A governor-appointed task force of business leaders across New York has produced a novel interactive guide for start-up entrepreneurs and current small business owners.
The New York state Directory of Small Business Programs is a 36-page online file that, with a click of the mouse or keypad, links users to information on 143 state programs from 28 agencies that can help New Yorkers start and grow their businesses. The guide for business planning and operations offers sections on information resources; technical assistance; funding incentives; industry-specific programs; work force recruitment, development and benefits; government contracting and market expansion, and mandated state filings.
The directory is the result of work this summer by the Governor”™s Small Business Task Force. Gov. David Paterson charged the group of business leaders with developing strategies to address the concerns of small business in the state and to promote their growth and development. Small businesses, defined as enterprises that employ no more than 500 people, make up 98 percent of all businesses in New York and employ 52 percent of New York”™s non-farm, private-sector work force, according to state officials. ?The task force was headed by William Grinker, a former federal attorney, New York City and Ford Foundation official and retired CEO of the nonprofit Seedco Financial Services Inc. in Manhattan.
The group held 11 meetings in every region of the state to hear directly from leaders about the current climate for small business. Regional business leaders gave the Paterson administration feedback on existing state programs and suggested additional steps the state can take to promote the development of small businesses.
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Empire State Development Chairman and CEO-designate Dennis M. Mullen called the directory “a central first step towards the creation of a comprehensive small business policy agenda.” Michael Elmendorf, New York state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said it was “an important tool for small employers who currently struggle to navigate the maze of state resources and agencies that impact their businesses.”
The directory is available at:http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/pdf/DirectoryofSmallBizPrograms_F_09-09.pdf. It is also posted on http://www.nylovessmallbiz.com.
