9 New York State agencies to answer questions from small business owners at July events on Long Island

Small-business  owners can meet with representatives from nine state agencies next month at two events on Long Island to discuss state licensing requirements, taxes, regulations, employee training programs, and grants and other business aid, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

The free events, part of the statewide interagency Small Business Tour, will take place at SUNY Old Westbury on July 22 and at the Suffolk Theater on Main Street in Riverhead on July 23. Both will run from 10 a.m. to noon.

To register, go to dol.ny.gov/SBT. 

The tour is designed “to showcase the breadth of free resources available to help small businesses succeed,” said Hope Knight, CEO and president of Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency.

ESD and the state Department of Labor are leading the tour, which is in its second year.

Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said her department “offers a trove of no-cost resources that can help businesses of all sizes compete on the global stage.”

Besides ESD and the labor department, the other tour participants are the departments of state, financial services, taxation and finance, agriculture and markets, liquor authority, workers’ compensation board and insurance fund.

The SUNY Old Westbury event is being held in conjunction with the Long Island Association business group, Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Riverhead event is being held with the Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers.

“This is a great opportunity for small business owners who are still recovering from the pandemic and economic downturn to speak with senior representatives of small business-affiliated state agencies, get their questions answered, and receive the assistance they need,” Robert Fonti and Gina Coletti, the alliance’s co-chairs, said on Monday.

Separately, ESD will hold a “regional opportunities expo” for minority- and women-owned businesses in midtown Manhattan on July 11 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

More information is available at esd.ny.gov/doing-business-ny/mwbe/2024-mwbe-regional-opportunities-expo-series. 

Hochul said ESD has eliminated a yearslong wait for MWBE certification.

Applications are taking less than 90 days to process since Hochul and the State Legislature included $11 million in additional funding in the 2022-23 state budget.