UDC-30-13-00002-E Small Business Revolving Loan Fund  

  • 7/24/13 N.Y. St. Reg. UDC-30-13-00002-E
    NEW YORK STATE REGISTER
    VOLUME XXXV, ISSUE 30
    July 24, 2013
    RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES
    URBAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
    EMERGENCY RULE MAKING
     
    I.D No. UDC-30-13-00002-E
    Filing No. 745
    Filing Date. Jul. 08, 2013
    Effective Date. Jul. 08, 2013
    Small Business Revolving Loan Fund
    PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:
    Action taken:
    Addition of Part 4250 to Title 21 NYCRR.
    Statutory authority:
    Urban Development Corporation Act, section 5(4); L. 1968, ch. 174; and L. 2010, ch. 59, section 16-t
    Finding of necessity for emergency rule:
    Preservation of public health, public safety and general welfare.
    Specific reasons underlying the finding of necessity:
    The delay in the approval of the State budget and the current economic crisis, including high unemployment and the immediate lack of financing from traditional financial institutions for job generating small business, are the reasons for the emergency adoption of this Rule which is required for the immediate implementation of the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund in order to promptly provide assistance to the State’s small businesses in order to sustain and increase employment generated by these businesses.
    Subject:
    Small Business Revolving Loan Fund.
    Purpose:
    Provide the basis for administration of Small Business Revolving Loan Fund including evaluation criteria and application process.
    Text of emergency rule:
    SMALL BUSINESS REVOLVING LOAN FUND
    Section 4250.1 Purpose.
    The purpose of these regulations is to set forth and codify administration by the New York State Urban Development Corporation (the “Corporation”) of the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund (the “Program”) authorized by Section 16-t of the New York State Urban Development Corporation Act (the “Act”) (Uncon. Laws section 6266-t, added by Chapter 59, Part N, section 1, of the Laws of 2010). The Corporation is authorized, within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to community development financial institutions, in order to provide funding for those lending organizations’ loans to small businesses, located within New York State, that generate economic growth and job creation within New York State but that are unable to obtain adequate credit or adequate terms for such credit. If the use of a community development financial institution is not practicable based upon an assessment of geographic and administrative capacity and other factors as determined by the Corporation, then the Corporation is authorized, within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to the following other local community based lending organizations: small business lending consortia, certified development companies, providers of United States Department of Agriculture business and industrial guaranteed loans, United States Small Business Administration loan providers, credit unions and community banks.
    Section 4250.2 Definitions.
    a) “Administrative Costs” shall mean expenses incurred by a Community Based Lending Organization in its administration of a Program Loan from the Corporation.
    b) “Administrative Income” shall mean income from (i) fees charged by a Community Based Lending Organization, including application fees, commitment fees and loan guarantee fees related to the Business Loans made to borrowers by the Community Based Lending Organization and (ii) interest income earned on the portion of the Program funds held by the Community Based Lending Organization (whether such funds are undisbursed Program funds or are repayment proceeds of Business Loans¬ made by the Community Based Lending Organization).
    c) “Business Loan” shall mean a loan made by a Community Based Lending Organization to an Eligible Business for an Eligible Project that is either a Micro-Loan or a Regular Loan.
    d) “Community Based Lending Organizations” shall mean community development financial institutions, small business lending consortia, certified development companies, providers of United States Department of Agriculture business and industrial guaranteed loans, United States Small Business Administration loan providers, credit unions and community banks.
    e) “Community Development Financial Institution” or “CDFI” shall mean a community based organization that provides financial services and products to communities, businesses and people underserved by traditional financial institutions.
    f) “Corporation” shall mean the New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a Empire State Development Corporation, a corporate governmental agency constituting a body corporate and politic and a public benefit corporation of the State of New York created by Chapter one hundred seventy-four of the Laws of nineteen hundred sixty-eight, as amended.
    g) “Eligible Businesses” shall have the meaning given in Section 4250. 3 below.
    h) “Eligible Project” shall have the meaning given in Section 4250.3 below.
    i) “Eligible Uses” shall have the meaning given in Section 4250.4 below.
    j) “Ineligible Businesses” shall mean newspapers, broadcasting, or other news media; medical facilities, libraries, community or civic centers. It also means any business relocating from one municipality with the State to another, except when the business is relocating within a municipality with a population of at least one million and the governing body of the municipality approves or each municipality from which such business operation will be relocated agrees to such relocation.
