N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 5, § 30.2 – Definitions.

(a) Commissioner means the Commissioner of Economic Development.
(b) Department means the Department of Economic Development.
(c) Dislocated worker means an individual who:
1. (1) has been terminated or laid off from employment, or who has received a notice of termination or layoff from employment, and is eligible for, currently receiving, or has exhausted any entitlement to unemployment compensation, and who is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation; or
2. (2) has been terminated from employment, or who has received a notice of termination of employment, as a result of any permanent closure of a plant or facility; or
3. (3) is long-term unemployed and has limited opportunities for employment or reemployment in the same or a similar occupation in the area in which such individual resides, including any older individual who has substantial barriers to employment by reason of age; or
4. (4) was self-employed (including a farmer) and is unemployed as a result of general economic conditions in the community in which the individual resides or because of natural disasters as defined by the United States Secretary of Labor.
(d) Displaced homemaker means an individual who:
1. (1) has worked in the home providing unpaid household services for family members;
2. (2) is not gainfully employed;
3. (3) has had, or would have, difficulty in securing gainful employment; and
4. (4) has been dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by such income, or has been dependent on federal assistance but is no longer eligible for such assistance, or is being supported as the parent of minor children by government assistance or spousal support.
(e) Distressed area means:
1. (1) a county in which:
  1. (i) the income levels of 20 percent or more of the inhabitants are below the poverty level, as shown by the most recent decennial census, as reported by the United States Census Bureau; or
  2. (ii) the average annual rate of unemployment for the two most recent calendar years was 20 percent or more above the State average, as reported by the Commissioner of Labor; or
  3. (iii) three of the following five characteristics exist:
    1. (a) the average annual rate of unemployment for the two most recent calendar years was 10 percent or more above the State average, as reported by the Commissioner of Labor;
    2. (b) the rate of growth in resident employment during the preceding five calendar years was less than 90 percent of the statewide average, as reported by the Commissioner of Labor;
    3. (c) the rate of growth in per capita personal income during the preceding five calendar years was less than 90 percent of the statewide average, as reported by the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis;
    4. (d) the total population has declined since the last decennial census, as reported by the United States Census Bureau; or
    5. (e) the percentage of inhabitants whose incomes are below the poverty level is greater than the percentage of inhabitants of the State whose incomes are below the poverty level, as shown by the most recent decennial census, as reported by the United States Census Bureau;
2. (2) a municipality, or portion of a municipality, located in a county where such county is not a distressed area, but such municipality, or portion of a municipality, is characterized by the following:
  1. (a) the percentage of inhabitants with incomes below the poverty level is more than 25 percent greater than the percentage of inhabitants of the State whose incomes are below the poverty level, as shown by the most recent decennial census as reported by the United States Census Bureau; and
  2. (b) the rate of unemployment is 125 percent or more of the rate of unemployment in the State, as reported by the Commissioner of Labor; or
    (ii)
  3. (a) the percentage of inhabitants with incomes below the poverty level exceeds the percentage of inhabitants with incomes below the poverty level in the economic development region, as shown by the most recent decennial census as reported by the United States Census Bureau; and
  4. (b) the rate of unemployment is 150 percent or more of the rate of unemployment in the economic development region, as reported by the Commissioner of Labor; or
  (i)
3. (3) an area eligible for designation as an economic development zone.
(f) Economically disadvantaged individual means an individual who receives, or is a member of a family who receives, cash public assistance payments, or is a member of a family which has a total family income for the six-month period prior to enrollment in programs funded pursuant to the Economic Development Skills Training Program, which, in relation to family size, was not in excess of the higher of the poverty level or 70 percent of the lower living standard income level, or is receiving food stamps.
(g) Educational agency means a school district, board of cooperative educational services, community college, agricultural and technical college, or degree-granting institution of higher education, or an independent not-for-profit organization which meets the standards of instructional quality established in regulation by the Commissioner of Education. These standards shall include, but not be limited to, qualifications of administrative and instructional personnel, quality of established curricula, facilities and equipment, recordkeeping, admission, grading, attendance, and record of placement of completers which meets standards of acceptability as established by the Commissioner of Education.
(h) Equipment means tangible personal property which will further the objectives of the supported program and for which a definite value and evidence in support thereof have been provided.
(i) Eligible applicant means an organization or group of organizations which has demonstrated effectiveness in the delivery of training services and which is one of the following or a group consisting of two or more of the following:
1. (1) an educational agency;
2. (2) a business;
3. (3) an industry group or association;
4. (4) an employee union or organization;
5. (5) a community-based organization; or
6. (6) a grant recipient or administrative entity of a service delivery area and private industry council as described by the Job Training Partnership Act (29 USC 1501 et seq., as added by P.L. 97-300 and subsequently amended).
(j) Financial support means anything of value contributed by an eligible applicant which is reasonably calculated to support directly the development and expansion of an Economic Development Skills Training Program project and which represents an addition to any financial support previously or customarily provided to such education agencies by the contributor, including, but not limited to, funds, equipment, facilities, faculty and scholarships for matriculating students and trainees.
(k) Interagency review committee means a committee chaired by the commissioner and consisting of representatives from the State Education Department, the Department of Labor, the Department of Social Services, the State University, the City University and the State Job Training Partnership Council. Such other State agencies, authorities, boards or commissions shall be consulted as the commissioner shall deem appropriate.
(l) Minority business enterprise means a business enterprise which is at least 51 percent owned by citizens or permanent resident aliens who are of Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Pacific Islander or Alaskan Native origin, where such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing and where such persons have the authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions of the enterprise.
(m) On-the-job training costs means wages paid by an employer to on-the-job training participants, extraordinary expenses attributable to on-the-job training or expenses attributable to the lower productivity of on-the-job training participants.
(n) Small business means a business which is resident in this State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field and employs 200 or fewer workers.
(o) Targeted individuals means residents of the State who are dislocated workers, economically disadvantaged individuals or displaced homemakers.
(p) Technical assistance means professional and any other assistance provided by an eligible applicant which is reasonably calculated to support directly the development and expansion of a particular project funded pursuant to the Economic Development Skills Training Program and which represents an addition to any technical assistance previously or customarily provided.
(q) Women-owned business enterprise means a business enterprise which is at least 51 percent owned by citizens or permanent resident aliens who are women, where such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing and where such persons have the authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions of the enterprise.