§ 16-e. Regional economic development partnership program. (1) For the
purposes of this section, the following words and terms shall have the
following meanings:

(a) "Business development project". A project involving an industrial,
manufacturing, commercial, research and development, high technology,
tourism, agricultural or service company.

(b) "Business infrastructure project". A project involving an
industrial, manufacturing, commercial, research and development, high
technology, tourism, agricultural or service company which shall
include, but not be limited to, basic systems and facilities on public
or privately owned property including drainage systems, sewer systems,
access roads, sidewalks, docks, wharves, water supply systems, and site
clearance, preparation, improvements, and demolition.

(c) "Child care assistance project". A project for the establishment,
expansion, and development of licensed not-for-profit child day care
centers which serve the needs of small and medium-sized commercial,
industrial, service and other small and medium-sized businesses,
health-related businesses and degree-granting institutions of higher
education.

(d) "Infrastructure investment project". A project consisting solely
of site preparation, clearance and demolition on property owned by a
municipality, local development corporation, urban renewal agency or
industrial development agency designated by a municipality.

(e) "Infrastructure planning projects" shall mean projects consisting
solely of planning, including the preparation of schematic designs and
preliminary environmental assessments for a business infrastructure
project or an infrastructure investment project.

(f) "Skills training assistance". A project related to the provision
of firm-specific or industry-specific employee retraining, skills
upgrading, and productivity enhancement, including assessment and
training related to the implementation of high-performance work
organization strategies.

(g) "Tourism destination". A location or facility which is likely to
attract a significant number of visitors from outside the region.

(h) "Revolving loan fund account grants" shall include: (i) grants to
provide the local match for federally funded community-based loan funds;
(ii) grants to capitalize and recapitalize regional revolving loan trust
fund accounts pursuant to section sixteen-a of this act; and (iii)
grants to recapitalize minority and women revolving loan trust fund
accounts established pursuant to section sixteen-c of this act.

(2) Loans and grants. The corporation may make loans and grants for
regional strategic planning, business development projects, business
infrastructure and infrastructure investment projects, skills training
assistance projects, economic development assistance projects, and child
care assistance projects, that create or retain permanent private-sector
jobs. Such projects and programs except as specifically provided herein:

(a) Must be consistent with a regional strategic plan for economic
development, as coordinated by the chairman of the corporation and
approved by the director of the budget, with copies filed with the
speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate;

(b) Must create or retain substantial permanent private-sector jobs in
the case of business development loans and business infrastructure
projects, or in the case of a child care assistance project the
corporation determines that the child day care center will improve or
maintain the productivity of the sponsoring company or companies;

(c) Must be reasonably likely to be completed within the time and cost
estimates presented in the proposal; and

(d) Must be unable to obtain sufficient funding on reasonable terms
from other public or private sources to permit the project to proceed
without the requested assistance; and

(3) Ineligible projects. Ineligible projects shall include retail
businesses, overnight lodging facilities, debt refinancing, or the
relocation of a business from one municipality within the state to
another municipality, provided, however, that such a project shall not
be deemed ineligible if all municipalities from which such business will
be relocated are notified in writing of the corporation's approval of
such funding and the chief executive officers of the municipalities do
not object to the corporation in writing within a period of twenty days
of receipt of the notification.

(4) Nonapplication to certain grants and projects. Section ten and
subdivision two of section sixteen of this act shall not apply to grants
and projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(5) Business development project loans. (a) Business development
project loans made by the corporation:

(i) may be for working capital, the purchase or leasing of equipment
and machinery, land acquisition, and the acquisition, renovation or
construction of facilities;

(ii) shall not exceed one-third of the total project cost or five
hundred thousand dollars, whichever is less; and

(iii) shall be at interest rates that are necessary to make the
project feasible, as determined by the corporation.

(b) Notwithstanding section five of this act, no more than twenty
percent of the funds available for business development projects shall
be grants limited to:

(i) interest subsidies to reduce costs of financing projects that
demonstrate an inability to occur without subsidy, which shall not
exceed one-third of project cost or four hundred thousand dollars,
whichever is less; and

(ii) feasibility studies of the transfer of ownership to local
interests of a company which shall not exceed forty thousand dollars.

