incentives

New York State and Seneca County offer business incentives to encourage investments that drive business growth and job creation. The incentives are available individually, or bundled as part of a comprehensive program, such as the Empire Zone Program. All government incentive programs are aimed at helping companies retain jobs by enhancing their operating effectiveness, or to create new jobs through business growth and expansion.

For more information about any of the programs listed below, please contact us at 315-539-1725 or raronson@co.seneca.ny.us.

Energy

Building Redevelopment Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Grants to fund utility-related infrastructure improvements necessary for the redevelopment of brownfields and abandoned buildings.

Economic Development through Greater Energy Efficiency (EDGE)
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: EDGE provides financial and technical support for detailed engineering studies of manufacturing operations; and financial assistance for the demonstration of innovative energy-efficient process technology.

New York State Energy $mart Loan Fund
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Investments may qualify for a 4% reduction in a financial institution's loan rate from New York State for the life of the loan.

Power Naturally
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Installation of 50kW or smaller end-use solar or wind energy system. Must be grid connected. $4.00/watt incentive for solar systems.

Small Commercial Energy Audit Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: NYSERDA provides financial assistance for the cost of an energy audit and matching funds for implementation of audit recommendations.

Smart Equipment Choices
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: NYSERDA rebates on approved energy efficient equipment such as lighting, motors, geothermal heat pumps and HVAC refrigeration.

University-Industry Energy Research Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Funding to reduce risks and operating costs, increased opportunities to develop and use innovative technologies and improved access to university resources and specialized equipment.

Utility Infrastructure Investment Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Energy
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: If funding from other sources is inadequate, NYSEG may supplement, on a per project basis, new electric delivery related facilities, if a minimum of $1 million is invested in a new or expanded facility

Grants

Environmental Investment Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Grants
Audience: Small- to Medium-Sized Business
Details: Provides funding for capital investments, research, development and demonstration as well as technical assistance that produce measurable results in pollution prevention, reuse and recycling.

Global Export Market Service
Location: Seneca County
Category: Grants
Audience: Small- to Medium-Sized Business
Details: Helps businesses expand through increased export activities. Can provide up to $25,000 in export marketing consultant services for individual companies, and up to $50,000 for groups of companies or industry associations.

Industrial Effectiveness Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Grants
Audience: Small- to Medium-Sized Business
Details: Assists companies in identifying, developing and implementing improved management and production to enhance efficiency, expand market share and promote job growth.

New York State's Manufacturing Extension Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Grants
Audience: Small- to Medium-Sized Business
Details: Grants of up to $60,000 to private consultants. They will identify, develop and implement improved management and production processes for businesses to expand market share and promote job growth or retention within New York State.

Small Cities Grant
Location: Seneca County
Category: Grants
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Expansion projects that create/retain jobs.

Loans

Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Revolving Loan Fund
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Purchase of machinery and/or equipment, rehabilitation of industrial property, purchase of industrial property and site development and expansion. Also has a companion loan fund that can finance working capital needs.

Microenterprise Revolving Loan Fund
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small-Sized Business
Details: Loans of up to $25,000, at a fixed 5% interest rate.

New York State Business Development Corporation Loan Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small- to Medium-Sized Business
Details: NYBDC is a complement to conventional banking, working in partnership with banks to provide term loans, many of which do not meet the requirements for traditional financing. Our goal is to be more creative in our underwriting. In many cases, we include multiple participations, SBA guarantees, flexible amortization and long-term payouts.

New York State Job Development Authority Direct Loan Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Loans from $50,000 to $3.5 million to encourage businesses to expand, locate or modernize their facilities in New York State.

New York State Linked Deposit Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small- to Medium-Sized Business
Details: The program provides a two to three percentage points savings on the prevailing interest rate for "Linked Loans," to make borrowing less expensive. The maximum loan amount is $1,000,000 for four years.

Seneca County CDBG Revolving Loan Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Gap financing.

Seneca County IDA Revolving Loan Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Gap financing.

