§ 16-E — Regional economic development partnership program

New York § 16-E

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law UDA: Urban Development Corporation Act 174/68

Text

§ 16-e. Regional economic development partnership program. (1) For the\npurposes of this section, the following words and terms shall have the\nfollowing meanings:\n (a) "Business development project". A project involving an industrial,\nmanufacturing, commercial, research and development, high technology,\ntourism, agricultural or service company.\n (b) "Business infrastructure project". A project involving an\nindustrial, manufacturing, commercial, research and development, high\ntechnology, tourism, agricultural or service company which shall\ninclude, but not be limited to, basic systems and facilities on public\nor privately owned property including drainage systems, sewer systems,\naccess roads, sidewalks, docks, wharves, water supply systems, and site\nclearance, preparation, improvements, and demolition.\n (c) "Child care assistance project". A project for the establishment,\nexpansion, and development of licensed not-for-profit child day care\ncenters which serve the needs of small and medium-sized commercial,\nindustrial, service and other small and medium-sized businesses,\nhealth-related businesses and degree-granting institutions of higher\neducation.\n (d) "Infrastructure investment project". A project consisting solely\nof site preparation, clearance and demolition on property owned by a\nmunicipality, local development corporation, urban renewal agency or\nindustrial development agency designated by a municipality.\n (e) "Infrastructure planning projects" shall mean projects consisting\nsolely of planning, including the preparation of schematic designs and\npreliminary environmental assessments for a business infrastructure\nproject or an infrastructure investment project.\n (f) "Skills training assistance". A project related to the provision\nof firm-specific or industry-specific employee retraining, skills\nupgrading, and productivity enhancement, including assessment and\ntraining related to the implementation of high-performance work\norganization strategies.\n (g) "Tourism destination". A location or facility which is likely to\nattract a significant number of visitors from outside the region.\n (h) "Revolving loan fund account grants" shall include: (i) grants to\nprovide the local match for federally funded community-based loan funds;\n(ii) grants to capitalize and recapitalize regional revolving loan trust\nfund accounts pursuant to section sixteen-a of this act; and (iii)\ngrants to recapitalize minority and women revolving loan trust fund\naccounts established pursuant to section sixteen-c of this act.\n (2) Loans and grants. The corporation may make loans and grants for\nregional strategic planning, business development projects, business\ninfrastructure and infrastructure investment projects, skills training\nassistance projects, economic development assistance projects, and child\ncare assistance projects, that create or retain permanent private-sector\njobs. Such projects and programs except as specifically provided herein:\n (a) Must be consistent with a regional strategic plan for economic\ndevelopment, as coordinated by the chairman of the corporation and\napproved by the director of the budget, with copies filed with the\nspeaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate;\n (b) Must create or retain substantial permanent private-sector jobs in\nthe case of business development loans and business infrastructure\nprojects, or in the case of a child care assistance project the\ncorporation determines that the child day care center will improve or\nmaintain the productivity of the sponsoring company or companies;\n (c) Must be reasonably likely to be completed within the time and cost\nestimates presented in the proposal; and\n (d) Must be unable to obtain sufficient funding on reasonable terms\nfrom other public or private sources to permit the project to proceed\nwithout the requested assistance; and\n (3) Ineligible projects. Ineligible projects shall include retail\nbusinesses, overnight lodging facilities, debt refinancing, or the\nrelocation of a business from one municipality within the state to\nanother municipality, provided, however, that such a project shall not\nbe deemed ineligible if all municipalities from which such business will\nbe relocated are notified in writing of the corporation's approval of\nsuch funding and the chief executive officers of the municipalities do\nnot object to the corporation in writing within a period of twenty days\nof receipt of the notification.\n (4) Nonapplication to certain grants and projects. Section ten and\nsubdivision two of section sixteen of this act shall not apply to grants\nand projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this section.