SUNY SBDC Partners with Con Edison to Assist Small Businesses with Energy Savings Program

Contact: David Carnevale; david.carnevale@nyssbdc.org

NYS Small Business Development Center

State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246
Corporate Woods Building, 3rd Floor

518-641-0614
www.nyssbdc.org - www.suny.edu

Albany – The State University of New York’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the state's leading provider of small business management and technical services, in partnership with Con Edison, will provide energy reviews for small business owners interested in improving energy efficiency for their operations.

 

The SBDC will promote the project to its existing clients as well as to small business owners that are potential clients of the program. In addition, the SBDC will provide free one-to-one advisement and training to small business owners to help them:

 

• Implement energy efficiency projects
• Secure financing to achieve energy efficiency or to build green buildings
• Evaluate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind
• Evaluate energy efficiency opportunities with green buildings
• Improve environmental performance

 

The program is made possible by the SBDC having been awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Energy Audit and Energy Efficiency Program Grant. The Energy Audit and Energy Efficiency Program Grant is one of only (7) awards announced by the SBA to pilot targeted outreach to the small business community in the nation.

 

The Energy Audit and Energy Efficiency Program is a specialized initiative of the SBA providing grant-funded service delivery network providing quality customer service to the small business community. The program creates a broad-based system of assistance for the small business community by linking the resources of federal, state and local governments with the resources of the educational community and the private sector.

 

In announcing the award, the US SBA said, “The New York State SBDC and its partner organizations plan to coordinate their resources to provide energy audits for small businesses with substantial energy consumption.  They also will educate small business owners to help them identify energy savings and make ‘efficient energy’ decisions. The SBDC and its partners will advise small business owners about energy opportunities relating to green buildings, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and improved environmental performance.”

 

The SBDC will assist small business owners by conducting training and educational activities directly related to energy efficiency and provide access to information and resources on energy efficiency practices. The award will allow the NYSSBDC to promote small business energy conservation in partnership with Con Edison as well as its host higher education institutions.

 

Con Edison will contribute resources to conduct free energy surveys of small businesses that are identified and referred by the SBDC. The audits will identify energy-efficiency strategies and improvements that yield energy savings. The SBDC will use the SBA Energy Audit and Efficiency Program Grant award to have Business Advisors from the SBDC program assist small business owners to implement the recommendations from the audits engineers by accessing capital and building the business case and improve the overall energy efficiency of the participating firms.

 

In addition, the New York Business Development Corporation (NYBDC), a lending consortium made up of 135 banks doing business in New York State, will make financing available to those small business owners participating in the Con Edison audits that have viable business opportunities in order to assist in implementing energy saving investments. NYBDC is one of the largest and most experienced SBA lenders in the state for developing innovative financial solutions for programs such as this.

 

“The past spike in energy costs help make this project very timely for most small businesses,” said NYSSBDC State Director Jim King. “We’re enthusiastic about the potential to identify and work with small businesses throughout New York State, and to work with Con Edison and NYBDC to help implement changes in business operations that will save energy while helping the environment through reduced emissions and the economy by cutting back on imported oil. This simply makes good sense for the business and the State.”

 

“Cutting costs is a critical element of day to day life for business owners and everyday businesses are looking for solutions that can make an impact and be cost effective.” said Con Edison Energy Efficiency Director Rebecca Craft.  “This partnership provides businesses access to energy efficiency resources that can help reduce energy usage.  We are excited about the opportunity this brings to business owners and Con Edison’s small business energy efficiency program.  We want customers to use less energy and save money.”

 

“NYBDC is committed to providing unique financing for businesses in the energy efficiency and green business sectors,” said NYBDC President & CEO Patrick MacKrell. “We look forward to working with the energy projects identified through this program and partnering with the SBDC to accomplish these energy related goals.”

 

About Con Edison

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE: ED], one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and $34 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit Con Edison’s website at www.coned.com.

Business owners can explore Con Edison’s energy-efficiency programs at: http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/

 

About the SBDC

The SBDC, administered by the University at Albany, the largest unit of the State University (SUNY), has 24 regional service centers located throughout the New York State on SUNY, City University of New York (CUNY) and private university campuses. Since inception in 1984, the SBDC has provided small business advisement services to more than 279,000 New Yorkers. The SBDC also provides training and business research to existing business owners and entrepreneurs. SBDC clients have invested over $3.6 billion in NY, impacting 131,000 jobs. 

 

The SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New York, local communities and host campuses. As a result of this leveraged support, the SBDC staff provides confidential one-on-one business advisement services at no direct cost to the citizens and entrepreneurs of New York.

 

For more information about the SBDC, visit www.nyssbdc.org.

 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 465,000 students in 7,351 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

 

Be a part of Generation SUNY! Follow us on Twitter, be our fan on Facebook, and watch us on YouTube.

 

###