(c) The corporation may make loans or grants for business development
projects in economically distressed areas and in other areas; provided,
however, that in the case of other areas, the project furthers:

(i) business development by women, minorities, or unemployed persons;

(ii) modernization and productivity improvements by eligible firms;

(iii) diversification of the economic base of a community;

(iv) creation of substantial, permanent private-sector jobs, including
jobs for dislocated workers, public assistance recipients, disadvantaged
youth, or long-term unemployed persons;

(v) retention of jobs involving companies at imminent risk of reducing
employment;

(vi) prevention of the loss of a primary employer which will have a
major adverse impact on the economic condition of a community; or

(vii) furthers the development of a tourism destination.

(6) Business infrastructure projects. (a) The corporation may make
loans and grants to businesses, municipalities, industrial development
agencies and local, county or regional development corporations
designated by local governments for specific business infrastructure
projects directly related and essential to specific business
developments.

(b) Grants and loans for infrastructure projects may be made in areas
encompassed by empire zones established pursuant to article eighteen-b
of the general municipal law and in other areas, except that in the case
of other areas, a project loan or grant for a business infrastructure
project must be for one of the purposes authorized for business
development projects in such areas pursuant to paragraph (c) of
subdivision five of this section, and shall be available only where
there is a firm commitment by a company to carry out a related business
development to create or retain substantial permanent private-sector
jobs.

(c) Assistance for business infrastructure projects shall not exceed
forty-nine percent of the total project cost or seven hundred fifty
thousand dollars, whichever is less. Loans for such projects shall be
at interest rates determined by the corporation, that are necessary to
make the project feasible.

(d) No more than fifty percent of funds available from the corporation
for any infrastructure project not located in an empire zone, and no
more than sixty percent of the funds available from the corporation for
any infrastructure project located in an empire zone shall be disbursed
as a grant.

(7) Infrastructure investment projects. Notwithstanding paragraph (b)
of subdivision two of this section, grants may be made by the
corporation for up to four hundred thousand dollars or eighty percent of
the total project cost, whichever is less, for infrastructure investment
projects which:

(a) Meet highly distressed area criteria as defined in article
eighteen-b of the general municipal law;

(b) Are part of an economic development or urban renewal plan to
attract, retain or permit the expansion of an industrial, manufacturing,
research and development, high-technology, tourism, service, food
processing or distribution company; and

(c) Are located in areas that are zoned industrial or commercial.

(8) Infrastructure planning projects. The corporation may make
infrastructure planning project grants in an amount not to exceed
twenty-five thousand dollars or fifty percent of project costs,
whichever is less, for the purpose of conducting preliminary planning on
business infrastructure development and infrastructure investment
projects that meet the criteria set forth in subdivisions six and seven
of this section.

(9) Tourism destination projects. (a) The corporation may make
business development and business infrastructure loans and grants for
tourism destination projects. Such projects must:

(i) involve the development of a recreational, educational, cultural
or historical facility;

(ii) significantly contribute to the development of a tourism
destination; and

(iii) either (A) involve construction of a new facility that will
encourage investment in an area where a shortage of tourism-related
facilities, attractions or services has deterred business growth and
where the proposed facility would significantly increase overall
business activity and the marketability of the location as a tourism
destination; or (B) improve an existing recreational, educational, or
cultural or historical facility where the proposed improvement would
significantly increase overall business activity and the marketability
of the location as a tourism destination.

(b) The corporation may make grants involving the regional marketing
of tourism destinations, including commercial tourism destination areas,
where an increase of visitors to such areas will contribute to the
stability and economic viability of the area.

(c) Preference shall be given to tourism destination projects which
attract a significant number of visitors from outside the state,
provided, however, that funding priority shall be given to tourism
destination projects in distressed areas of the state.

(d) No assistance shall be provided pursuant to this subdivision to
finance a tourism destination project consisting solely of overnight
lodging facilities or retail businesses. Provided, however, that nothing
contained herein shall prohibit the corporation from providing
assistance to a tourism destination project which includes such
facilities or businesses.