\n (5) Business development project loans. (a) Business development\nproject loans made by the corporation:\n (i) may be for working capital, the purchase or leasing of equipment\nand machinery, land acquisition, and the acquisition, renovation or\nconstruction of facilities;\n (ii) shall not exceed one-third of the total project cost or five\nhundred thousand dollars, whichever is less; and\n (iii) shall be at interest rates that are necessary to make the\nproject feasible, as determined by the corporation.\n (b) Notwithstanding section five of this act, no more than twenty\npercent of the funds available for business development projects shall\nbe grants limited to:\n (i) interest subsidies to reduce costs of financing projects that\ndemonstrate an inability to occur without subsidy, which shall not\nexceed one-third of project cost or four hundred thousand dollars,\nwhichever is less; and\n (ii) feasibility studies of the transfer of ownership to local\ninterests of a company which shall not exceed forty thousand dollars.\n (c) The corporation may make loans or grants for business development\nprojects in economically distressed areas and in other areas; provided,\nhowever, that in the case of other areas, the project furthers:\n (i) business development by women, minorities, or unemployed persons;\n (ii) modernization and productivity improvements by eligible firms;\n (iii) diversification of the economic base of a community;\n (iv) creation of substantial, permanent private-sector jobs, including\njobs for dislocated workers, public assistance recipients, disadvantaged\nyouth, or long-term unemployed persons;\n (v) retention of jobs involving companies at imminent risk of reducing\nemployment;\n (vi) prevention of the loss of a primary employer which will have a\nmajor adverse impact on the economic condition of a community; or\n (vii) furthers the development of a tourism destination.\n (6) Business infrastructure projects. (a) The corporation may make\nloans and grants to businesses, municipalities, industrial development\nagencies and local, county or regional development corporations\ndesignated by local governments for specific business infrastructure\nprojects directly related and essential to specific business\ndevelopments.\n (b) Grants and loans for infrastructure projects may be made in areas\nencompassed by empire zones established pursuant to article eighteen-b\nof the general municipal law and in other areas, except that in the case\nof other areas, a project loan or grant for a business infrastructure\nproject must be for one of the purposes authorized for business\ndevelopment projects in such areas pursuant to paragraph (c) of\nsubdivision five of this section, and shall be available only where\nthere is a firm commitment by a company to carry out a related business\ndevelopment to create or retain substantial permanent private-sector\njobs.\n (c) Assistance for business infrastructure projects shall not exceed\nforty-nine percent of the total project cost or seven hundred fifty\nthousand dollars, whichever is less. Loans for such projects shall be at\ninterest rates determined by the corporation, that are necessary to make\nthe project feasible.\n (d) No more than fifty percent of funds available from the corporation\nfor any infrastructure project not located in an empire zone, and no\nmore than sixty percent of the funds available from the corporation for\nany infrastructure project located in an empire zone shall be disbursed\nas a grant.\n (7) Infrastructure investment projects. Notwithstanding paragraph (b)\nof subdivision two of this section, grants may be made by the\ncorporation for up to four hundred thousand dollars or eighty percent of\nthe total project cost, whichever is less, for infrastructure investment\nprojects which:\n (a) Meet highly distressed area criteria as defined in article\neighteen-b of the general municipal law;\n (b) Are part of an economic development or urban renewal plan to\nattract, retain or permit the expansion of an industrial, manufacturing,\nresearch and development, high-technology, tourism, service, food\nprocessing or distribution company; and\n (c) Are located in areas that are zoned industrial or commercial.\n (8) Infrastructure planning projects. The corporation may make\ninfrastructure planning project grants in an amount not to exceed\ntwenty-five thousand dollars or fifty percent of project costs,\nwhichever is less, for the purpose of conducting preliminary planning on\nbusiness infrastructure development and infrastructure investment\nprojects that meet the criteria set forth in subdivisions six and seven\nof this section.\n (9) Tourism destination projects. (a) The corporation may make\nbusiness development and business infrastructure loans and grants for\ntourism destination projects. Such projects must:\n (i) involve the development of a recreational, educational, cultural\nor historical facility;\n (ii) significantly contribute to the development of a tourism\ndestination; and\n (iii) either (A) involve construction of a new facility that will\nencourage investment in an area where a shortage of tourism-related\nfacilities, attractions or services has deterred business growth and\nwhere the proposed facility would significantly increase overall\nbusiness activity and the marketability of the location as a tourism\ndestination; or (B) improve an existing recreational, educational, or\ncultural or historical facility where the proposed improvement would\nsignificantly increase overall business activity and the marketability\nof the location as a tourism destination.