Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Empire State Development: Fall 2015 E-Newsletter



FALL 2015 E-NEWSLETTER


New Fellowship and Scholarship Programs Honor the Life and Work of Carey Gabay

New York attorneys and college students hoping to follow in the footsteps of Carey Gabay will have the chance to do so starting in the New Year, thanks to a fellowship and scholarship created to honor his life and work. Gabay, a former assistant counsel in the Governor's office and First Deputy Counsel to Empire State Development, died Sept. 15, nine days after he was struck by a stray bullet.

"Carey Gabay was an exceptional individual who could have done anything, but chose to enter into public service and give back," Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said. "His kindness, loyalty and grit made him beloved by family, friends and co-workers and his dedication to making New York a better, fairer and safer place made him an inspiration to all.The Fellowship and Scholarship programs bearing his name will serve as a constant reminder of Carey's professional accomplishments and exceptional character, and will ensure his legacy is honored for years to come."

For the full story, click here.


What New York Can Do for You: New Farmers Grant Fund 

Growing New York's agricultural industry is essential to the state economy, and Empire State Development has focused on providing access to capital and technical assistance to farmers across the state. Funds such as the New Farmers Grant Fund have been established to help beginning farmers overcome some of the common financial challenges and barriers they face starting out. 

In its first year, the New York State New Farmers Grant Fund provided a total of $610,000 to 19 farms across the state. Building on this success, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Oct. 23 announced an increase in available funding to $1 million, to assist new and early-stage farmers.  

For the full story, click here.


Spotlight on Success: New York State's First-Ever Women's Building  

The former Bayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan.
The former Bayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan, once a medium-security women's prison, will be developed as the state's first-ever "Women's Building," future home to more than a dozen women-focused organizations. 

The 100,000 square-foot space in Chelsea will be renovated by the Novo Foundation and Goren Group to include working space for community service organizations and other tenants from tech and innovation industries to a restaurant and art gallery space. All told, it's projected the building will create more than 300 new jobs and generate an estimated $43 million in annual economic activity.     
   
 For the full story, click here.


Tourism Highlight: More than $16 Million Poured into New York State's Craft Beverage Industry

New York is experiencing a craft beverage boom, with growth in production, accolades and acclaim for its wine, beer, spirits and cider.  


Since 2011, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has worked to grow the industry by updating laws, relaxing regulations, implementing reforms to allow for more tasting and sales opportunities, and launching aggressive promotional campaigns. That investment is paying off.

"Our investments in the farm-based beverage industry have created a synergy of economic momentum for wineries, cideries, breweries and distilleries. That momentum is fueling opportunity for small businesses across the state, and we are going to keep it coming well into the future," Governor Cuomo said on Oct. 7, following the Third Wine, Beer, Spirits and Cider Summit, and announcing state investments and initiatives totaling more than $16 million to support the industry's continued growth. 

For the full story, click here.


New York State Opens First Trade and Tourism Office in Puerto Rico

Governor Cuomo and Alejandro Garcia Padilla, Governor of Puerto Rico, held a press conference to announce the opening of the New York State Office of Trade and Tourism on Calle San Francisco.
New York's first Trade and Tourism Office in Puerto Rico opened earlier this month in Old San Juan, with a New York State Discovery Center offering residents and visitors a New York State experience from Taste NY products to I Love NY merchandise and materials. 

The new office will promote mutually beneficial tourism opportunities and strengthen economic ties between New York State and Puerto Rico. "New York has always had a special connection with Puerto Rico - and today we are taking a step to make that relationship stronger than ever," said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who was in Puerto Rico for the Nov. 5 opening.

For the full story, click here.


Empire State Development Activities & Resources

Take part in ESD-related happenings around New York State
Events:
  • Buffalo's historic Connecting Terminal grain elevator has been lit with a spectacular new lighting display that will provide a direct visual link to Canalside and anchor the Buffalo River's gateway from Lake Erie. The grain elevator will be lit every night throughout the year, marking another significant milestone in the revitalization of Buffalo's waterfront. Click here for more information. 


  • Attention New York State manufacturers: On Wednesday Dec. 9, FuzeHub will hold a Solutions Forum in Buffalo, a free, half-day event providing in-person meeting opportunities for NYS manufacturing companies with a select group of business and technical experts to analyze, problem solve and identify solutions to meet specific company needs. Register here.
Resources: 
  • Global NY is Governor Cuomo's international initiative that offers one-stop shopping to both foreign businesses looking to invest in New York and to local businesses that want to export globally.  Visit the Global NY events page for more information on trade shows, missions and events.
     
