§ 104-a. Special powers and duties of the department with respect to
employee ownership assistance. With respect to employee ownership
assistance loans provided for in subtitle six of title eight of article
eight of the public authorities law and paragraph (o) of subdivision one
of section sixteen-m of section one of chapter one hundred seventy-four
of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-eight, constituting the New York
state urban development corporation act, the department shall have the
power and duty and in cooperation with the job development authority,
the empire state development corporation and any other applicable state
agency or office to:

1. Assist and counsel new employee-owned enterprises in their dealings
with federal, state and local governments, including but not limited to
providing ready access to information regarding government requirements
which affect employee-owned enterprises;

2. Receive complaints and suggestions concerning policies and
activities of federal, state and local governmental agencies which
affect employee-owned enterprises, and develop, in cooperation with the
agency involved, proposals for changes in policies or activities to
alleviate any unnecessary adverse effects on employee-owned enterprises;

3. Conduct investigations, research, studies and analyses of matters
affecting the interests of employee-owned enterprises;

4. Assist employee-owned enterprises in obtaining available
managerial, technical, and financial assistance;

5. Initiate and encourage educational programs relating to
employee-owned enterprises, including programs in cooperation with
various public and private educational institutions;

6. Help new employee-owned enterprises in this state by simplifying
and streamlining license and application procedures wherever possible;

7. Identify industrial and manufacturing businesses that are in danger
of being permanently closed or relocated out of state, which results in
the loss of jobs and increasing unemployment, and assist the businesses
and employees of such businesses by distributing information about the
provisions of this section.

The department may impose fees, pursuant to rules and regulations, to
defray departmental expenses incurred in providing the services set
forth in this section.