§ 104-a. Special powers and duties of the department with respect to employee ownership assistance. With respect to employee ownership assistance loans provided for in subtitle six of title eight of article eight of the public authorities law, the department shall have the power and duty and in cooperation with the job development authority to:

1. Assist and counsel new employee-owned enterprises in their dealings with federal, state and local governments, including but not limited to providing ready access to information regarding government requirements which affect employee-owned enterprises;

2. Receive complaints and suggestions concerning policies and activities of federal, state and local governmental agencies which affect employee-owned enterprises, and develop, in cooperation with the agency involved, proposals for changes in policies or activities to alleviate any unnecessary adverse effects on employee-owned enterprises;

3. Conduct investigations, research, studies and analyses of matters affecting the interests of employee-owned enterprises;

4. Assist employee-owned enterprises in obtaining available managerial, technical, and financial assistance;

5. Initiate and encourage educational programs relating to employee-owned enterprises, including programs in cooperation with various public and private educational institutions;

6. Help new employee-owned enterprises in this state by simplifying and streamlining license and application procedures wherever possible;

7. Identify industrial and manufacturing businesses that are in danger of being permanently closed or relocated out of state, which results in the loss of jobs and increasing unemployment, and assist the businesses and employees of such businesses by distributing information about the provisions of this section. The department may impose fees, pursuant to rules and regulations, to defray departmental expenses incurred in providing the services set forth in this section.