    k) “Ineligible Projects” shall mean any project that is not an Eligible Project, including, without limiting the foregoing, public infrastructure improvements and funding for providing payment or distribution as a loan to owners, members and partners or shareholders of the applicant business or their family members.
    l) “Loan Fund” shall mean the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund created by the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund Legislation.
    m) “Loan Fund Account” shall mean each and every account established by the Community Based Lending Organization for the purpose of depositing Program funds.
    n) “Loan Fund Legislation” shall mean Section 16-t of the Act.
    o) “Loan Fund Proceeds” shall mean any and all monies made available to the Corporation for deposit to the Loan Fund, including monies appropriated by the State and any income earned by, or incremental to, the amount due to the investment of the same, or any repayment of monies advanced from the Loan Fund.
    p) “Micro-Loan” shall mean a Small Business loan that has a principal amount that is less than or equal to twenty-five thousand dollars.
    q) “Minority Business Enterprise” shall mean a business enterprise which is at least fifty-one percent owned, or in the case of a publicly-owned business at least fifty-one percent of the common stock or other voting interests of which is owned, by one or more minority persons and such ownership must have and exercise the authority to independently control the day to day business decisions of the entity. Minority persons shall mean persons who are:
    1. Black;
    2. Hispanic persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Central or South American descent or either Indian or Hispanic origin, regardless of race;
    3. Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent or the Pacific Islands; or
    4. American Indian or Alaskan Native persons having origins in any of the original people of North America and maintaining identifiable tribal affiliations through membership and participation or community identification.
    r) “Program Loan Fund Agreement” shall mean the agreement between the Corporation and the Community Based Lending Organization pursuant to which the Program funds will be disbursed to and used by the Community Based Lending Organization.
    s) “Program Loan” shall mean a loan made by the Corporation to a Community Based Lending Organization.
    t) “Regular Loan” shall mean a Small Business loan that has a principal amount greater than twenty-five thousand dollars.
    u) “Service Delivery Area” shall mean one or more contiguous counties or municipalities to be served by the Community Based Lending Organization and described in the Program Loan Fund Agreement between the Corporation, as lender, and the Community Based Lending Organization, as borrower.
    v) “Small Business” shall mean a business that is resident and authorized to do business in the State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employs one hundred or fewer persons on a full time basis.
    w) “State” shall mean the State of New York.
    x) “Women Business Enterprise” shall mean a business enterprise that is at least fifty one percent owned, or in the case of a publicly-owned business at least fifty one percent of the common stock or other voting interests of which is owned, by United States citizens or permanent resident aliens, one or more who are women, regardless of race or ethnicity, and such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing and such woman or women have and exercise the authority to independently control the day to day business decisions of the enterprise.
    y) “Working Capital Loans” shall mean short and medium term loans for working capital, revolving lines of credit and seasonal inventory loans made by Community Based Lending Organizations to Eligible Businesses for Eligible Projects.
    Section 4250.3 Eligible Business, Eligible Projects and Ineligible Projects.
    Business Loans shall be offered by Community Based Lending Organizations on the terms and conditions that are in accordance with and subject to the Act and the provisions of this Part. Business Loans shall be provided by the Community Based Lending Organization only to Eligible Businesses for Eligible Projects and shall not be used for Ineligible Projects. The terms “Eligible Business”, “Eligible Projects” and “Ineligible Projects” are defined as follows.
    An “Eligible Business” is a:
    1. business enterprise that is resident in and authorized to do business in New York State;
    2. independently owned and operated;
    3. not dominant in its field; and
    4. employs one hundred or fewer persons.
    An “Eligible Project” is a Business Loan from a Community Based Lending Organization to an Eligible Business in the Service Delivery Area for an Eligible Use, whereby the Community Based Lending Organization has reviewed every Business Loan application to determine the feasibility of the proposed Eligible Use(s) of the financing requested by the small business applicant, the likelihood of repayment, and the potential that the loan will generate economic development and jobs within the State. An “Eligible Project” cannot be an “Ineligible Project” as defined below.