  • ESD provides a variety of Business Programs aimed at helping businesses.  Whether you are an international company looking to make a move or a small business owner wanting to access capital, ESD is here to help.
     
For the full list of events and resources, click here.   

Monday, November 16, 2015

SBA: Top 10 Financial Tools for Small Business Owners | Start Year-End Tax Planning Now

SBA logo
The Learning Center
The Learning Center is a FREE resource to help you learn the ins and outs of starting and managing your business. Take a self-paced online course today.   

Sample plans & resources that can help you develop a business plan

Determining your financial needs, loans, grants, venture capital, angel investors, crowd funding and other financial options available to small businesses

Learn about the government’s contract-solicitation process and how to prepare a proposal

SBA Administrator and Seal
Continuing Service
Recently, I had the pleasure of having lunch with three talented and dedicated SBA veterans. We visited a local veteran-owned small business: Dog Tag Bakery in Georgetown. Last year I participated in Dog Tag Bakery’s grand opening. Among the festivities, we watched a special episode of Shark Tank featuring veteran entrepreneurs. 

 Careers in Film Summit
Careers in Film Summit
On 10/17, more than 400 high school and college students representing the Los Angeles Unified School District—specifically Compton and Inglewood—participated in the first day long Careers in Film Summit, hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership with SBA’s MBK Millennial Entrepreneur Champion, Mike Muse and Overbrook Entertainment.

Blog | Year-End Tax Planning Now
  
It’s that time again for owners to think about taxes. It may not be the most enjoyable endeavor of the year but it’s certainly one that will put money in your pocket. >>Read more 
  
Blog | Top 10 Financial Tools for Small Business Owners
  
Many times financial tools are overlooked as a way to help increase a company’s bottom line. Financial tools have the ability to transform a company’s operations, improve productivity, reduce costs and increase profit margins. >>Read more
  
Blog | SBA’s Export Loans are all about the Relationship

More and more small businesses today are realizing the importance of the international market for growing their sales and diversifying their customer base.  After all, 96% of the world’s consumers are outside the US, and two-thirds of the anticipated growth in GDP will happen in foreign markets. >>Read more
  

twitter chat 11/17

Join our #SmallBizHoliday Twitter Chat for Marketing Tips

Join us on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 1pm ET for a Twitter chat on holiday marketing. We’ll be sharing tips and tricks for small business owners to succeed during the holiday shopping season, including how to make the most of Small Business Saturday. >>Read more



Veteran's Day Blogs

Resources for Veterans: Start Your Veteran-Owned Small Business
 
After years of service, more and more veterans are taking the leap into business ownership. Veterans are 45% more likely to start their own business than their non-veteran counterparts. >>Read more
  
Veteran-Owned Businesses Gain Tools to Succeed In the Corporate and Federal Supply Chain

During National Veterans Small Business Week, veteran-owned small businesses have been able to expand their supply chain opportunities through SBA’s American Supplier Initiative matchmaking events. >>Read more
  
SBA Thanks Boots to Business Instructors of the Year

Our military veterans have made priceless contributions to the peace and security of our nation. Many of them decide to use the discipline, skills and leadership abilities they cultivated while in the military to build a small business. >>Read more

myRA
The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently announced the official launch of myRA, a new retirement savings account for the millions of workers in America who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan through work or have not found an easy way to start saving. 

Employees can:
  • Start funding their myRA account directly from their paycheck
  • Fund their myRA directly from their checking or savings accounts
  • Direct all or part of their federal tax refund to their myRA account, at tax time
Learn more about this new way you can help your employees save at myRA.gov

The Affordable Care Act- Health care information and resources for your small business
The Affordable Care Act 101 Webinar Series
Find out how to navigate the opportunities in health care through the Affordable Care Act 101 webinar series. Registration is free, but required.   
The Affordable Care Act 101 in Spanish. 
For more information on what the health care law means for small businesses, check out www.sba.gov/healthcare

Self-employed? 2016 Open Enrollment is Underway
HealthCare.gov is working for millions of Americans and it’s ready to help even more get covered. 
  • Open Enrollment for 2016 coverage starts on November 1 through January 31
  • If you want to start the New Year with coverage, you must sign up by December 15
  • For people who enroll after December 15, coverage will begin on February
  • Financial assistance is available
Visit HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov to learn more 
  • Call 24hrs/day 1-800-318-2596
  • TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325
  • Assistance is available in 150 languages
  • For free in-person help in your community, visit: Localhelp.healthcare.gov

