Relates to the operation of entrepreneurship assistance centers; requires minimum instruction time and allows joint applications from a consortium of career education agencies and not-for-profit corporations.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4312
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Small Business
AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to the opera-
tion of entrepreneurship assistance centers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2, 3 and 6 of section 211 of the economic
2 development law, as added by chapter 398 of the laws of 2018, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 2. The department shall establish criteria for selection and desig-
5 nation of such centers which shall include, but not be limited to:
6 (a) require that each support center program provide at least sixty
7 hours of instruction for each participant and that each program be
8 supplemented by ongoing technical assistance for business development
9 for those who have completed the program;
10 (b) the level of support for the center from local post-secondary
11 education institutions, businesses, and government;
12 [(b)] (c) the level of financial assistance provided at the local and
13 federal level to support the operations of the center;
14 [(c)] (d) the applicant's understanding of program goals and objec-
15 tives articulated by the department;
16 [(d)] (e) the plans of the center to supplement state and local fund-
17 ing through fees for services which may be based on a sliding scale
18 based on ability to pay;
19 [(e)] (f) the need for and anticipated impact of the center on the
20 community in which it will function;
21 [(f)] (g) the quality of the proposed work plan and staff of the
22 center; and
23 [(g)] (h) the extent of economic distress in the area to be served.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07023-01-9
A. 4312 2
1 3. Application for grants made pursuant to this section shall be made
2 in the manner and on forms prescribed by the [department] commissioner.
3 Such application shall include, but shall not be limited to:
4 (a) a description of the training programs available within the
5 geographic area to be served by the center to which eligible clients may
6 be referred;
7 (b) designation of a program director;
8 (c) plans for providing ongoing technical assistance to program gradu-
9 ates, including linkages with providers of other entrepreneurial assist-
10 ance programs and with providers of small business technical assistance
11 and services;
12 (d) a program budget, including matching funds, in-kind and otherwise,
13 to be provided by the applicant; [and]
14 (e) permit a joint application from a consortium of career education
15 agencies and not-for-profit corporations, or any combination thereof,
16 for establishing a cooperative program; and
17 (f) such other requirements as deemed necessary by the department.
18 6. Grants made pursuant to this section shall be subject to the
19 following limitations:
20 (a) no grant shall be made to any one or any consortium of career
21 education agencies and not-for-profit corporations in excess of one
22 hundred seventy-five thousand dollars; and
23 (b) each grant shall be disbursed for payment of the cost of services
24 and expenses of the program director, the instructors of the participat-
25 ing career education agency or not-for-profit corporation, the faculty
26 and support personnel thereof and any other person in the service of
27 providing instruction and counseling in furtherance of the program.
28 § 2. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 212 of the economic development
29 law, as added by chapter 398 of the laws of 2018, are amended to read as
30 follows:
31 2. Evaluate the entrepreneurial assistance centers established under
32 this article and report [quarterly and] annually, on or before January
33 first, two thousand [eighteen] twenty, and on or before each January
34 first thereafter, and submit the results of such evaluation to the
35 governor and the legislature. Such report shall discuss the extent to
36 which the centers serve minority group members, women, individuals with
37 a disability, dislocated workers and veterans; the extent to which the
38 training program is coordinated with other assistance programs targeted
39 to small and new businesses; the ability of such program to leverage
40 other sources of funding and support; and the success of the program in
41 aiding entrepreneurs to start up new businesses, including the number of
42 new business start-ups resulting from the program. Such report shall
43 recommend changes and improvements in the training program and in the
44 quality of supplemental technical assistance offered to graduates of the
45 training programs. [Such reports] The report shall be made available to
46 the public on the department's website.
47 3. Submit to the director of the division of the budget, the chair-
48 person of the senate finance committee and the chairperson of the assem-
49 bly ways and means committee an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
50 programs established under this article prepared by an entity independ-
51 ent of the department. Such evaluation shall be submitted by January
52 first, two thousand [nineteen] twenty-one and by January first every
53 [year] two years thereafter.
54 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