\n (b) The corporation may make grants involving the regional marketing\nof tourism destinations, including commercial tourism destination areas,\nwhere an increase of visitors to such areas will contribute to the\nstability and economic viability of the area.\n (c) Preference shall be given to tourism destination projects which\nattract a significant number of visitors from outside the state,\nprovided, however, that funding priority shall be given to tourism\ndestination projects in distressed areas of the state.\n (d) No assistance shall be provided pursuant to this subdivision to\nfinance a tourism destination project consisting solely of overnight\nlodging facilities or retail businesses. Provided, however, that nothing\ncontained herein shall prohibit the corporation from providing\nassistance to a tourism destination project which includes such\nfacilities or businesses.\n (10) Economic development assistance grants. (a) The corporation\nshall, within available appropriations, award grants or enter into\ncontracts for services to eligible entities and organizations as set\nforth in this subdivision on a competitive basis and in response to\nrequests for proposals issued by the corporation. Grants shall not\nexceed one hundred thousand dollars per project. An applicant shall be\npermitted to apply for support in more than one project area listed\nunder paragraph (c) of this subdivision, provided, however, that the sum\ntotal of the grant received under this subdivision by any one applicant\nfor more than one project approved under paragraph (c) of this\nsubdivision shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars. No\napplication for industrial effectiveness on global export and marketing\nassistance shall be approved by the corporation unless it is first\napproved by the department of economic development.\n (b) The corporation shall enter into no more than one contract or make\nmore than one grant per year per application under this subdivision\nregardless of the number of projects for which an applicant has applied\nand for which funding has been approved. In the case of applications for\nmultiple projects to be conducted by a single applicant, the corporation\nmay, at its discretion, provide a grant or enter into a contract for\nservices with the applicant for some or all of the projects for which an\napplicant has applied.\n (c) Not-for-profit corporations, business improvement districts and\nregional and community development organizations shall be eligible to\napply for support under this subdivision to operate a program or\nprograms of business and economic development services to stabilize,\nretain or revitalize existing businesses, and to assist small and new\nbusinesses, including, but not limited to assistance to individual\nbusinesses or business sectors in project areas, including, but not\nlimited to:\n (i) the preparation of strategic plans for the economic development of\nthe region;\n (ii) analysis of industrial sectors;\n (iii) productivity assistance to mature industries;\n (iv) assistance in marketing and promoting regional business clusters;\n (v) export assistance;\n (vi) management and procurement assistance to small business,\nincluding minority- and women-owned businesses;\n (vii) regional marketing of state economic development programs to\nareas underserved in those programs;\n (viii) assistance in the training of community and economic\ndevelopment staff to assist communities to build capacity to engage in\neconomic development;\n (ix) assistance to expand the capacity of existing entities\nadministering minority and women revolving loan funds to deliver\nservices;\n (x) feasibility studies for the establishment of business improvement\ndistricts and for initial eligible organizational costs; and\n (xi) grants for the establishment and operation of neighborhood-based\nsmall business service centers.\n (d) In awarding grants or contracts pursuant to this subdivision,\npreference shall be given to programs that:\n (i) are located in distressed areas;\n (ii) meet a substantial regional need;\n (iii) complement local programs or provide services not readily\navailable from units of local government or the private sector;\n (iv) provide a local match; or\n (v) foster small business and minority business development.\n (11) Skills training projects. (a) Funds may be available for\nexpenditure related to the provision of skills training assistance when\nutilized in conjunction with other public or private development funds\nfor the purposes of the prevention of worker dislocation or the creation\nof new employment opportunities.\n (b) To the extent that training expenditures involve classroom or\non-the-job training, all funding by the corporation shall be in the form\nof grants or contracts with employers matching fifty percent of the cost\nof training.