(10) Economic development assistance grants. (a) The corporation
shall, within available appropriations, award grants or enter into
contracts for services to eligible entities and organizations as set
forth in this subdivision on a competitive basis and in response to
requests for proposals issued by the corporation. Grants shall not
exceed one hundred thousand dollars per project. An applicant shall be
permitted to apply for support in more than one project area listed
under paragraph (c) of this subdivision, provided, however, that the sum
total of the grant received under this subdivision by any one applicant
for more than one project approved under paragraph (c) of this
subdivision shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars. No
application for industrial effectiveness on global export and marketing
assistance shall be approved by the corporation unless it is first
approved by the department of economic development.

(b) The corporation shall enter into no more than one contract or make
more than one grant per year per application under this subdivision
regardless of the number of projects for which an applicant has applied
and for which funding has been approved. In the case of applications for
multiple projects to be conducted by a single applicant, the corporation
may, at its discretion, provide a grant or enter into a contract for
services with the applicant for some or all of the projects for which an
applicant has applied.

(c) Not-for-profit corporations, business improvement districts and
regional and community development organizations shall be eligible to
apply for support under this subdivision to operate a program or
programs of business and economic development services to stabilize,
retain or revitalize existing businesses, and to assist small and new
businesses, including, but not limited to assistance to individual
businesses or business sectors in project areas, including, but not
limited to:

(i) the preparation of strategic plans for the economic development of
the region;

(ii) analysis of industrial sectors;

(iii) productivity assistance to mature industries;

(iv) assistance in marketing and promoting regional business clusters;

(v) export assistance;

(vi) management and procurement assistance to small business,
including minority- and women-owned businesses;

(vii) regional marketing of state economic development programs to
areas underserved in those programs;

(viii) assistance in the training of community and economic
development staff to assist communities to build capacity to engage in
economic development;

(ix) assistance to expand the capacity of existing entities
administering minority and women revolving loan funds to deliver
services;

(x) feasibility studies for the establishment of business improvement
districts and for initial eligible organizational costs; and

(xi) grants for the establishment and operation of neighborhood-based
small business service centers.

(d) In awarding grants or contracts pursuant to this subdivision,
preference shall be given to programs that:

(i) are located in distressed areas;

(ii) meet a substantial regional need;

(iii) complement local programs or provide services not readily
available from units of local government or the private sector;

(iv) provide a local match; or

(v) foster small business and minority business development.

(11) Skills training projects. (a) Funds may be available for
expenditure related to the provision of skills training assistance when
utilized in conjunction with other public or private development funds
for the purposes of the prevention of worker dislocation or the creation
of new employment opportunities.

(b) To the extent that training expenditures involve classroom or
on-the-job training, all funding by the corporation shall be in the form
of grants or contracts with employers matching fifty percent of the cost
of training.

(c) Allowable training expenditures may include expenses for classroom
instruction and on-the-job training.

(d) No skills training assistance shall be provided by the corporation
unless and until the department of economic development has reviewed and
approved each project.

(e) For those projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this
subdivision, the corporation shall submit to the governor, the speaker
of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, and the chair of
the commission on skills development and vocational education a report
of the training assistance provided by such projects to be submitted not
later than September first of each year. Such report shall include, but
not be limited to, a description of the training activity provided,
evidence of linkages with other publicly funded training programs,
specification of outcomes achieved including number of job placements,
jobs retained, jobs created, or a measure of productivity improvement,
the types of businesses served by size and sector, and funds provided
for the construction/renovation of facilities or purchase of equipment
for training purposes.

(12) Child care assistance projects. (a) The corporation shall provide
financing for child care assistance projects for the establishment,
expansion and development of not-for-profit child day care centers which
serve the needs of small and medium-sized commercial, industrial,
service and other small and medium-sized businesses, and of
health-related businesses and degree-granting institutions of higher
education. Such financing may consist of grants for the establishment of
licensed, not-for-profit child day care centers developed in conjunction
with small and medium-sized businesses, health-related businesses and
degree-granting institutions of higher education. Such grants shall not
exceed forty percent of the total project cost, may be in amounts up to
one hundred thousand dollars and may be used for general project
development costs, including, but not limited to:

(i) studies to assess the feasibility of, or preliminary planning for,
the development of child day care centers sponsored by a not-for-profit
provider or a consortia of firms;

(ii) the acquisition, design, construction, improvement or renovation
of the child day care center; and

(iii) the purchase of permanently installed machinery and equipment
necessary to establish or expand a child day care center.

