New York SBDC Research Network

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is accepting applications from eligible building owners and leaseholders for financial incentives to improve the energy efficiency of new and substantially renovated buildings. The New Construction Program offers technical assistance to identify and evaluate energy-efficiency measures, capital financial incentives for installation of cost-effective electric measures and additional incentives for green buildings. * Eligibility: Businesses, local governments, not-for-profits and private institutions, public and private schools, colleges and universities, multifamily buildings (seeking green building certification), and health care facilities. Eligible applicants are New York State electricity or firm gas distribution customers of a participating utility company and who pay into the System Benefits Charge. * Funding: A total of $90,981,268 is available. * Deadline: Funding is available on a first-come, first-ser

When a taxable product or service is sold, any charges for shipping or delivery that the seller includes on the bill become part of the receipt subject to sales tax. If the product or service being sold is not taxable, any charge to the customer for shipping or delivery is also not taxable. This also applies when the customer gives the seller a valid resale certificate or other exemption document. When taxable and nontaxable products or services are combined into a single charge on one bill, the entire bill is taxable, including any shipping or delivery charges. When charges for taxable and nontaxable products or services are listed separately on a bill, sales tax is not collected on the nontaxable charges. However: If only one charge for shipping or delivery is listed on the bill, the entire delivery charge is treated as part of the taxable portion of the bill. If the charge for shipping or delivery is fairly allocated between the taxable and nontaxable products of the

From HERE : Small business owners struggle with many issues, but one of the biggest challenges is finding help (even in a down economy) that is reliable and trustworthy. In my experience working with successful entrepreneurs, problems in hiring nearly always come down to one common source which is both easy to identify and difficult to fix… it’s you! Not to worry, it’s me as well. Most owners are unprepared to be the manager and fall into the role suddenly when the business becomes too much to manage alone. This pressure, combined with a lack of experience, can lead to disastrous hiring decisions.

American FactFinder (AFF) is the Census Bureau’s primary dissemination tool for many Census Bureau Programs, including: Decennial Census American Community Survey Population Estimates Economic Census of the United States Economic Census of the Island Areas Survey of Business Owners Commodity Flow Survey County & ZIP Code Business Patterns Nonemployer Statistics Annual Survey of Manufacturers These programs listed above account for more than 60 datasets and publish data for over 12 million different geographies. To accommodate this large amount of data, AFF follows a topic based approach. You build a search by selecting keywords and filters from different search menus. As you add additional keywords and filters, the search results become limited to only the tables that meet the criteria. Once you have refined the search results to a suitable level, you can either download or view one or more tables. The table(s) will display the data selected.

The unemployment rate for the foreign born was 9.1 percent in 2011, down from 9.8 percent in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported . The jobless rate of the native born was 8.9 percent in 2011, compared with 9.6 percent in the prior year. The foreign born made up 15.9 percent of the labor force. Data on nativity are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. The foreign born are persons who reside in the United States but who were born outside the country or one of its outlying areas to parents who were not U.S. citizens. The foreign born include legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants. The survey data, however, do not separately identify the numbers of persons in these categories.

From the Mohawk Valley SBDC Mary Carol (“MC”) Chruscicki and Pat Baskinger, became unemployed in the spring 2011 when the Northrop Grumman office in Rome closed. Rather than collect unemployment, they decided to open Agile-X, a business that provides very specialized services relating to hardware, software and communication systems. AgileX principal investigators are experienced leaders in the research and development of secure information and communication capabilities for airborne, maritime and ground platforms from concept through operational deployment in theater. AgileX experience and toolset enables the analysis of alternatives and the impact assessment of the technologies and architectures on mission effectiveness and mission assurance. The clients worked closely with Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome to develop mobile networking technology to equip planes deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. AgileX works closely with its partners to build quality components and systems for

From the Brooklyn SBDC: Ariel Barbouth recognizes New York City as the culinary capital of the world. Ariel started Nuchas in 2008 after visiting his native Argentina and re-discovering restaurants there that only sold empanadas: pastries stuffed with a variety of meats and vegetables originally from Latin America. After returning from Argentina, Ariel developed the Nuchas concept - selling empanadas as convenient, natural handheld food with an ethnic twist. His experience as entrepreneur in a previous venture in the food industry helped him quickly develop the concept. Nuchas started baking and distributing empanadas wholesale. Nuchas’ empanadas quickly became a success and were picked up by gourmet stores across the city. Ariel contacted the Brooklyn SBDC in January 2011 for business plan assistance to grow his business and open his first retail outlet. As the Brooklyn SBDC and Ariel worked on the plan, a Request For Proposal was published by The Times Square Alliance and NYC

Alliance will provide counseling, training to 100,000 encore entrepreneurs SBA has set up a http://www.sba.gov/content/50-entrepreneurs dedicated web page for Americans over the age of 50 featuring: an online self-assessment tool that will help potential small business owners understand their readiness for starting a business as well as information to help with business planning, shaping a winning business idea, professional counseling, financial services and information to find local resources in your area. More HERE .