    An “Ineligible Project” shall mean: (i) a project or use that would result in the relocation of any business operation from one municipality within the state to another, except under one of the following conditions, (A) When a business is relocating within a municipality with a population of at least one million where the governing body of such municipality approves such relocation, or (B) each municipality from which such business operation will be relocated has consented to such relocation; (ii) projects with respect to newspapers, broadcasting or other news media, medical facilities, libraries, community or civic centers, and public infrastructure improvements; (iii) providing funds, directly or indirectly, for payments, distribution or as a loan (except in the case of a loan to a sole proprietor for business use), to owners, members, partners or shareholders of the applicant business, except as ordinary income for services rendered; (iv) any project that results in a Business Loan to a person who is a member of the board or other governing body, officer, employee, or member of a loan committee, or a family member of the Community Based Lending Organization or who shall participate in any decision on the use of Program funds if such person is a party to or has a financial or personal interest in such loan.
    Section 4250.4 Eligible Uses.
    Eligible Uses of Program funds by a Small Business borrower of the Community Based Lending Organization are:
    1. working capital;
    2. acquisition and/ or improvement of real property;
    3. acquisition of machinery and equipment; and
    4. refinancing of debt obligations provided that:
    a. it does not refinance a loan already in the portfolio of the Community Based Lending Organization;
    b. the refinanced loan will provide a tangible benefit to the business borrower as determined by the Corporation in writing; and
    c. the aggregate of the principal of all borrower refinancing loan amounts in the Community Based Lending Organization’s Program loan portfolio is not greater than twenty-five percent (25%) of the principal amount of the Corporation’s Program loan to the Community Based Lending Organization.
    Section 4250.5 Fees.
    A Community Based Lending Organization may charge application, commitment and loan guarantee fees pursuant to a schedule of fees adopted by the institution and approved in writing by the Corporation.
    Section 4250.6 Niagara, St. Lawrence, Erie, and Jefferson Counties.
    Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this rule, the Corporation shall provide at least five hundred thousand dollars in Program funds to Community Based Lending Organizations for the purpose of making loans to small businesses located in each of the following counties: Niagara, St. Lawrence, Erie and Jefferson.
    Section 4250.7 Business Loan Types and Limits.
    a) There shall be two categories of Business Loans to Eligible Businesses:
    1. a microloan that shall have a principal amount that is less than twenty-five thousand dollars; and
    2. a regular loan that shall have a principal amount not less than twenty-five thousand dollars.
    b) The Program funds amount used by the Community Based Lending Organization to fund a Business Loan shall not be more than fifty percent of the principal amount of such loan and shall not be greater than one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.
    c) No less than ten percent (10%) of the aggregate Program funds shall be allocated by the Corporation for Microloans.
    Section 4250.8 General Evaluation Criteria.
    a) In addition to such criteria as may be set forth by the Corporation from time to time in solicitations for applications from Community Based Lending Organizations, the Corporation shall evaluate the Program assistance application of a Community Based Lending Organization in conformance with the Act and in accordance with the criteria set forth in this Part, including as applicable:
    1. The ability of the Community Based Lending Organization to analyze small business applications for Business Loans, to evaluate the credit worthiness of small businesses, and to monitor and service Business Loans.
    2. The ability of the Community Based Lending Organization to review every Business Loan application in order to determine, among other things, the feasibility of the proposed Eligible Use(s) of the financing requested by the small business applicant, the likelihood of repayment, and the potential that the loan will generate economic development and jobs within the State.
    3. The ability of the Community Based Lending Organization to target and market to Minority and Women-Owned Enterprises and other small businesses that are having difficulty accessing traditional credit markets.
    b) The Corporation is authorized, within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to community development financial institutions, in order to provide funding for those lending organizations’ loans to small businesses, located within New York State, that generate economic growth and job creation within New York State but that are unable to obtain adequate credit or adequate terms for such credit. If the use of a community development financial institution is not practicable based upon an assessment of geographic and administrative capacity and other factors as determined by the Corporation, then the Corporation is authorized, within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to the following other local community based lending organizations: small business lending consortia, certified development companies, providers of United States Department of Agriculture business and industrial guaranteed loans, United States Small Business Administration loan providers, credit unions and community banks.
    Section 4250.9 General Requirements.
    a) Program funds shall be disbursed to a Community Based Lending Organization by the Corporation in the form of a Program Loan.
    1. The term of the Program Loan shall commence upon closing of the Program Loan Fund Agreement between the Corporation and the Community Based Lending Organization.