(b) Loans for costs associated with the development or expansion of
child day care centers to a not-for-profit child care provider, or a
small or medium-sized business, consortia of such firms or
health-related business or degree-granting institution of higher
education that has contracted with a not-for-profit child care provider
to supply child care services, provided, however, that:

(i) such loans may be used for the acquisition, design, construction,
improvement or renovation of a child day care center at the project site
and/or for the purchase of permanently installed machinery and equipment
in connection therewith, or for the provision of working capital to such
center; and

(ii) the corporation shall determine the terms and interest rates of
such loans, except that no loan shall exceed fifty percent of the total
project cost, or two hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less,
provided that the total amount given to any individual child care
project shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

(c) Financing for child care assistance projects authorized pursuant
to this subdivision, shall only be made upon a determination by the
corporation that such center will improve or maintain the productivity
of the sponsoring company or companies. Such loans and grants shall only
be made for child care centers where adequate day care facilities are
not available for employees of businesses within the area of the
proposed center. Such centers shall:

(i) demonstrate an ability to obtain, from the appropriate
governmental agencies, all necessary approvals and licenses required to
operate the center; and

(ii) demonstrate an ability to prevent access by children to any
equipment in such centers which could be injurious to their health or
safety.

(d) The corporation shall work closely with the New York state job
development authority, the New York state department of economic
development, the New York state department of social services, child
care resource and referral centers, and other sources offering
assistance for child care in the state in order to assure coordination
of services.

(13) Regional loan fund account grants. Assistance from this program
may be provided for grants of up to five hundred thousand dollars to
capitalize, and up to two hundred thousand dollars to recapitalize,
regional revolving loan trust fund accounts established pursuant to
section sixteen-a of this act and up to two hundred thousand dollars to
recapitalize minority and women revolving loan trust fund accounts
established pursuant to section sixteen-c of this act; and up to two
hundred thousand dollars to provide the local match for appropriately
federally-financed community-based loan funds.

(14) Determination of economic distress. (a) The corporation shall
develop and consider criteria for determining economic distress within
the areas of the state. Factors to be considered in determining
economic distress shall include:

(i) unemployment rate;

(ii) rate of employment change;

(iii) percentages and numbers of low-income persons;

(iv) per capita income and per capita real property wealth; and

(v) such other indicators of distress as the corporation shall
determine.

(b) Economically distressed areas shall also include parts of
municipalities otherwise not qualifying, which meet unemployment, income
and other criteria established by the corporation.

(15) Application. (a) The corporation shall develop and use a standard
project application form. Project applications shall be completed,
reviewed and evaluated by the regional economic development councils
established pursuant to this section, pursuant to eligibility
requirements and criteria promulgated by the corporation pursuant to
this section. Such applications shall be submitted to the corporation
with recommendations for the project ranked in priority order; provided,
however, that an applicant may make an application directly to the
corporation for approval. Upon such direct application, the applicable
regional economic development council shall review the application and
shall make a recommendation within twenty days of receipt of such
application. The corporation may act on any such application twenty
days after the receipt of such application by the regional council.

(b) The corporation shall expedite the processing of approved loans
and grant awards with the objectives of simplifying the administrative
process and making prompt and timely payments to recipients and simplify
procedures by which approved applications are processed.

(16) Regional economic development assistance revolving loan account.
Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, the corporation
shall establish within its treasury a regional economic development
assistance revolving loan account, shall pay into such account any
moneys which may be made available to the corporation for this purpose
from any source including, but not limited to, moneys appropriated by
the state and any income earned by, or increment to, the account due to
the investment thereof, or any repayment of principal and interest on
loans made by the corporation for projects authorized pursuant to this
section. The amounts deposited in the regional economic development
assistance revolving loan account may not be interchanged with any other
account. All loans disbursed by the corporation shall be repaid into
such account and such repayments shall be available to the corporation
for relending and up to one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars of such
repayments shall be available for the co-location of staff of the
corporation in the regional offices of the department of economic
development, expediting project disbursement or outreach in highly
distressed areas.

(17) Approval cycle. The corporation shall approve project loans or
grants made under this section on at least a four-month cycle.

