* § 16-gg. Small business seed funding grant program. 1. Definitions.
As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:

(a) "Small business" shall mean a business which is resident in this
state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and
employs one hundred or less persons, was started on September 1, 2018 or
later and has been operational for a minimum of six months prior to
application.

(b) "Micro-business" shall mean a business which is a resident in this
state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and
employs ten or less persons.

(c) "The program" shall mean the small business seed funding grant
program established pursuant to subdivision two of this section.

(d) "Applicant" shall mean a micro-business, small business, or
for-profit independent arts and cultural organization, including
independent arts contractors submitting an application for a grant award
to the program.

(e) "For-profit independent arts and cultural organization" shall mean
a small or medium sized private for-profit, independently operated
live-performance venue, promoter, production company, or performance
related business, including independent arts contractors, located in New
York state negatively impacted by COVID-19 health and safety protocols,
and having one hundred or less full-time employees, excluding seasonal
employees.

2. Small business seed funding grant program established. The small
business seed funding grant program is hereby created to provide
assistance to early-stage small businesses to succeed in a recovering
New York state economy.

3. Authorization. The corporation is hereby authorized, using
available funds, to issue grants and provide technical assistance and
outreach to micro-businesses, small businesses, for-profit arts and
cultural organizations including independent arts contractors and
technical assistance partners for the purpose of aiding the recovery of
the New York state economy, and may promulgate guidelines to effectuate
the purposes herein.

4. Selection criteria and application process. (a) In order to be
eligible for a grant or additional form of support under the program, an
eligible small business shall:

(i) be incorporated in New York state or licensed or registered to do
business in New York state and must be resident in the state of New
York;

(ii) be a currently viable micro-business, small business, for-profit
arts and cultural organization including independent arts contractors
that started business on September 1, 2018 or later and has been
operational for at least six months before an application is submitted;

(iii) have between five thousand and one million dollars in gross
receipts or be able to demonstrate five thousand dollars in business
expenses;

(iv) be in substantial compliance with applicable federal, state and
local laws, regulations, codes and requirements; and

(v) not owe any federal, state or local taxes, or have an approved
repayment, deferral plan, or agreement with appropriate federal, state,
and local taxing authorities.

(b) (i) Grants awarded from this program shall be available to
eligible micro-businesses, small businesses, and for-profit arts and
cultural organizations including independent arts contractors that do
not qualify for business assistance grant programs under the federal
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 or any other available federal COVID-19
economic recovery or business assistance grant programs, including loans
forgiven under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, or are unable to
obtain sufficient business assistance from such federal programs, with
priority given to socially and economically disadvantaged business
owners including, but not limited to, minority and women-owned business
enterprises, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, and
veteran-owned businesses, or businesses located in communities that were
economically distressed prior to March 1, 2020, as determined by the
most recent census data.

(ii) Grants awarded from this program shall be available to eligible
micro-businesses, small businesses and for-profit arts and cultural
organizations including independent arts contractors that did not
qualify for business assistance under the COVID-19 pandemic small
business recovery grant program as provided for in section sixteen-ff of
this act.

5. Eligible costs. (a) Eligible costs considered for micro-businesses
and small businesses under this program must have been incurred between
September 1, 2018 and January 1, 2022.

(b) (i) The following costs incurred by a micro-business, small
business, and for-profit arts and cultural organization including
independent arts contractors shall be considered eligible under the
program at a minimum: payroll costs; costs of rent or mortgage as
provided for in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph; costs of repayment
of local property or school taxes associated with such small business's
location as provided for in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph;
insurance costs; utility costs; costs of personal protection equipment
(PPE) necessary to protect worker and consumer health and safety;
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) costs, or other
machinery or equipment costs, or supplies and materials necessary for
compliance with COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and other
documented COVID-19 costs as approved by the corporation.

(ii) Mortgage payments or commercial rent shall be considered eligible
costs.

(iii) Payment of local property taxes and school taxes shall be
considered eligible costs.

(c) Grants awarded under the program shall not be used to re-pay or
pay down any portion of a loan obtained through a federal coronavirus
relief package for business assistance or any New York state business
assistance programs.

6. Application and approval process. (a) An eligible micro-business,
small business, or for-profit arts and cultural organization including
independent arts contractors shall submit a complete application in a
form and manner prescribed by the corporation.

(b) The corporation shall establish the procedures and time period for
micro-businesses, small businesses, or for-profit arts and cultural
organizations including independent arts contractors to submit
applications to the program. As part of the application each
micro-business, small business, or for-profit arts and cultural
organization including independent arts contractors shall provide
sufficient documentation in a manner prescribed by the corporation to
demonstrate hardship, and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.

7. Technical assistance and outreach. The corporation may offer or
make available to all applicants, regardless of approval status, direct
or indirect access to financial and business planning, legal
consultation, language assistance services, mentoring services for
post-pandemic planning, reopening planning assistance and other
assistance and support as determined by the corporation. Assistance,
support, outreach and other services may be provided by or through
partner organizations, including but not limited to chambers of
commerce, local business development corporations, trade associations
and other community organizations that have expertise and background in
providing technical assistance, at the discretion of the corporation.

8. Reporting. The corporation, on a quarterly basis beginning
September 30, 2022, and ending when all program funds are expended,
shall submit a separate and distinct report to the governor, the
temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly
setting forth the activities undertaken by the program. Such quarterly
report shall include, but need not be limited to: the number of
applicants and their county locations; the number of applicants approved
by the program and their county location; the total amount of grants
awarded, and the average amount of such grants awarded; and such other
information as the corporation determines necessary and appropriate.
Such report shall be included on the corporation's website and any other
publicly accessible state database that list economic development
programs, as determined by the commissioner. Such reporting may be
incorporated as part of any reporting required under section sixteen-ff
of this act.

* NB There are 2 § 16-gg's