    2. The Program Loan shall carry a low interest rate determined by the Corporation based on then prevailing interest rates and the circumstances of the Community Based Lending Organization.
    b) Notwithstanding the performance of the Business Loans made by the Community Based Lending Organization using Program funds, the Community Based Lending Organization shall remain liable to the Corporation with respect to any unpaid amounts due from the Community Based Lending Organization pursuant to the terms of the Corporation’s Program Loan to the Community Based Lending Organization.
    c) At the discretion of the Corporation, a portion of Program loan funds may be disbursed to the Community Based Lending Organization in the form of a grant or forgivable loan provided that those funds are used by the Community Based Lending Organization for administrative expenses associated with Business Loans to Eligible Borrowers for Eligible Projects, loan-loss reserves, or other eligible expenses as may be approved in writing by the Corporation.
    d) The Corporation may establish a Program fund for Program use and pay into such fund any funds available to the Corporation from any source that is eligible for Program use, including moneys appropriated by the State.
    e) Interest received by the Corporation from Program Loans to Community Based Lending Organizations may be used at the discretion of the Corporation for Program Loans and the management, marketing, and administration of the Program.
    f) If the use of a community development financial institution is not practicable based upon an assessment of geographic and administrative capacity and other factors as determined by the Corporation, then the Corporation is authorized, within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to the following other local community based lending organizations: small business lending consortia, certified development companies, providers of United States Department of Agriculture business and industrial guaranteed loans, United States Small Business Administration loan providers, credit unions and community banks.
    Section 4250.10 Loan Fund Accounts.
    Each Community Based Lending Organization shall deposit Program funds awarded by the Corporation, repayments, and interest earned into a bank account in a State or Federal chartered banking institution.
    Section 4250.11 Application and Approval Process.
    The Corporation shall identify eligible Community Based Lending Organizations through one or more competitive statewide or local solicitations.
    Section 4250.12 Auditing, Compliance and Reporting.
    a) The Community Based Lending Organization shall submit to the Corporation annual reports and additional reports as requested at the discretion of the Corporation stating:
    1. The number of Business Loans made;
    2. The amount of each Business Loan;
    3. The amount of Program Loan proceeds used to fund each Business Loan;
    4. The use of Business Loan proceeds by the borrower;
    5. The number of jobs created or retained;
    6. A description of the economic development generated;
    7. The status of each outstanding Business Loan; and
    8. Such other information as the Corporation may require.
    b) The Corporation may conduct audits of the Community Based Lending Organization in order to ensure compliance with the statute, any regulations promulgated with respect thereto and agreements between the Community Based Lending Organization and the Corporation of all aspects of the use of Program funds and Business Loan transactions.
    c) In the event that the Corporation finds substantive noncompliance, the Corporation may terminate the Community Base Lending Organization’s participation in the Program.
    d) Upon termination of a Community Based Lending Organization’s participation in the Program, the Community Based Lending Organization shall return to the Corporation, promptly after its demand thereof, all Program fund proceeds held by the Community Based Lending Organization; and provide to the Corporation, promptly after its demand thereof, an accounting of all Program funds received by the Community Based Lending Organization, including all currently outstanding Business Loans that were made using Program funds. Notwithstanding such termination, the Community Based Lending Organization shall remain liable to the Corporation with respect to any unpaid amounts due from the Community Based Lending Organization pursuant to the terms of the Corporation’s loans to the Community Based Lending Organization.
    e) In the event that a Community Based Lending Organization’s participation in the Program is terminated, the Corporation, in its discretion, can reassign all or part of the award made to such Community Based Lending Organization to one or more Community Based Lending Organizations that are already administering the Program and that serve the same Service Area or portions thereof without an additional solicitation.
    Section 4250.13 Confidentiality.
    a) To the extent permitted by law, all information regarding the financial condition, marketing plans, manufacturing processes, production costs, customer lists, or other trade secrets and proprietary information of a person or entity requesting assistance from the Loan Fund administered through the selected Community Based Lending Organizations by the Corporation, shall be confidential and exempt from public disclosures.
    b) To the extent permitted by law, no full time employee of the State of New York or any agency, department, authority or public benefit corporation thereof shall be eligible to receive assistance under this Program.
    Section 4250.14 Non-Discrimination and Affirmative Action.
    The Corporation’s affirmative action and non-discrimination policies and programs are grounded in both public policy and applicable law, including but not limited to, Section 2879 of the Public Authorities Law, Article 15-A of the Executive Law and Section 6254 (11) of the Unconsolidated Laws. These laws mandate the Corporation to take affirmative action in implementing programs. The Corporation has charged the affirmative action department with overall responsibility to ensure that the spirit of these mandates is incorporated into the Corporation’s policies and projects. Where applicable, the affirmative action department will work with applicants in developing an appropriate Affirmative Action Program for business and employment opportunities generated by the Corporation’s participation of the Program.