(18) Priority. In approving loans or grants authorized pursuant to the
provisions of this section, the corporation shall give priority
consideration to whether a project is located in an area of economic
distress. Other factors to be considered by the corporation shall
include:

(a) The number of jobs created or retained;

(b) The number of jobs created for persons eligible for benefits under
the provisions of the job training partnership act (P.L. 97-3400)(29
U.S.C.A. § 801 et seq.);

(c) The priority accorded the proposed project by the regional
economic development council;

(d) The participation of minority- and women-owned businesses;

(e) The impact of the project on the employment and economic condition
of the community;

(f) The cost per job created or retained based on total project cost;

(g) The amount of private investment leveraged;

(h) The level of local public support; and

(i) The likelihood of accomplishing the project in a timely fashion.

In the event that the corporation does not follow the priorities of a
regional economic development council, it shall make a finding, in
writing, as to why the council priority was not followed.

(19) Preference. For any positions opened as a result of business
development project loans, entities assisted shall first consider
persons eligible to participate in federal job training partnership act
programs (P.L. 97-3400) (29 U.S.C.A. §801 et. seq.) who shall be
referred to the business by administrative entities of service delivery
areas created pursuant to such act by the job service division of the
department of labor.

(20) Regional economic development council. Beginning April first,
nineteen hundred ninety-five, there shall be established within each
economic development region of the state, pursuant to section two
hundred thirty of the economic development law, a regional economic
development council.

(a) Appointments to a regional economic development council shall be
made according to the following provisions:

(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, in
regions composed of two or more counties, the chief executive officer of
each county within such region shall each appoint one representative to
serve on the regional economic development council; and the mayor or
other chief executive of each city within the region whose population
exceeds fifty thousand, shall each appoint one member to serve on the
regional economic development council; except that for regions that do
not contain a city of at least fifty thousand inhabitants, the mayor or
other chief executive of the municipality with the largest population
shall make such appointment.

(ii) In the case of regions composed of two or fewer counties, the
chief executive officer of each county within a region shall each
appoint three representatives to serve on the regional economic
development council; and the mayor or other chief executive of the two
largest towns within each county shall each appoint one member to serve
on the regional economic development council.

(iii) In the case of cities of one million or more constituting an
economic development region, six appointments to the regional economic
development council shall be made by the mayor, and one appointment each
shall be made by the chief executive officer of any county within such
city, who shall represent the county.

(iv) The governor shall make a number of appointments in each region
equal to the total number of appointments made pursuant to subparagraph
(i), (ii) or (iii) of this paragraph, as appropriate; provided however,
that of the appointments made by the governor in each region, one shall
be the director of the regional office of the department of economic
development; one shall be the regional representative of the New York
state job development authority, and one shall be a regional office
representative of the corporation. In addition, the governor shall
appoint the chair of each regional economic development council.

(b) Each individual appointed to a regional economic development
council shall serve for a term of four years but shall serve for no
longer than two consecutive terms.

(c) The chair of a regional economic development council shall serve
as chair for a single term of four years only.

(d) Representatives appointed pursuant to this section may be removed
for cause by the appointing authority.

(e) Any vacancy on a regional economic development council shall be
filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original
appointment.

(21) Reports. The chairman of the corporation shall submit to the
director of the budget, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
program prepared by an entity independent of the corporation. The
corporation shall select the program evaluator through a request for
proposal process. Such evaluation shall determine whether the assistance
provided has enhanced the economic conditions of assisted businesses or
projects, and shall make recommendations for improvements which would
make the program more effective. Such evaluation shall be submitted by
September first, nineteen hundred ninety-six.

(22) Co-location of services. The commissioner of economic
development, in consultation with the New York state science and
technology foundation, the New York state urban development corporation,
the New York state job development authority, the state university of
New York and the city university of New York shall develop and implement
a plan and schedule for the co-location of services provided by such
agencies in each economic development region throughout the state. Such
plan and schedule shall provide that at least one employee of each
agency providing such services shall be located at each co-located
regional office in New York state on at least a regularly scheduled part
time basis. The commissioner of economic development shall report to the
temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
chairpersons of the fiscal committees of the senate and assembly, and
the governor on the plan and schedule required pursuant to this act by
December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-four.