New York has created a number of incentives for business to foster new jobs and encourage economic prosperity. Among these are government-owned industrial park sites, state aid in the creation of county and city master plans, state recruitment and screening of industrial employees, programs for the promotion of research and development, and state help in bidding on federal procurement contracts. Through Empire State Development (ESD), New York State provides a full range of technical assistance. Representatives of the Division of International Commerce call on firms in Canada, Asia, and Europe; the division maintains offices in London, Tokyo, Montreal, Toronto, and Frankfurt, Germany. The Strategic Business Division, through its ten regional offices, encourages the retention and expansion of existing facilities and the attraction of new job-creating investments. Other divisions aid small business and minority and women's business.
The state administers a number of financial programs to attract or retain businesses. Among these are low interest loans and grants for small businesses or for firms that create substantial numbers of jobs; grants and low cost loans for the development of industrial parks; and working capital loans to help companies at risk of downsizing. The state awards both grants and loans to manufacturing companies to encourage productivity improvements and modernization. It also seeks to encourage economic development in distressed rural communities with low interest loans for small businesses located in such areas. To promote technological innovation, the state provides debt and equity financing for technology based start-up companies.
In June 2002, the ESD announced that to assist businesses affected by the World Trade Center (WTC) tragedy, it was implementing a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program with funds provided by the federal government. The funds were to be made available in the form of loans and grants to affected businesses that committed to job retention, job creation and investment in New York City, with priority on Lower Manhattan. Other WTC assistance programs of the ESD included a Disaster Assistance Program for Individuals, Disaster Recovery Resources for Small Businesses, Liberty Zone Tax Benefits, a New York Liberty Bond Program, and the World Trade Center Relief Fund. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), created after 9/11, was charged with planning and coordinating the rebuilding and revitalization of lower Manhattan.