    This notice is intended
    to serve only as an emergency adoption, to be valid for 90 days or less. This rule expires October 5, 2013.
    Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
    Antovk Pidedjian, Sr. Counsel, New York Urban Development Corporation, 633 Third Avenue, 37th Floor, New York, NY 10017, (212) 803-3792, email: apidedjian@esd.ny.gov
    Regulatory Impact Statement
    1. Statutory Authority: Section 9-c of the New York State Urban Development Corporation Act Chapter 174 of the Laws of 1968 (Uncon. Laws section 6259-c), as amended (the “Act”), provides, in part, that the Corporation shall, assisted by the Commissioner of Economic Development and in consultation with the Department of Economic Development, promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the State Administrative Procedure Act.
    Section 16-t of the Act provides for the creation of the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund (the “Program”) and authorizes the New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a Empire State Development Corporation (the “Corporation”), within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to Community Development Financial Institutions and other Community Based Lending Organizations, in order to provide funding for those organizations’ loans to New York’s small businesses that are unable to obtain adequate credit or adequate terms for such credit.
    2. Legislative Objectives: Section 16-t of the Act (Uncon. Laws section 6266-t, added by Chapter 59, Part N, section 1, of the Laws of 2010) sets forth the Legislative objective of authorizing the Corporation, within available appropriations, to provide low interest loans to community development financial institutions and other community based lending organizations, in order to provide funding for those organizations’ loans to New York’s small businesses that are unable to obtain adequate credit or adequate terms for such credit. The adoption of 21 NYCRR Part 4250 will further these goals by setting forth the types of available assistance, evaluation criteria, the application process and related matters for the Program.
    3. Needs and Benefits: The State has allocated $25 million to provide low interest loans to community development financial institutions and other community based lending organizations, in order to provide funding for those organizations’ loans to New York’s small businesses that are unable to obtain adequate credit or adequate terms for such credit. Small businesses have been determined to be a major source of employment throughout the State. Small businesses have historically had difficulties obtaining financing or refinancing in order to remain competitive and grow their operations, and the current economic difficulties have exacerbated this problem. Providing loans to small businesses should sustain and potentially increase the employment provided by such businesses, especially during this period of historically high unemployment and underemployment. As of December 31, 2012, over $51.5 million have been loaned to 2,204 small businesses through the Program. Almost $18 million of these funds are from the Corporation.
    The Program (i) allows the Corporation to evaluate the effectiveness of community based lending organizations with respect to their ability to make loans to credit worthy small businesses, (ii) decentralizes to community based lending organizations the evaluation of the credit and operations of small businesses within the respective communities served by such organizations, and (iii) enhances the ability of community based lending organizations to make loans to small businesses in the communities served by such organizations. The rule facilitates these aspects of the Program by providing for a competitive process to select community based financial institutions for Program Loans and defining eligible and ineligible small businesses and eligible uses of the proceeds of loans to small businesses and other criteria to be applied by the community development financial institutions in making loans to small businesses.
    4. Costs: The Program is funded by a State appropriation in the amount of twenty-five million dollars. Pursuant to the rule, community based lending organizations must provide not less than fifty percent of the principal amount of each small business loan funded with Program funds. The costs to a community based lending organization involved in the Program would depend on the extent to which they participate in the Program and their effectiveness and efficiency in making small business loans. The rule also provides for approval by the Corporation of fees charged by a community based lending institutions in connection with loans to small businesses that use Program funds. As of December 31, 2012, $33,510,131 of private funds have been matched to the Corporation’s $17,570,131 for 2,204 loans to small businesses.
    5. Paperwork / Reporting: There are no additional reporting or paperwork requirements as a result of this rule on community based lending organizations participating in the Program except those required by the statute creating the Program such as quarterly and annual reports on the organization’s lending activity and providing information in connection with an audit by the Corporation with respect to the organization’s use of Program funds. Standard documents used for most other assistance by the Corporation will be employed in keeping with the Corporation’s overall effort to facilitate the application process for all of the Corporation’s clients.
    6. Local Government Mandates: The Program imposes no mandates – program, service, duty, or responsibility – upon any city, county, town, village, school district or other special district.