Small Business Administration 504 Loan Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small-Sized Business
Details: Expansion projects that create/retain jobs, real estate projects or acquisition of machinery and equipment.

Small Business Administration 7A Loan Guarantee Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small-Sized Business
Details: Real estate, equipment, working capital and other business purposes.

Small Business Administration 7M Micro Loan Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Loans
Audience: Small-Sized Business
Details: Provides short-term loans of up to $35,000 to small businesses and not-for-profit child-care centers for working capital or the purchase of inventory, supplies, furniture, fixtures, machinery and/or equipment.

Tax Abatement

New York State 485(b)
Location: Seneca County
Category: Tax Abatement
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Partial exemption from the real property tax levied by counties, cities, towns, villages and/or school districts. The maximum exemption amounts to 50% of any increase in value in the first year following completion and declines by five percentage points in each of the succeeding nine years.

Sales Leaseback Agreements - Payment in Lieu of Taxes (P.I.L.O.T.) Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Tax Abatement
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: The following benefits are available to companies who enter into a Sales Leaseback Agreement with an IDA.

Real Property Tax Abatement - Abatement of the real property tax for a designated period of time.

New York State Sales Tax Exemption - Sales tax exemptions on the purchases and costs associated with creating/retaining jobs. Examples: sales tax associated with contractor costs, business vehicles sales tax.

Mortgage Recording Tax Exemption - Local mortgage recording tax is waived.

Tax Credits

Employment Incentive Credit
Location: Seneca County
Category: Tax Credits
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: An additional credit of 1% to 2% for the same new capital investment may be deductible from the tax payable in each of the next two years succeeding the year of the original investment.

New York State Investment Tax Credit
Location: Seneca County
Category: Tax Credits
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: The investment may qualify the business to receive up to a 10% tax credit on their investments.

New York State Research and Development Tax Credit
Location: Seneca County
Category: Tax Credits
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Investments in research and development facilities are eligible for a 9% corporate tax credit. Additional credits are available to encourage the creation and expansion of emerging technology businesses, including a three-year job creation credit of $1,000 per employee and a capital credit for investments in emerging technologies.

Workforce Development

New York State Training Grants
Location: Seneca County
Category: Workforce Development
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: Funding available for up to 50% percent of any training project, training in new technologies, skills or work processes, training in a classroom setting and/or on-the-job, funding for consortia projects, and funding for small business training projects.

Zone Programs

New York State Empire Zone
Location: Seneca County
Category: Zone Programs
Audience: Small- to Large-Sized Business
Details: QEZE Sales Tax Exemption - Ten-year exemption from state sales tax on certain purchases of goods/services.
QEZE Credit for Real Property - Refundable credit against their business tax equal to a percentage of real property taxes paid.
QEZE Tax Reduction Credit - Credit against their tax equal to a percentage of taxes attributable to the zone enterprise.
Wage Tax Credit - This credit is available for up to five consecutive years for companies hiring full-time employees in newly created jobs.
EZ Investment Tax and Employment Incentives Credit - Tax credit up to 19% of the company's eligible investment.
New Business Refund - New state businesses receive a 50% cash refund of unused EZ-WTC and EZ-ITC amounts.
Utility Rate Savings - Reduced electric and gas rates.
Zone Capital Credit - A 25% tax credit against personal or corporate income taxes.

Other Programs

Microenterprise Assistance Program
Location: Seneca County
Category: Other Programs
Audience: Small-Sized Business
Details: This program is intended to provide eligible participants with free training and technical assistance and access to low interest loans.

Entrepreneurship Training - This includes a 12-week training course which covers many of the aspects of operating a small business including: taxes, legal/business law, budgeting/financial statements/recordkeeping, computer applications and employee issues.

Technical Assistance and Business Plan Development - Technical consultants assist in the development of a business plan which will: outline the vision of the entrepreneur/owner, identify the market, detail the production and employment plan and identify financial needs and goals.