Agencies offering help to small businesses

For struggling businesses, local economic development agencies are ready to help.

A panel of agency officials talked about the tools they have at Jefferson County Job Development Corporation's quarterly membership meeting Friday morning.

"These are incredibly difficult times that require a lot of due diligence and require businesses to start thinking outside the box for solutions," said James P. Fayle, regional director with the Empire State Development Corp.

He said government and economic development agencies also needed to think outside the box. Mr. Fayle told the business owners that Empire State Development will soon announce three new programs to help businesses and communities with infrastructure, downtown development and capital expenses.

"Under the old programs, we graded success on job growth," he said. "We need to develop programs that reward businesses for maintaining what they do have and reward businesses, frankly, for losing a few jobs so they stabilize the business and ensure they will be here for years."

Sarah C. O'Connell, business adviser for the Small Business Development Center at Jefferson Community College, Watertown, said recent changes to loan programs by the U.S. Small Business Administration have loosened up bank financing and brought more small businesses to the center.

"We are seeing retail and service businesses feeling better and more relaxed," she said. "They are seeing the opportunities now."

The center is partnering with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority on a program for energy efficiency. That program begins with an energy audit and the costs for the audit are refunded if businesses follow through with the suggestions.

Cheryl A. Mayforth, director of Jefferson-Lewis Workforce Investment Board, said local agencies should work to keep the 7,100 unemployed people in Jefferson and Lewis counties here.

"Our biggest challenge is to make sure we retain these people," she said. "People will shift to where the jobs are."

She said traffic of unemployed people looking for training, job search help and benefits has increased at the center, which is on JCC's campus.

The center is the avenue for job training reimbursements available to businesses and for training and other programs available to the unemployed. Mrs. Mayforth pointed people to the "myBenefits" Web site, run by the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

She said the unemployment rate, now above 10 percent locally, could drop a little over the next few months as seasonal people return to work.

ON THE NET

New York state benefits: www.mybenefits.ny.gov