corporate financial literacy. The program will be administered by Westchester Community College”™s Professional Development Center.
Harry Horowitz, director of the campus center, in a press release called the program “a game-changer for our biotech firms. Giving these scientists the business skills that they need to migrate to management positions will ensure the success of their enterprises.”
Westchester County Economic Development Director Laurence Gottlieb said the new program is a key element of the NY BioHud Valley initiative, a public-private partnership with the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. that markets the seven-county Hudson Valley region as the center of the state”™s growing biotech industry.
New online resource for homebuyers
A free online application that identifies housing properties eligible for down-payment assistance through government and private-sector programs recently was put into use by the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service (EAMLS) to aid homebuyers in its four-county service region.
The product, Down Payment Resource, was launched in 2009 by Workforce Resource L.L.C., a web-based software firm in Atlanta, Ga. It is licensed directly to Realtors, mortgage lenders and housing counselors.
EAMLS, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors Inc., is only the second listing service in the nation to offer the online tool.
It identifies properties that might quality for programs offered by federal, state and local housing finance agencies. The resource also connects homebuyers with programs offering affordable fixed-rate mortgages, mortgage credit certificates and rehabilitation loans.
“For many people, particularly first-time homebuyers, the largest barrier to purchasing a home is lack of a substantial down payment,” EAMLS President Gary Leogrande said in a statement. “We want our participating Realtors to know all the available resources and information that can benefit their clients.”
Potential homebuyers can use the resource on the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors website at www.wpar.com. A short survey determines eligibility for various programs.
“In addition to assisting buyers, it can help sellers by bringing in more potential buyers,” Leogrande said. “For Realtors, this could lead to a larger pool of clients and more transactions. It”™s a win-win situation for all parties.”
EAMLS includes 927 participating real estate offices and some 15,000 properties in its database for Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties and the Bronx
Chase steps up business lending
Chase banks approved $1.4 billion in loans to approximately 39,560 small businesses across New York state in 2010, the company recently reported.
Chase is J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.”™s consumer and commercial banking business in the U.S.
Chase increased by 51 percent from 2009 its lending to New York businesses with annual revenue of less than $20 million. It ranked first in the number of U.S. Small Business Administration loans in New York and nationwide in 2010.
“As the largest bank in New York, we have made a concerted effort to help grow our state”™s economy by dramatically increasing our small-business lending in 2010,” said Michael P. Van Praag, head of Chase business banking in the New York region.
Companies with fewer than 500 employees accounted for nearly 52 percent of private-sector jobs in the state, according to a recent report by the Small Business Administration.
Chase has launched initiatives to support small businesses and hired more than 500 business bankers nationwide in 14 months, a bank spokesman said. The support includes a “second-look” program to examine all possible ways to provide credit if a loan is declined. Chase last year approved $283 million in second-look loans.
Chase has more than 780 branches and 33,600 employees in New York state.
