§ 16-l. Rural revitalization program. 1. Statement of legislative\nintent. The legislature finds that vast areas of rural New York state\nshow signs of severe economic distress and lag behind the rest of the\nstate in employment growth and income, with the gap widening with\npassing years. Poverty in many rural areas is pervasive, with the poor\noften outnumbering the affluent.\n The legislature further finds that rural communities in New York state\nneed immediate assistance to develop the capacity to plan and organize\nfor economic development, to undertake new economic development\ninitiatives, to overcome obstacles to economic development and to fully\nutilize indigenous resources to provide rural residents with economic\nopportunities.\n The legislature further finds that, to begin to address these needs, a\ncatalyst is needed to stimulate and encourage innovative economic\ndevelopment alternatives to declining employment in the agricultural and\nmanufacturing sectors.\n The legislature further finds that, while agriculture is considered to\nbe a major New York industry, state economic development financing\nprograms do not treat agriculture as an industrial sector, and financing\nis not available to provide farmers with assistance to become more\ncompetitive in national and international markets.\n Therefore, the legislature declares that the revitalization of the\nstate's rural economy is essential to New York's economic health and\nthat state assistance in this regard is necessary and proper for\nachieving this public purpose.\n 2. Rural revitalization assistance grants. (a) The corporation is\nauthorized, within available appropriations in the empire state economic\ndevelopment fund established pursuant to section 16-i of this act, to\naward grants or enter into contracts for services, on a competitive\nbasis in response to requests for proposals, to eligible entities and\norganizations as set forth in this subdivision to support community\neconomic development programs and activities which increase or retain\nemployment opportunities in rural New York state and otherwise\ncontribute to the revitalization of local rural areas which are\neconomically distressed through innovative activities designed to\ngenerate economic alternatives and opportunities in rural areas.\n (b) Grants and contracts made by the corporation pursuant to this\nsubdivision shall be subject to the following limitations:\n (i) no such grant shall exceed one hundred thousand dollars per year,\nexcept that for the purpose of paragraph (f) of this subdivision, no\nsuch grant shall exceed fifty thousand dollars.\n (ii) the corporation shall enter into no more than one grant per year\nper application under this subdivision.\n (c) Preference shall be given to programs which meet highly distressed\narea criteria or which support empire zones established pursuant to\narticle 18-B of the general municipal law; provide a local match; meet a\nsubstantial local or regional need; complement local programs or provide\nservices not readily available from units of local government or the\nprivate sector.\n (d) For the purposes of this subdivision, "rural area" shall mean a\nrural area as defined in subdivision 7 of section 481 of the executive\nlaw.\n (e) Not-for-profit corporations, agricultural cooperative\ncorporations, public benefit corporations and educational institutions\nserving rural areas, shall be eligible to apply for support under this\nsubdivision for the following activities, provided, however, that the\nsum total of grants received by any one eligible entity does not exceed\ntwo hundred fifty thousand dollars in any one year:\n (i) innovative activities and programs designed to encourage\nvalue-added small business development and growth in rural areas,\nincluding cottage and crafts industries; group marketing of local\nproducts; women-owned industries; natural resources development; and\ntourism. Such activities and programs shall al
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