From the Brooklyn SBDC From his initial weeks of basic training to the Reserve Officer Training Program at Syracuse University and throughout his career as an Air Force officer, Jon Quinn experienced firsthand the benefits of group exercise - military style. Jon started Captain Quinn's Fitness Boot Camp because he is passionate about fitness and about serving others through fitness education. His dedication to fitness has spanned over twenty years of service in the military, the private sector, and in non-profit organizations. Jon, a Certified Personal Trainer is on a mission to ignite a lifetime passion for fitness and healthy living in as many people as possible through programs designed to motivate, educate and inspire transformation and self-improvement. His Fitness Boot Camp provides results-oriented fast paced group fitness classes, private and small group fitness training and coaching, nutritional guidance and, eventually, on-line/retail video instruction. Jon consulted Bu

From the Rockland SBDC Oscar Nordstrom, a Service Disabled Veteran, founded Nordstrom Contracting & Consulting, Corp (NCC) in 2004 as a family-owned and operated small business. NCC provides a variety of construction and renovation work for Federal Agencies, including electrical, mechanical, plumbing, interior fit-outs and finish trades. In that time NCC has performed projects totaling more than $10 million and NCC is especially proud that all projects have been completed on or before required completion and within original budget! NCC’s trademarks are attention to detail, responsiveness, integrity, and genuine pride in its work. Since its inception NCC has grown consistently every year. Mr. Nordstrom says “By aligning the client’s goals with ours, working as a team on each job, we develop and maintain close working relationships with every client. Our past projects, current service contracts and ever-growing portfolio are a testament to the abilities and superior performance of

In addition to business taxes required by the federal government, you will have to pay some state and local taxes. Each state and locality has its own tax laws. The links below provide access to key resources that will help you learn about your state tax obligations. Having knowledge of your state tax requirement can help you avoid problems and your business save money. Read MORE .

from the Farmingdale SBDC While sailing aboard oil tankers in the United States Merchant Marines, Melissa Wawrzonek began planning for a career after she retired from the sea. She decided to translate her love of tea and passion for traveling into a business. To prepare herself, Melissa studied all she could about tea and visited tea producing countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, China and Japan. She completed a 3-year certification course through the Specialty Tea Institute (STI), which certified her as a Tea Specialist and Tea Educator & Speaker. In 2010, with certifications in hand and start-up funds in the bank, Melissa retired from the Merchant Marines. During the summer of 2010, she consulted the Farmingdale SBDC for assistance in finalizing a business plan and leased a 1200 square foot retail space in Northport Village. Melissa and her family completed a restoration of the 110 year commercial space, with original tin ceilings and tin walls, a hotel concierge de

Segregated accounts Establish a segregated bank account for sales taxes. NYS Tax Department encourages all sales tax vendors to voluntarily establish a separate bank account for sales taxes that they collect on behalf of New York State to make it easier to comply with the tax law. To improve sales tax compliance, they can require certain sales tax vendors to deposit sales tax into a separate bank account. This tax law change was effective March 31, 2011. Sales Tax Filing Responsibilities A sales tax return is still required to be filed, if a registered vendor, did not collect any tax for the tax period in question. Vendor Collection Credit (currently at 5% of tax payable except monthly filers with a maximum of $200 ) Sales Taxes are trust taxes – A responsible person can be held personally liable for payment of taxes. If a business ceases doing business, they must file a final sales tax return and return the Certificate of Authority to the Department. Sales Tax Exemp

From the Mid-Hudson SBDC, the late Don Dods, advisor. While working in emergency services and in hospital blood banks, Dr. Hanna Wollocko, Founder, President and CEO of Oxyvita, Inc., recognized the enormous needs and significant problems with blood transfusions. She and a group of professionals from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields founded Oxyvita in 2003 to work on developing an innovative blood substitute. The product is a polymeric hemoglobin solution, which is clinically useful as a blood substitute due to its oxygen carrying function, can dramatically reduce the need for blood donated by human donors and significantly reduce the risks associated with blood transfusions. Dr. Wollocko first consulted Business Advisor Don Dods at the Mid-Hudson SBDC in 2004 about financing to continue the research. He has worked intensely with Dr. Wollocko and her team to develop the product into a sustainable business that is ready to market. The business is now significantly advanced

From Suzanne Reusch, Taxpayer Service Specialist The overall goal of the NYS Tax Department is for all taxpayers to voluntarily pay the correct amount of tax, at the right time. The New York State Tax Department will partner with New York’s businesses to help them comply with their tax responsibilities in the easiest and most efficient way. The New York State Tax Department features a growing list of electronic services that promote self-service, making it easier for customers to conduct business with the department at their convenience. Online Services with NYS Tax Recommend that all businesses sign up for subscription services to: • Obtain new postings of Tax specific technical guidance documents • Receive press releases and News • Each business should create an online service account: • File and pay taxes (sales tax mandated) • Respond to department notices • Change your business address/phone number • Sign up for E-mail alerts to receive account email alerts abou