    7. Duplication: The regulations do not duplicate any existing state or federal rule.
    8. Alternatives: While larger financial institutions can potentially provide small business financing and the community based lending organizations already provide small business financing, the State has established the Program in order to enhance the access of small businesses to such financing, and the proposed rule provides the regulatory basis for providing low interest loans to community based lending organizations for lending to small businesses in accordance with the statutory requirements of the Program.
    9. Federal Standards: There are no minimum federal standards related to this regulation. The regulation is not inconsistent with any federal standards or requirements.
    10. Compliance Schedule: The regulation shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
    1. Effects of Rule: In the rule: “Small business” is defined as a business that is resident and authorized to do business in the State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employs one hundred or fewer persons on a full time basis; “Community Development Financial Institution” is defined as community based organization that provides financial services and products to communities, businesses and people underserved by traditional financial institutions; and “Community Based Lending Organizations” is defined as Community Development Financial Institutions, small business lending consortia, certified development companies, providers of United States Department of Agriculture business and industrial guaranteed loans, United States Small Business Administration loan providers, credit unions and community banks. The rule will facilitate the statutory Program’s purpose of having New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a Empire State Development Corporation (the “Corporation”) make low interest loans to community based lending organizations in order to provide funding for those lending organizations’ loans (including microloans in principal amounts equal to or less than twenty-five thousand dollars) to small businesses, located within the State, that are unable to obtain adequate credit or credit terms for such credit.
    2. Compliance Requirements: There are no compliance requirements for small businesses and local governments in these regulations.
    3. Professional Services: Applicants do not need to obtain professional services to comply with these regulations.
    4. Compliance Costs: There are no compliance costs for small businesses and local governments in these regulations.
    5. Economic and Technological Feasibility: There are no compliance costs for small businesses and local governments in these regulations so there is no basis for determining the economic and technological feasible for compliance with the rule by small businesses and local governments.
    6. Minimizing Adverse Impact: This rule has no adverse impacts on small businesses or local governments because it is designed to provide low interest loans to community based lending organizations in order to enhance the ability of such organizations to fund loans to small businesses.
    7. Small Business and Local Government Participation: A number of community based lending organizations that engage in lending to small businesses responded to a survey circulated by the Corporation regarding implementation of the program as reflected in the rule.
    Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
    1. Types and Estimated Numbers of Rural Areas: Community development financial institutions and other community based lending organizations serving all of the 44 counties defined as rural by the Executive Law § 481(7), are eligible to apply for the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund (the “Program”) assistance pursuant to a State-wide request for proposals.
    2. Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance Requirements and Professional Services: The rule will not impose any new or additional reporting or recordkeeping requirements other than those that would be required of any community based lending organization receiving a similar loan regarding such matters as financial condition, required matching funds, and utilization of Program funds, and the statutorily required annual report on the use of Program funds; no affirmative acts will be needed to comply other than the said reporting requirements and the making of loans to small businesses in the normal course of the business for any community based lending organization that receives Program assistance; and, it is not anticipated that applicants will have to secure any professional services in order to comply with this rule.
    3. Costs: The costs to community based lending organizations that participate in the Program would depend on the extent to which they choose to participate in the Program, including the amount of required matching funds for their Program loans to small businesses and the administrative costs in connection with such small business loans and the fees, if any, changed to small businesses in connection with loans to such businesses that include Program funds.
    4. Minimizing Adverse Impact: The purpose of the Program is to provide loans to community based lending organizations in order to enhance the ability of these entities to make loans to small businesses, especially those small businesses that may not be able to borrower funds at acceptable rates from larger financial institutions. This rule provides a basis for cooperation between the State and CBLOs, including CBLO that serve rural areas of the State, in order to maximize the Program’s effectiveness and minimize any negative impacts for such CBLO and the small businesses, including small businesses located in rural areas of the State, that such CBLOs serve.
    5. Rural Area Participation: This rule maximizes geographic participation by not limiting applicants to those located only in urban areas or only in rural areas. A number of CBLOs that engage in lending to rural and urban small businesses responded to a survey circulated by the Corporation regarding implementation of the Program. Their comments were considered in the rulemaking process.
    Job Impact Statement
    These regulations will not adversely affect jobs or employment opportunities in New York State. The regulations are intended to improve the economy of New York by providing greater access to capital for main street everyday small businesses. The Program is targeted to minorities, women and other New Yorkers who have difficulty accessing regular credit markets.
    There will be no adverse impact on job opportunities in the state.

Document Information

Effective Date:
7/8/2013
Publish Date:
07/24/2013