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

SBA Syracuse: November 2015 Newsletter

SBA Syracuse November Newsletter | Success Story: Couple Finds Success On The Vine In The Hudson Valley

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November 10, 2015

It's Your Business
Syracuse District Office 
November Newsletter

Brought to you by the U.S. Small Business Administration

Success Story: Couple Finds Success On The Vine In The Hudson Valley

Hudson Chatham Winery Owners Dominique and Carlo DeVito
Ten years ago, Dominique and Carlo DeVito decided to supplement their careers in publishing with a life as entrepreneurs. They’d always been interested in wines from around the world, and had visited many wine-growing regions. They were ready to have a go at it. After nine months of searching, the DeVitos found a perfect fit for their vineyard plans in Ghent, NY – a piece of farmland that had been part of a former dairy farm.

The hilly, southern-facing slope where they envisioned planting grapes had the right combination of drainage and full sunlight, and the property itself was zoned for commercial, residential and agricultural use, which was important. Testing by Cornell Cooperative confirmed the soil conditions were conducive for growing grapes, and in early 2006 the DeVitos purchased 14 of what was once a 500-acre farm. The property’s location halfway between Hudson and Chatham led the couple to select the business name of Hudson-Chatham Winery. Theirs was the first winery in Columbia County.
Hudson Chatham Winery owners Carlo and Domenique DeVito
“We staked out the rows and planted 1,000 vines in May of 2006. When they were first planted, we used protective tubing around them to protect them, and we put fencing around the property. Between the deer and birds, it can be a challenge to keep the grapes on the vine,” explains Dominique.
The DeVitos spent the next three years traveling back and forth from New Jersey to their fledgling vineyard on weekends and summers so that their twin sons could continue their normal school schedule. In 2008 they moved permanently into the 1790’s historic farmhouse, which is featured as their bottle label brand....Read more
2015 Emerging Leaders SBA Syracuse Graduation Photo