\n (c) Allowable training expenditures may include expenses for classroom\ninstruction and on-the-job training.\n (d) No skills training assistance shall be provided by the corporation\nunless and until the department of economic development has reviewed and\napproved each project.\n (e) For those projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this\nsubdivision, the corporation shall submit to the governor, the speaker\nof the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, and the chair of\nthe commission on skills development and vocational education a report\nof the training assistance provided by such projects to be submitted not\nlater than September first of each year. Such report shall include, but\nnot be limited to, a description of the training activity provided,\nevidence of linkages with other publicly funded training programs,\nspecification of outcomes achieved including number of job placements,\njobs retained, jobs created, or a measure of productivity improvement,\nthe types of businesses served by size and sector, and funds provided\nfor the construction/renovation of facilities or purchase of equipment\nfor training purposes.\n (12) Child care assistance projects. (a) The corporation shall provide\nfinancing for child care assistance projects for the establishment,\nexpansion and development of not-for-profit child day care centers which\nserve the needs of small and medium-sized commercial, industrial,\nservice and other small and medium-sized businesses, and of\nhealth-related businesses and degree-granting institutions of higher\neducation. Such financing may consist of grants for the establishment of\nlicensed, not-for-profit child day care centers developed in conjunction\nwith small and medium-sized businesses, health-related businesses and\ndegree-granting institutions of higher education. Such grants shall not\nexceed forty percent of the total project cost, may be in amounts up to\none hundred thousand dollars and may be used for general project\ndevelopment costs, including, but not limited to:\n (i) studies to assess the feasibility of, or preliminary planning for,\nthe development of child day care centers sponsored by a not-for-profit\nprovider or a consortia of firms;\n (ii) the acquisition, design, construction, improvement or renovation\nof the child day care center; and\n (iii) the purchase of permanently installed machinery and equipment\nnecessary to establish or expand a child day care center.\n (b) Loans for costs associated with the development or expansion of\nchild day care centers to a not-for-profit child care provider, or a\nsmall or medium-sized business, consortia of such firms or\nhealth-related business or degree-granting institution of higher\neducation that has contracted with a not-for-profit child care provider\nto supply child care services, provided, however, that:\n (i) such loans may be used for the acquisition, design, construction,\nimprovement or renovation of a child day care center at the project site\nand/or for the purchase of permanently installed machinery and equipment\nin connection therewith, or for the provision of working capital to such\ncenter; and\n (ii) the corporation shall determine the terms and interest rates of\nsuch loans, except that no loan shall exceed fifty percent of the total\nproject cost, or two hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less,\nprovided that the total amount given to any individual child care\nproject shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars.\n (c) Financing for child care assistance projects authorized pursuant\nto this subdivision, shall only be made upon a determination by the\ncorporation that such center will improve or maintain the productivity\nof the sponsoring company or companies. Such loans and grants shall only\nbe made for child care centers where adequate day care facilities are\nnot available for employees of businesses within the area of the\nproposed center. Such centers shall:\n (i) demonstrate an ability to obtain, from the appropriate\ngovernmental agencies, all necessary approvals and licenses required to\noperate the center; and\n (ii) demonstrate an ability to prevent access by children to any\nequipment in such centers which could be injurious to their health or\nsafety.\n (d) The corporation shall work closely with the New York state job\ndevelopment authority, the New York state department of economic\ndevelopment, the New York state department of social services, child\ncare resource and referral centers, and other sources offering\nassistance for child care in the state in order to assure coordination\nof services.\n (13) Regional loan fund account grants. Assistance from this program\nmay be provided for grants of up to five hundred thousand dollars to\ncapitalize, and up to two hundred thousand dollars to recapitalize,\nregional revolving loan trust fund accounts established pursuant to\nsection sixteen-a of this act and up to two hundred thousand dollars to\nrecapitalize minority and women revolving loan trust fund accounts\nestablished pursuant to section sixteen-c of this act; and up to two\nhundred thousand dollars to provide the local match for appropriately\nfederally-financed community-based loan funds.