Supporting Small Businesses in a Targeted Pandemic Recovery
Problem
Through COVID-19, we have lost over 500,000 small business jobs. Some businesses have closed permanently while others are still fighting to make ends meet. This pandemic has emphasized how unsupportive our economic, and general governmental system is towards small businesses of specific industries, an example being restaurants and personal services which were limited by the nature of their business function accompanied by government mandates, standards, and regulations that other industries were not subjected to.
Our Plan
Expand federal loan relief and grant programs that aid businesses in recovering their losses and supporting their staff.
Ensure federal relief goes towards qualified small businesses, and that the application process is informative, accessible on- and off-line to bypass technical barriers, and available in the applicant’s language of choice.
Targeted support programs in partnership with organizations such as SCORE to aid in educating small business owners on the constantly shifting and increasing requirements and regulations.
Increase support for small businesses in understanding the loans they have taken during the pandemic to support both their short-term and long-term resiliency. This form of support includes but is not limited to:
Holding informative sessions on the complexities and differences in the various loan programs.
Financial planning sessions to ensure sustainability for both their businesses and their livelihoods.
Identifying and directing support to businesses owned and/or operated by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and immigrants.
Develop programming and establish protections for lease support and real estate navigation to prevent unnecessary rent burden, manipulation, and exploitation.
Support the Biden Administration’s Community Navigator Pilot Program when it launches to promote working with community-based organizations to ensure equitable access to funding and address the gaps in relief that we saw earlier in the pandemic.
Push the New York City Government, and specifically Small Business Services, to be more systematic and targeted in their support of small businesses by collecting more individual-level data to distinguish and differentiate how specific industries and demographics, such as restaurants and minority and women-owned businesses, have been adversely and negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This data is also important to identify the gaps that caused specific communities and business sectors to be more vulnerable in the first place.
Support organizations such as What Works Cities, which awards different levels of certification to cities that use data in their decision-making.
Local initiatives, such as Communities Speak, have already begun this work and should be supported as they grow to meet the scale of all small businesses in New York City.
Collect data regarding small business recovery and make it accessible for community-based organizations, local philanthropies, and BID’s to access and target their small business support.
Ensure all programming and information are accessible by all demographics in promotion and in language.
This Matters
There are over 215,000 million small businesses in New York, approximately 90% of which have fewer than 20 employees and 10% between 20-99 employees. These businesses make up 98% of total businesses and employ nearly half of the working population across the city. Approximately 45% of these small businesses are minority and/or women-owned businesses. Economic and social justice for small businesses means supporting the diversity, culture, and integrity of our city, as well as the livelihoods of our residents and communities.