SBA Syracuse Celebrates Emerging Leaders Graduation

SBA honored the owners of 18 participating companies in its Emerging Leaders program at a graduation ceremony at SUNY ESF in Syracuse on November 4th. The intense program, providing more than 40 hours of advanced management training, has been a collaboration of the SBA Syracuse District Office with CenterState CEO, CNY TDO, City of Syracuse Office of Neighborhood and Business Development, Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc., MACNY, Onondaga County Office of Economic Development, Onondaga SBDC, SUNY ESF, Syracuse SCORE, Syracuse University, The Falcone Center, The Tech Garden and the WISE Women’s Business Center.
Now in its fifth year, Syracuse is one of 48 participating Emerging Leaders locations nationwide. With the 2015 class, 78 Central New York entrepreneurs have completed the program since it launched in Syracuse. The Emerging Leaders program targets small companies that have the potential for rapid expansion and job creation.
Nationally, Emerging Leader graduates have secured more than $1 billion in government contracts and accessed $73 million in new financing. Graduates also reported having created nearly 2,000 new full-time jobs since the program’s inception. Sixty-two percent of surveyed participants reported an increase in revenue while 70 percent of those surveyed reported maintaining or creating new jobs in their communities. 
  • Broadway CafĂ© and Arctic Island
  • Gannon Pest Control Inc.
  • Industry Standard
  • Lakeside Innovative Technologies, LLC
  • Lou's Car Care Center, Inc.
  • Mark's Service Center Inc.
  • Paratore Signs, Inc.
  • Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution, LLC
  • Powers Accounting & Business Service, Inc.
  • R&D Design and Associates, LLC
  • Savvy Wine Cellar
  • Senior Home Care Solutions
  • Sherman Construction Inc.
  • Spinnaker Custom Products
  • Syracuse Corrugated Box Corp.
  • Syracuse Technologies LLC
  • Terrestrial Environmental Specialists, Inc.
  • WellTrail Inc.
NVSBW 2015
Veteran Solar Systems owner Thom Besch
A native of Rensselaer County, Thom Besch came home to the Capital Region after a 26-year careerserving in the U.S. Army. After retiring as a Colonel, Thom apprenticed in a local solar business for four years before launching his own startup solar firm, Veteran Solar Systems, in February of 2014. Thom’s company employs up to five employees and serves mainly residential customers in a one-hour radius of Albany. Resources like the SBA’s Boots to Business training program, SBA’s Veteran Business Outreach Center (VBOC) Director Amy Amoroso in Albany, and incubator space at the Watervliet Arsenal have contributed to Veteran Solar’s continued success.
“I came back because this is where my family lives. In trying to decide what I wanted to do next, I thought about defense contracting and changing uniforms for a coat and tie. I believed in the missions and units I was a part of, and I wanted to do something afterwards where I was contributing to something important. After some soul-searching, for me it was renewable energy,” says Thom Besch, President of Veteran Solar Systems. “My business counselor Amy Amoroso connected me with the Watervliet Arsenal for great office space and help with marketing and more from its McNulty Center for Veteran Entrepreneurial Activity. I discovered there are a lot of people willing to help veterans in business; you just need to make the connections and reach out. After being in the military where you always have a boss, no matter what your rank is, it’s nice to have control over your own destiny.”
JNB Foods owner Barry Moore and NYS VBOC director Amy Amoroso
After his enlistment in the U.S. Navy in the 1970’s, Albany-native Barry Moore worked as a commercial painter. In between painting jobs, he took the U.S. Postal Service civil service exam and passed with high marks. Barry spent the next 32 years at the Postal Service, rising from clerk to executive, by building a strong background in leadership and management skills.
“In 2011, I decided it was time for something else. I retired and rode off into the sunset on my Harley. But when winter time came and I couldn’t ride, I sat down with my brother and my son Jason to talk about taking my bruschetta into the marketplace. We financed everything ourselves to get started as JNB Foods and were struggling. The spring of 2012 we found help with business planning from Amy Amoroso,” explains Barry Moore. “Our first production was 20 cases of bruschetta and apple corn salsa for the Women’s Expo here in Albany and we sold out. One month later, I had a phone call from a dietician at Shop Rite who had attended the Women’s Expo. She invited us to pitch our products with the store manager and we had our first major success. We were in the right place at the right time.”
When JNB Foods was ready to grow to meet rising demand, Moore used the research resources available at the Albany Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to develop his business plan when he attended their SEED Program in 2012. Today, JNB’s foods are sold in specialty and grocery stores across New York State. Their products such as pineapple salsa and cranberry chutney live up to their company slogan of “Natural. Healthy. Delicious.” In addition to business counseling withNew York State VBOC Director Amy Amoroso, Moore also found assistance from the Albany SBDC for trade missions to China withSBA’s STEP program and product placement through Taste of New York stores in Puerto Rico.

SBA SYRACUSE LENDING BREAKS RECORD IN 2015

SBA Syracuse District Director Bernard J. Paprocki released the fiscal year 2015 lending report, with 870 7(a) and 504 loan approvals valued at $207.5 million across the 34-county Syracuse district.
"Our loan approvals have broken the $200 million mark for the first time,” said SBA Syracuse District Director Bernard J. Paprocki. “With the strong relationships we have with our lending partners, continued fee reductions through 2016 and streamlined application processes, we anticipate building on this past year’s momentum so that more Central New York entrepreneurs will use SBA financing to create jobs and invest in their businesses and communities."                   
Awards for the most active lenders in the Central New YorkSouthern Tier, andCapital Region areas were presented this fall for large commercial, large community, and small community categories.

Nominate A Deserving Veteran Entrepreneur!

Do you know of an exemplary veteran entrepreneur? The SBA Syracuse District Office invitesnominations for the 2016 Veteran-Owned Achievement (VOBA) Award to recognize the entrepreneurial success of a local business owner who has served our country.
The nominee must be a 51 percent small business owner with military service, in business for at least two years, a resident of the United States, and meet one or more of the following criteria: staying power; growth in employees or sales; current and past financial performance; innovativeness of service or product; response to adversity; and contributions to community-oriented projects.
The winner will be presented with the award at the 2016 Operation: Start Up & Grow veterans’ business conference at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse on Thursday, March 16, 2016.
Nomination packages must be postmarked by January 31, 2016. Please contact Erica Choi for nomination forms at 518-446-1118 ext. 231 orerica.choi@sba.gov.

Are You Ready 
For Small Business Saturday?

 November 28, 2015 is Small Business Saturday® – a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities. Please join the SBA and organizations across the country in supporting your local small business by shopping at a small business.