\n (14) Determination of economic distress. (a) The corporation shall\ndevelop and consider criteria for determining economic distress within\nthe areas of the state. Factors to be considered in determining economic\ndistress shall include:\n (i) unemployment rate;\n (ii) rate of employment change;\n (iii) percentages and numbers of low-income persons;\n (iv) per capita income and per capita real property wealth; and\n (v) such other indicators of distress as the corporation shall\ndetermine.\n (b) Economically distressed areas shall also include parts of\nmunicipalities otherwise not qualifying, which meet unemployment, income\nand other criteria established by the corporation.\n (15) Application. (a) The corporation shall develop and use a standard\nproject application form. Project applications shall be completed,\nreviewed and evaluated by the regional economic development councils\nestablished pursuant to this section, pursuant to eligibility\nrequirements and criteria promulgated by the corporation pursuant to\nthis section. Such applications shall be submitted to the corporation\nwith recommendations for the project ranked in priority order; provided,\nhowever, that an applicant may make an application directly to the\ncorporation for approval. Upon such direct application, the applicable\nregional economic development council shall review the application and\nshall make a recommendation within twenty days of receipt of such\napplication. The corporation may act on any such application twenty days\nafter the receipt of such application by the regional council.\n (b) The corporation shall expedite the processing of approved loans\nand grant awards with the objectives of simplifying the administrative\nprocess and making prompt and timely payments to recipients and simplify\nprocedures by which approved applications are processed.\n (16) Regional economic development assistance revolving loan account.\nNotwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, the corporation\nshall establish within its treasury a regional economic development\nassistance revolving loan account, shall pay into such account any\nmoneys which may be made available to the corporation for this purpose\nfrom any source including, but not limited to, moneys appropriated by\nthe state and any income earned by, or increment to, the account due to\nthe investment thereof, or any repayment of principal and interest on\nloans made by the corporation for projects authorized pursuant to this\nsection. The amounts deposited in the regional economic development\nassistance revolving loan account may not be interchanged with any other\naccount. All loans disbursed by the corporation shall be repaid into\nsuch account and such repayments shall be available to the corporation\nfor relending and up to one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars of such\nrepayments shall be available for the co-location of staff of the\ncorporation in the regional offices of the department of economic\ndevelopment, expediting project disbursement or outreach in highly\ndistressed areas.\n (17) Approval cycle. The corporation shall approve project loans or\ngrants made under this section on at least a four-month cycle.\n (18) Priority. In approving loans or grants authorized pursuant to the\nprovisions of this section, the corporation shall give priority\nconsideration to whether a project is located in an area of economic\ndistress. Other factors to be considered by the corporation shall\ninclude:\n (a) The number of jobs created or retained;\n (b) The number of jobs created for persons eligible for benefits under\nthe provisions of the job training partnership act (P.L. 97-3400)(29\nU.S.C.A. § 801 et seq.);\n (c) The priority accorded the proposed project by the regional\neconomic development council;\n (d) The participation of minority- and women-owned businesses;\n (e) The impact of the project on the employment and economic condition\nof the community;\n (f) The cost per job created or retained based on total project cost;\n (g) The amount of private investment leveraged;\n (h) The level of local public support; and\n (i) The likelihood of accomplishing the project in a timely fashion.\n In the event that the corporation does not follow the priorities of a\nregional economic development council, it shall make a finding, in\nwriting, as to why the council priority was not followed.\n (19) Preference. For any positions opened as a result of business\ndevelopment project loans, entities assisted shall first consider\npersons eligible to participate in federal job training partnership act\nprograms (P.L. 97-3400) (29 U.S.C.A. §801 et. seq.) who shall be\nreferred to the business by administrative entities of service delivery\nareas created pursuant to such act by the job service division of the\ndepartment of labor.