New York SBDC Research Network

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, initially priced at $787 billion and later revised to $831 billion, included $212 billion in tax cuts (mainly through the payroll tax cut), $296 billion in mandatory spending on programs including Medicaid and unemployment benefits, and $279 billion in discretionary spending targeting areas such as aid to individuals to investments in infrastructure, energy, education, and health care. The report says the array of measures is expected to pump $763 billion into the economy by 2019, with most of it being released before the end of fiscal year 2012. Read more from the White House and two popular news sources below. The Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 5 Years Later  - A report from the White House Council of Economic Adviser's. The Fifth Anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  - A White House blog post that provides an overview of the above mentioned report. 5 Years After Stimulus, Oba

Source: Congressional Research Service, via Federation of American Scientists A persistently high unemployment rate is of concern to Congress for a variety of reasons, including its negative consequences for the economic well-being of individuals and its impact on the federal budget (i.e., deficit growth due to lower revenue and higher expenditures). The unemployment rate was 9.5% when the economy emerged from the 11th postwar recession in June 2009. It climbed further to peak at 10.1% in October 2009. The rate then slowly declined before stalling at about 9.0% for most of 2011. Although the unemployment rate has resumed its decline, at slightly above 8.0% in early 2012, it remains at an historically high level. The slow rebound of the labor market has prompted calls for new measures to stimulate economic growth to avoid a so-called double-dip recession, such as occurred during the early 1980s. The economy contracted in July 1981, 12 months into the recovery from the Januar

Last week I blogged about Small Businesses and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This week I would like to blog about ARRA and how it will effect New York State. NYS will be recieving at least $600 million dollars for labor-related relief. Below are links to articles and websites that explain how this money will be allocated, what New Yorkers can do to recieve assistance, and where to get more information. New York State Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 NY Leaders Detail Stimulus Spending In New York, Stimulus Project Planning Under Way Stimulus Funds Offer Relief to City and State Stimulus Money Wipes Out $1.3B in NY Taxes New York Survey Shows Only 27% of Small Business Owners Approve of New $787B Stimulus Bill

On Wednesday, March 18, I attended a Federal Stimlus Package Town Hall Forum at the Lally building of the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY, one of a series of events put together by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and the New York State Senate; the local state senator, Neil Breslin, was the masters of ceremonies. I was surprised to find at 5:50 p.m. plenty of empty seats because I had heard that the first two events were standing room only; evidently, some folks knew that the program was going to start late. Soon enough, though, the room was packed. The head table had a half dozen agency heads or representatives, which made me think this was the only speaker; that would not prove to be true, as the total number of speakers exceeded a dozen and a half. First, Michael King narrated informaion along with this PowerPoint presentation . I was looking for the small businesss aspects. First to pop out at me was on page 17, which deals with labor, specifically the Workforce Investment A

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a 400+ page document that in my opinion would require multiple PhD’s and numerous years to fully understand as an individual. Over the next few months, we at the Research Network will be working on providing our staff and clients, as well as other readers of this blog, with information pertaining to the Stimulus Package (as it is more commonly referred to). While at times this will include government released documents that are difficult to read and extremely long, more often we will try to provide pared down information, especially relating to New York State. Below are a few links to get started. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 New York American Recovery and Reinvestment Handbook From the New York State Senate: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – The Federal Stimulus impact of New York State From the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONEY): Bulletin on the Impact of the 2009 Stimulus

We’re all gearing up to help small businesses in New York understand and gain most advantage from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . We’ll try to keep up-to-date with the details both here in the blog and on the NYS SBDC home page . Specifically wondering what the Recovery Act has to offer green businesses? “ Stimulus Package Has Green for Clean Energy ” from Entrepreneur.com discusses how the Recovery Act will offer tax incentives, bonds, grants and loan guarantees that may be particularly helpful to clean energy companies. Cash grants in particular will help individuals or businesses install solar energy systems – good news for installation and related firms. Don’t forget that small businesses can save money right now by lowering their energy usage. NYS SBDC, NYSERDA, NYBDC and others have teamed up to offer a new energy savings program- get more details here .

From here . Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith and the New York State Senate invites you to attend a Town Hall Forum on the Federal Stimulus Package. Here's what you'll find out: • How your community can benefit from the Stimulus Package; • What projects are eligible for funding; and • Information about job creation and business opportunities. Long Island Suffolk County Community College Saturday, March 14, 2009 11 am - 1 pm Albany College of St. Rose Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6 - 8 pm Syracuse Syracuse City Council Chambers Thursday, March 19, 2009 6 - 8 pm Buffalo Cheektowaga Senior Citizen's Center Saturday, March 21, 2009 11 am - 1 pm Rochester University of Rochester Alumni Center Thursday, March 26, 2009 6 - 8 pm Westchester TBA To attend, please contact the office of the Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith at (212) 298-5585 or sign up in the form on the right side of this page. If you provide us with your email address, we will send you updates as you

Everyone has an opinion, and there's been no shortage of them in relation to the recently-passed stimulus package. Here are links to three stories that I read, all of which were published some time this month, and each with a different point of view on what to expect from the Small Business Administration. Thought you might like to read them yourself: " SBA Ill-Equipped to Handle Obama Stimulus Funds ," an opinion piece by Keith Girard that appeared on Feb. 12th' " Smaller Lenders See Opportunities in SBA Loan Programs ," a story that appeared on the website of the Arizona Republic on Feb 17th; " Stimulus: What's In It for Small Biz? ," which appeared first on Feb. 18th in the Money section on CNN's website. " Overhaul in the Offing at SBA ," first available on the Entrepreneur.com website on Feb. 4th, which discusses recent political developments that affect the Administration.