From local farms and family-owned manufacturers, to mom and pop cafes and convenience stores, small businesses are the driving force of New York’s economy. They provide jobs for our families, friends and neighbors, inspire innovation and often become part of a community’s identity. As a former small-business owner myself, I know how much effort and passion lies behind these ventures, which is why I’ll always do everything I can to help them grow and flourish.

As the chair of the Assembly’s Small Business Committee, I’m pushing for several measures to expand opportunities and protect the rights of New York’s entrepreneurs. I authored and passed a bill to establish an education and training program in small-business development for people ages 50 or older (A.7206). As the workforce ages both statewide and nationally,[1] folks who’ve been in the workforce for decades have great insight and experience, and we should support them every step of the way. Additionally, to help level the playing field, I helped pass legislation to allow regional advocates to act as liaisons to minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and provide technical, managerial and financial assistance (A.4914).

Further, as some of our state’s small business owners begin to reach retirement age, many employees fear they may lose their jobs or have to relocate when a small-business owner retires and sells their company. To help ensure these employees are protected, I’m supporting a measure extending an advisory panel that reports on and makes recommendations on how to best support and promote employee-owned enterprises (A.8089).

Starting a business can come with many unforeseen challenges, including keeping up with numerous state regulations. To help keep fledging businesses from being fined and cultivate better relationships between the state and entrepreneurs, I’m supporting a measure to ensure entrepreneurs are informed of their obligations to state agencies (A.7540-A). The measure gives businesses a period of time to address certain first violations before being fined.

Between skyrocketing energy costs and the substantial investment of time and effort required to shift to green energy sources, local entrepreneurs often struggle to keep their energy bills low while still reducing their carbon footprint. To help small businesses make eco-friendly changes without breaking the bank, I’m fighting for a measure that would create an energy assistance and advocacy program to make it easier for our entrepreneurs to learn about, compare and select energy alternatives that will best fit their operations and enable continued growth (A.1483).

Entrepreneurs put their hearts and souls into their businesses, and they deserve a state government that works as hard as they do. I’ll always fight for their interests because when New York businesses prosper, New York State prospers too.

As always, my door is open. If you have questions about this or any other issue, feel free to contact me at 315-452-1115 or at StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.
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[1] osc.state.ny.us/reports/economic/labor-force-trends-nys-2017.pdf