\n (20) Regional economic development council. Beginning April first,\nnineteen hundred ninety-five, there shall be established within each\neconomic development region of the state, pursuant to section two\nhundred thirty of the economic development law, a regional economic\ndevelopment council.\n (a) Appointments to a regional economic development council shall be\nmade according to the following provisions:\n (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, in\nregions composed of two or more counties, the chief executive officer of\neach county within such region shall each appoint one representative to\nserve on the regional economic development council; and the mayor or\nother chief executive of each city within the region whose population\nexceeds fifty thousand, shall each appoint one member to serve on the\nregional economic development council; except that for regions that do\nnot contain a city of at least fifty thousand inhabitants, the mayor or\nother chief executive of the municipality with the largest population\nshall make such appointment.\n (ii) In the case of regions composed of two or fewer counties, the\nchief executive officer of each county within a region shall each\nappoint three representatives to serve on the regional economic\ndevelopment council; and the mayor or other chief executive of the two\nlargest towns within each county shall each appoint one member to serve\non the regional economic development council.\n (iii) In the case of cities of one million or more constituting an\neconomic development region, six appointments to the regional economic\ndevelopment council shall be made by the mayor, and one appointment each\nshall be made by the chief executive officer of any county within such\ncity, who shall represent the county.\n (iv) The governor shall make a number of appointments in each region\nequal to the total number of appointments made pursuant to subparagraph\n(i), (ii) or (iii) of this paragraph, as appropriate; provided however,\nthat of the appointments made by the governor in each region, one shall\nbe the director of the regional office of the department of economic\ndevelopment; one shall be the regional representative of the New York\nstate job development authority, and one shall be a regional office\nrepresentative of the corporation. In addition, the governor shall\nappoint the chair of each regional economic development council.\n (b) Each individual appointed to a regional economic development\ncouncil shall serve for a term of four years but shall serve for no\nlonger than two consecutive terms.\n (c) The chair of a regional economic development council shall serve\nas chair for a single term of four years only.\n (d) Representatives appointed pursuant to this section may be removed\nfor cause by the appointing authority.\n (e) Any vacancy on a regional economic development council shall be\nfilled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original\nappointment.\n * (f) Each regional economic development council awardee may certify\nin writing to such regional economic development council that they\nmaintain internship opportunities, along with the number of\nopportunities, a description of the work the interns will engage in, and\ndescriptions of any supplementary programming offered to the interns.\n * NB Effective July 19, 2024\n (21) Reports. The chairman of the corporation shall submit to the\ndirector of the budget, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate an evaluation of the effectiveness of the\nprogram prepared by an entity independent of the corporation. The\ncorporation shall select the program evaluator through a request for\nproposal process. Such evaluation shall determine whether the assistance\nprovided has enhanced the economic conditions of assisted businesses or\nprojects, and shall make recommendations for improvements which would\nmake the program more effective. Such evaluation shall be submitted by\nSeptember first, nineteen hundred ninety-six.\n (22) Co-location of services. The commissioner of economic\ndevelopment, in consultation with the New York state science and\ntechnology foundation, the New York state urban development corporation,\nthe New York state job development authority, the state university of\nNew York and the city university of New York shall develop and implement\na plan and schedule for the co-location of services provided by such\nagencies in each economic development region throughout the state. Such\nplan and schedule shall provide that at least one employee of each\nagency providing such services shall be located at each co-located\nregional office in New York state on at least a regularly scheduled part\ntime basis. The commissioner of economic development shall report to the\ntemporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the\nchairpersons of the fiscal committees of the senate and assembly, and\nthe governor on the plan and schedule required pursuant to this act by\nDecember thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-four.\n