VITA Training: Southern Tier CA$H of Hornell Training AU Students for Tax Return Preparation

 

Today, Southern Tier CA$H (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope) trained its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteers by focusing on the State Returns (NY focused), ACA (Affordable Care Act), TaxSlayer software, Premium Tax Credits, and Exemptions. They covered VITA Site Operations and Compliance, what is expected of their volunteers, and what to expect this tax season.

CA$H is an IRS sponsored VITA program, led by Arbor Housing and Development, offering free tax assistance for low-to-moderate income families and individuals, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and limited English speaking taxpayers who need help in preparing their own tax returns.

IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals.

Law241 Guest Speaker: Ms. Carol Kando-Pineda of the Federal Trade Commission

 

Carol Kando-Pineda is Counsel in the FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education where she leads teams to create free print materials, websites, and videos to help people avoid scams, manage their money and make wise buys. Carol began her FTC career as a staff attorney bringing false advertising cases; she then became the agency’s Legislative Counsel, serving for several years as a liaison between the FTC and Congress.

Topics TBD

VITA Training: United Way of Allegany County

 

Today, Shawn Currier of United Way of Allegany County started training Alfred University students for the coming changes to this year tax return preparation season.

United Way of Allegany County and Alfred University have long been partners in serving the tax-paying local community by providing free tax filing services to those who qualify.

LAW241 Guest Speaker: Jill Crandall of the Career Development Center

 

Jill Crandall of the Career Development Center spoke to the class about career and internship resources available to students, and resume / internet best practices.

Jill is the Assistant Director in the Career Development Center, a general career counselor, and also manages Alfred University’s internship and co-op programs for credit.

Guest Speaker: Applied Biorefinery Sciences

Company representatives from Applied Biorefinery Sciences (or AB Sciences) spoke to potential investors, professionals (accountants, attorneys, and investment bankers), academics, and to our students about their firm’s prospects, current investment need, and of their activity in Allegany County.

Move over, Petroleum. Biomass is about to eat your lunch.

Trees, corn, soy beans, sugar cane, switch grass and other plants are on their ways to replacing petroleum as the source of fuels and chemicals in the 21st Century.

What petroleum refineries were to the 20th and 21st centuries, bio-refineries will be to the 21st and 22nd centuries—the sources of valuable fuels and chemicals. But with a monumental difference—they won’t contribute to Climate Change.

applied-biorefinery

Syracuse-based AB Sciences is an emerging leader in bio-refining. Eschewing enzymatic (bio-chemical) and gasification (thermos-chemical) processes that destroy or discard chemical intermediaries generally in favor of a single target product, the company creates multiple products. It starts with wood and produces a variety of high-value products. One is torrified wood—a superior fuel and chemically-modified wood fibers that perform better than wood in combustion, paper making and fiberboard manufacturing.

AB Sciences processes are patented and the company has received support from NYSERDA and NYS economic development grants to construct a demonstration biorefinery in the Adirondacks capable of processing three tons per pay of forest residuals, wringing every bit of economic value from that biomass.