The Vehicle Loan Program provides low-cost auto loans to eligible individuals in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties in cooperation with the Allegany Business Center. Eligible individuals include:

• whose household income does not exceed 200% of the Federal Poverty Level
• parents, expected parents, non-custodial parents, or custodial parents of a minor child

ACCORD Corporation awarded $174,500 from New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)

ACCORD Corporations Business Development Division is about to embark on its third competitive round of the Wheels for Work program in March 2008.  The first vehicle loan program through ACCORD was started back in 2001 with Wheels for Work I program.

The Wheel for Work program assists low-income working families in obtaining personal vehicles, which are necessary for transportation.  “Getting to work on time, dropping your kids off at day care and being at all the other places a parent needs to be requires some way to get there,” said OTDA Commissioner David A. Hansell. “The Wheels for Work program provides used vehicles and other related services to working New Yorkers, helping them obtain employment or keep a job, giving them and their families a brighter future.”  ACCORD’s Allegany-Cattaraugus County program is one of the largest in the State and has been very successful.  To date, there has been over 300 loans made and therefore 300 jobs retained because of this program.  The loans are to be paid back over a three (3) year period but an incentive is given to those who are on time with their payments.