New York City is home to more than 230,000 small businesses, 50 percent of which are owned by immigrant New Yorkers. Small businesses are essential to both the local economy and the character
of our neighborhoods, providing opportunities for individuals to strengthen their own economic security and employ members of their communities. The City supports businesses as they start,
operate, and grow by providing free services at scale and investing in innovative projects that create long-term change for entrepreneurs across the City.
STREAMLINE REGULATORY INTERACTIONS
The City will create a unique business identifier citywide to track business records across agencies, improving operational efficiency and saving time for small businesses. Eventually these reforms
will allow for a real-time feedback exchange between businesses and regulatory agencies, ensuring that laws, policies, and regulations appropriately balance business interests and public purpose.
ENSURE BUSINESSES ARE RESILIENT
The City will work to ensure that businesses are resilient and prepared for emergencies. A newly established Business Resiliency Steering Committee will identify the most valuable measures for
businesses and facilitate implementation by aligning laws and regulations, by providing business owners with the resources they need to adopt these measures, and by mobilizing businesses
across the city to implement them.
SUPPORT WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
Women Entrepreneurs NYC (WE NYC) addresses the unique barriers women face when starting businesses by providing workshops to equip women with knowledge and skills, networking and mentorship opportunities, free legal clinics, and a crowdfunding platform. The City recently launched WE Fund: Growth, a targeted loan program providing over $5 million in capital to women entrepreneurs. WE Fund: Credit helps women entrepreneurs access lines of credit. WE Venture is a $10 million NYC EDC initiative to encourage Venture Capital Partners to invest in companies founded by women.
SUPPORT NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS
A complex mix of factors is influencing the retail sector today, from e-commerce to changing consumer habits and preferences. To help small businesses navigate these challenges, SBS will double down on its support of longstanding businesses confronting changing market conditions. Last year the City launched its Commercial Lease Assistance Program, which provides a range of services including guidance on new leases and lease renewals and assistance with breach of contracts and landlord harassment. Through the Love Your Local Small Business Grant program, SBS awarded in-depth assessments with business consultants and grant funding to small businesses in neighborhoods with rising commercial rents. SBS will learn from these engagements and test creative business interventions with the aim of developing scalable solutions to support longstanding businesses.
INVEST IN THE SPACE FOR EQUITABLE GROWTH
To continue growing our economy in an equitable way, New York City must have adequate commercial and industrial space, and promote job opportunities in all five boroughs. Policy changes
and City investments over the past few years have helped stabilize the decline in industrial and manufacturing jobs. The City has also seen job growth — and not only in Manhattan.
SUPPORT THE CREATION OF MODERN WORKSPACE THAT BRINGS GOOD JOBS CLOSER TO NEW YORKERS
In today’s rapidly changing economy, small and growing businesses rely on the ability to find flexible, quality workspace that is easily accessible to their workers and clients. This means a growing need for a variety of offices and other workspace in transit-accessible locations outside the Manhattan core, where they can provide opportunities for a local workforce as well as tap into reverse-commute transit capacity. Through City-initiated neighborhood plans, such as in Gowanus, as well as in private applications, zoning can be updated to support the creation of more workspace and jobs for a wide range of businesses. In addition to allowing more flexibility for existing industrial businesses to expand in place, opportunities exist to relieve unnecessary parking requirements in transit-accessible areas, allow new, mid-density, loft-style buildings, and remove
outdated distinctions among business types to accommodate the increasing cross-pollination of activities in today’s economy.
