Small Business Resources
- The New York Small Business Development Center is a partner of the Small Business Administration, funded by the U.S. SBA. It offers counseling and training to entrepreneurs and small business owners at no cost. Training programs can be viewed by visiting https://www.nysbdc.org/training/listtraining.aspx.
- EntreSkills is an online education program developed by the New York Small Business Development Center. The program is available to entrepreneurs, veterans, and educators in the classroom. Visit https://www.entreskills.org/ to learn more.
- Census Business Builder is a tool that helps small business owners access data and information essential to their business plan and about their market area. The tool is accessible by visiting https://cbb.census.gov/sbe/#.
Small Business Grant Helps Town of Colonie Businesses
In 2021, the Town of Colonie Local Development Corporation released a new grant opportunity for small businesses still dealing with the financial impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The LDC approved an allocation of $100,000 at its meeting on December 20, 2021 to provide small businesses located in the Town of Colonie with no more than 10 employees and no more than two locations with the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $5,000 to help offset the additional expenses and unexpected losses incurred since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
“The program is possible due to the work of our LDC Board Members who see firsthand the struggles that our smallest businesses have been facing,” said Sean Maguire, Executive Director of the Colonie LDC. “They see and hear about these challenges not only as Board Members but as colleagues, customers, and neighbors – and naturally they want to play an active role in extending a hand.”
This is the third grant program that has been made available to Colonie businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the Town of Colonie Industrial Development Agency committed $100,000 and awarded more than $70,000 in grants to support the additional cost of personal protective equipment. The Town’s Community Development Department also provided $189,500 to assist small businesses through the Community Loan Fund.
Funding for this new program comes from project fees that the Colonie Local Development Corporation receives when assisting not-for-profit entities with issuing bonds to reduce the cost of a project.