Eligibility

The City of Amsterdam Microenterprise Assistance Program (AMAP) was made possible through a grant from the New York State Homes and Community Renewal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Eligible Businesses

Grants will be available only to microenterprises. A microenterprise is defined as a commercial enterprise that has five (5) or fewer Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE) employees, one (1) or more of which owns the enterprise at the time of application. Projects must result in the creation of at least one Part-Time-Equivalent (PTE) job. In the case where no jobs are to be created, the employer and/owner or current employee base must be low or moderate-income person as established by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) at the time closing.

Eligible Activities

Eligible activities include providing assistance to existing or start-up businesses.

Business Structure

The Microenterprise may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or corporation.

Location

The business must be located within the City of Amsterdam.

Feasibility

Microenterprise businesses must present a reasonable likelihood for long term viability based upon issues such as feasibility, marketability, management, competition, and capitalization.

Use of Funds

Grants can be used for capital assets (such as real estate, buildings, machinery and equipment) and working capital.

Applicant Qualifications

Applicants for financing under this program shall be a United States corporation, LLC, partnership, or sole proprietorship, be able to repay if found in default of program objectives, and possess good character and reputation and be of legal age.

Passive Investing Prohibited

Grant funds will not be utilized for activities that consist primarily of investing, speculation in real estate, or to primarily assist in the sale or purchase of an existing business.

Limits on Construction Funding

Construction, rehabilitation and renovation activities are not eligible using CDBG Microenterprise funding, as such activities would trigger Federal Labor Standards. The program will look to non-Federal funds to cover the cost of construction or renovation in those instances where such activities need to take place.

Entrepreneurial Training Requirement

Participation in the Fulton County Center for Regional Growth (CRG) business training program will be required of all program participants and completion CRG’s entrepreneurial training Small Business Training Program. A training program syllabus includes a general overview of business; accounting, taxes, and finance; marketing and e-commerce; and development of a business plan.

ALL training sessions must be attended by the applicant in order to receive funding.

Grant Recapture

In the event the grant recipient goes out of business or goes into defaults on the grant agreement from the date of the award up until the time of grant close-out, the grant will be subject to recapture. The amount to be returned will be based upon years of successful, legitimate operation according to the following schedule:

Default within One Year – 100% Recapture

Default within Two Years – 80% Recapture

Default within Three Years – 60% Recapture

Default within Four Years – 40% Recapture

Default within Five Years – 20% Recapture

Default After Five Years – No Recapture

Pre-Application

The current round of funding is allocated. The City of Amsterdam is garnering interest for a future round of funding. 

 *This pre-application is for pre-screening purposes only. Submittal of this form does not guarantee acceptance to the program if the City of Amsterdam is awarded future funding. Applicants will still be required to submit a complete application at that time. * 

 Microenterprise Pre-screening Application 2023

Press Release Microenterprise Pre-screening Application 2023