Purpose

The New York State Community Development Block Grant Program (NYS CDBG) is a federally funded program authorized by Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 administered by the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation’s Office of Community Renewal (OCR). The NYS CDBG Microenterprise program provides funds to communities to develop a local program which will foster the development and support the growth of microenterprise businesses by providing grants in conjunction with capacity building and entrepreneurial assistance training. Qualifying activities must encourage business ownership and self employment and should help advance existing community development activities, such as Main Street and downtown revitalization and rural development. A microenterprise is defined as a commercial enterprise that has (5) five or fewer full-time equivalent employees, one (1) or more of which owns the enterprise, at the time of application. 
 
Funding opportunities are available year round in a non-competitive, open window format. Through the NYS CDBG Microenterprise Program, the OCR provides a maximum allocation amount of up to $200,000 to eligible communities to develop a local microenterprise program that will assist existing or start up micro-businesses by providing grants between $5,000 and $35,000 of NYS CDBG funds. Each beneficiary must create a minimum of one (1) permanent full time equivalent job that is either held by or made available to a person from a low- and moderate-income (LMI) household or the principal(s) developing a microenterprise must be a member of a LMI household.  

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are non-entitlement units of general local government (villages, towns, cities or counties), excluding metropolitan cities, urban counties and Indian Tribes that are designated Entitlement communities. Non-entitlement areas are defined as cities, towns and villages with populations of less than 50,000, except those designated principal cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and counties with populations of less than 200,000. 

Contact

NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal
Hampton Plaza
38-40 State Street, 9th Floor
Albany, NY 12207
(518) 474-2057