NYS offers $1B in grants, relief for small business

Financial relief by way of grants is available for small business owners in New York State. This is all thanks to the $1 billion in small business pandemic relief programs for minority and women owned businesses, entrepreneur mentorship and more.

On Monday, Anna Kaplan, chair of New York State Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business, spoke about the grants and relief for small businesses in the recently enacted state budget.

Now, the state is seeking to form grassroots partnerships to help get these resources into the community through trusted messengers.

“The pandemic has been devastating to New York’s small business community, and they need our help if they’re going to survive these challenging times,” Kaplan said in a statement. “I’m proud to have fought to bring back over a billion dollars in grants and other assistance for our small businesses in the State budget, and as the program rolls out statewide, I encourage every small business owner to apply for the assistance they need and deserve.”

“Local businesses are working to build back from the impact of coronavirus regulations,”  Eric Alexander, director of Vision Long Island and Long Island Main Street Alliance, said in a statement. “These grants available from New York State can begin to level the playing field as we work towards a recovery that helps our local communities.”

Small business initiatives included in the recently enacted 2021-2022 State Budget include:

$800 Million for The COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program. This new program will provide direct grants, which do not need to be repaid, to small businesses who lost revenue or suffered economic harm as a result of the pandemic. Businesses with 100 or fewer employees will qualify, and the program will be designed to ensure that microbusinesses with 10 or fewer employees are not left out of the process. Grant funding can be used to pay rent, mortgage costs, operational expenses, payroll, insurance, utilities, repayment of local property or school taxes associated with a business’s location, PPE expenses, ventilation upgrades required to comply with COVID safety regulations, and any other documented COVID-19 related costs incurred over the last year.

New York State Restaurant Resiliency Program: $25 million in grants to restaurants providing free meals to economically disadvantaged individuals in economically distressed communities to cover their operational and material costs of meal preparation, provisions, and delivery.

Arts & Cultural Organization Recovery Grant Programs: $40 million in grants to nonprofit arts and cultural institutions for operating costs, mortgage/rent, equipment, and other related costs. This grant program will be facilitated and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.

NYC Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit: This two-year, $100 million tax credit program will help the Broadway tourism sector to recover from COVID shutdowns.

Restaurant Return to Work Credit: Provides $35 million in refundable tax credits for restaurants that were subject to an extended ban on indoor dining.

In addition to appropriating the financial resources for these programs, the budget also makes available a portion of these funds to help the state conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to small business owners to ensure that these funds reach the smallest of businesses in every corner of our community, not just those who are well connected and have staff dedicated to seeking such funding.

Kaplan said that it is “critical that these grants get in the hands of the small businesses who need them right away, and I’m thrilled that Empire State Development is working to develop a grassroots outreach effort, potentially including chambers of commerce as trained outreach experts, as a means of reaching every small business in our community.”