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Home>Jobs and Business
J obs and Business
Tompkins County is a regional employment center anchored and stabilized by its largest employer, Cornell University. As host to a thriving higher education sector, the community is an attractive location for technological, creative, and information-related enterprises. Other key sectors in the local economy are high tech industries, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism.
Although the primary organization in Tompkins County that is charged with facilitating county-wide economic development planning is Tompkins County Area Development, the Tompkins County Planning Department is currently actively involved in several projects addressing jobs and business.
Tompkins County Economic Development Assistance
The Tompkins County Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund provides low interest loan assistance to facilitate projects that create or retain employment opportunities for low- to moderate-income persons. Loans are made possible from repaid U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The Tompkins County Economic Development Loan Oversight Committee reviews applications and makes recommendations for loan assistance.
For more information about this program, contact the Tompkins County Planning Department at (607) 274-5560 or E-mail us.
Rural Small Business Loan Program 30kb
The Rural Small Business Loan Program assists small business owners located in the rural areas of the County. The program is a partnership with Alternatives Federal Credit Union, which provides training, technical assistance, and loan underwriting. The County funds the loan component of the program, providing low-interest loans to qualified applicants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for equipment and working capital to start up or enhance business operations in rural areas.
This program is funded by repaid U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Small Cities Community Development Block Grants funds previously awarded to Tompkins County for economic development loans.
For more information about this program, contact the Tompkins County Planning Department at (607) 274-5560 or E-mail us or Alternatives Federal Credit Union at (607) 273-4611.
Community Development Block Grant Program
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program is a federal program that provides funding for housing and community development. The primary objective of the CDBG Program is to develop viable communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and expanding employment opportunities, principally for persons of low-and moderate- income. The program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, consists of two components: 1) an entitlement program that provides funding directly from HUD to designated entitlement communities (City of Ithaca), and 2) a Small Cities Program, administered by New York State through the Governor’s Office for Small Cities, which funds smaller communities that are non-entitlement communities (Tompkins County and all other towns and villages in the County). Small Cities funds assist activities that focus on creating or expanding job opportunities, addressing housing needs, or meeting local public facilities needs.
Between 1991 and 2006, the Tompkins County Planning Department has been awarded $11.25 million in CDBG funds for homeownership, home rehabilitation and economic development projects.
Link to Tompkins County CDBG history (grants received in the past).
For more information about the CDBG program visit the Governor’s Office for Small Cities website at http://www.nysmallcities.com/
Tompkins County Area Development 
TCAD is charged with facilitating county-wide economic development planning. TCAD is not a division of the Planning Department, but has been linked here for your convenience.
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