Posts by Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins

Elizabeth Higgins is an Extension Ag Business Specialist with the CCE Eastern NY Commercial Hort Team, serving fruit and vegetable growers in 17 counties. She is a veteran of multiple federal disasters (Katrina recovery in Louisiana and Irene/Lee in the Catskills) and has experience in working with individuals, businesses and communities to identify and use disaster programs. She can be contacted at emh56@cornell.edu.

How to Prepare Your Yourself and Employees for an ICE/CPB Encounter

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / April 14, 2025

Knowing what rights you have as a business owner and what rights your employees have can be empowering. There has been a lot of concern among ag employers and immigrant…

COVID-19 Update on Pandemic Assistance for Farm and Food Small Businesses

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / October 12, 2021

If your farm or food business is an SBA “small business” you may be eligible for funding for grants to help you respond to coronavirus. The recently announced USDA Pandemic…

COVID-19 Update on PPP Loan Forgiveness, Program Changes and More

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / July 6, 2020

Applying for Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness, Program Changes and a Possibility of an Extension Cornell Cooperative Extension educators have been compiling updates on various emergency funding opportunities for agricultural…

COVID-19 Update on EIDL Program and PPP Funding

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / May 12, 2020

Economic Injury Disaster Loans Application Reopened for Ag Businesses and Updates to Paycheck Protection Loan Program Cornell Cooperative Extension educators have been compiling the latest update on various emergency funding…

Accessing Federal, State and Local Disaster Resources

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / April 6, 2020

How you can start planning now for assistance to stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic and recover afterwards. Based on my experience with previous federal and state disasters, you…

COVID-19 Update on Emergency Resources for Farm Businesses

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / April 6, 2020

Update  4/20/20: It was widely reported on April 15 that the funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) had been fully obligated. As of April 16, SBA closed the loans to…

Funding Sources Info – Or Is ‘Free Money’ Worth It?

By Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins / July 3, 2017

For those who could not attend, a brief recap of several of meetings across ENY Liz Higgins of the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program (ENYCHP) held to discuss the…