New York state is being called on to plug another hole left by federal funding cuts. This time, to prop up a long-running program that supports small- and mid-sized manufacturers.
“It's a challenging year to make a request,” said James Senall, president of NextCorps, which operates the program locally out of a business incubator for tech startups in downtown Rochester.
The state is facing its own multi-million-dollar deficit, and already is scrambling to backfill a lapse in SNAP food assistance and federal cuts to Medicaid.
“We can't print money, and we can't borrow money to the extent the federal government can, and we certainly can't tax enough to make up the difference,” said Assemblyman Harry Bronson, D-Rochester.
Which means all these asks are in competition.
City Council on Thursday unanimously signed onto a letter demanding that the state fully fund SNAP in November. Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced $106 million in emergency grants to food banks and pantries, but said New York cannot foot the estimated $650 million a month it would cost to cover all SNAP benefits.
The program Senall is talking about is the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP, which until this year operated in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, assisting manufacturers with fewer than 500 employees.
Nextcorps operates the local chapter, which annually assists 50 to 60 companies across the nine-county Finger Lakes region on dozens of projects ranging from production efficiency to sales and marketing to cybersecurity. Clients range from Fox Run Vineyards to Century Mold injection molders to Tiny Fish Printing.
The program relies heavily on federal funding — some $200 million nationwide. Nearly $7 million of that funds 10 centers across New York state and is set to run out at the end of the year.
Reauthorization is typically a months-long process, but federal officials haven’t provided any means to do so, Senall said. The Trump administration in recent months has cut, then reinstated but not reauthorized funding in other states. And nothing is happening with the federal government shutdown.
“You can't get a call,” Senall said. “All the government software platforms and systems are not accessible. So, yeah, it's a very difficult time to even try to get answers.”
Senall recently hosted members of Rochester’s state delegation at the Nextcorps offices in the hopes of marshalling support. Bronson was among them.
“Certainly, you know, we want to do what we can in the health care area. We want to do what we can in nutrition area,” Bronson said in a later interview. “But we also can't be short sighted. ... We can't totally disinvest in more long-term investments, like the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. We have to continue to do that because they're providing jobs for families who then earn an income and contribute to the economy and take care of their families.”
One idea, he said, is to redirect money from the state’s Regional Economic Development Councils.
The rub is often that the councils only benefit big businesses. Boosting small- and mid-sized business makes sense, especially in this context, said Bronson, who used to chair the Assembly’ Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry Committee.
“They're really a key to the supply chain of the larger companies that are benefiting from the Regional Economic Development Councils.”
The councils are overseen by Empire State Development. Asked about the idea, a spokesperson responded: “While we can’t discuss potential budget negotiations, it’s disappointing that the current administration in Washington is slashing a proven manufacturing program that creates good jobs and strengthens our economy.”
Senall is optimistic, but also realistic.
“There’s not a replacement program ... to give those companies the kind of support that they need. The state hopefully will continue providing its matching dollars. So it might continue, but at a much reduced level.”
The state of California has closed its MEP program statewide, he said. Other states already have begun cutting staff.
“We're not at that point by any means,” he countered. “And like I said, we're going to pull out all the stops to figure out where we can continue to support these kinds of companies.”
