Brooklyn's Progress
December 2002

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Robert Walsh today announced a major initiative aimed at dramatically improving New York City’s approach to serving small businesses and entrepreneurs. SBS, in partnership with local economic development organizations, will open satellite small business service centers in each of the five boroughs and, in doing so, will offer small businesses easy access to a range of services not previously available from a single location.

Centers will open early next year in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and in Lower Manhattan at SBS’s offices. Partners for centers in Staten Island, Queens and Upper Manhattan will be identified by Spring 2003.

SBS will open its first satellite small business service center in early 2003 in partnership with the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO). Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, SoBRO President Philip Morrow, SoBRO Senior Vice President Neil Pariser, and small business owners Soraya and Jean LaFleur of LaFleur Technologies joined the Mayor for the announcement and to congratulate SoBRO on its anniversary for 30 years of service building a better Bronx.

“Small business is the lifeblood of our economy,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “I have pledged to the small business community that we would create a five-borough, client-centered approach so that small businesses can easily form and flourish. There are 200,000 small businesses in New York. They represent 98 percent of our businesses and employ more than 50 percent of the private sector workforce. Generating more than $4.5 billion in City tax revenue each year, small business is big business in New York City. By partnering with economic development organizations throughout the City, we can combine our offerings to improve the quality, comprehensiveness and access of services available for small business owners.”

SBS’ first satellite business center will open at SoBRO, in the hub commercial district at East 149th Street and 3rd Avenue. SoBRO employees, with support from SBS, will staff the center.
Staff will take a comprehensive approach to evaluate each business person’s immediate issues, help them access the full range of assistance from which he or she could benefit, and provide ongoing assistance through the life cycle of the business. The typical small business owner just starting out or looking to expand is often overwhelmed trying to navigate the many government and private
entities that offer services geared towards assisting them. This new partnership will allow businesses one-stop access to a broad array of services, from entrepreneurial and technology training to tax abatement incentives, counseling on business plan development and accessing financial assistance, guidance in obtaining government contracts, licenses and permits.

“We asked small business owners what they wanted, we listened and, with the help of SoBRO and our other partners going forward, we will deliver,” said Commissioner Walsh. “This initiative collaboration reflects our ongoing effort to focus on the needs of our customers, enhancing our service provision and building relationships that serve their needs.”

“The SBS-SoBRO partnership will bring together staff and services from both organizations to this location, strengthening and focusing our already existing relationship to the advantage of the Bronx small business community,” said Mr. Pariser, Senior Vice President of SoBRO. “Because we’ve been serving this community for 30 years, we know how to help businesses. This satellite center will strengthen our ability by forging relationships with other strong economic development providers in the borough. This heralds a new way to work on behalf of our clients and we’re excited to be part of this effort.”

The City’s decision to open satellite small business centers came after extensive research conducted by The Parthenon Group, a Boston-based strategic advisory firm that worked with SBS on a pro bono basis. Focus groups and telephone surveys with hundreds of businesses in all boroughs, as well as a review of existing business services and the best practices of cities across the country were used to identify the needs of area businesses, gaps in service provision and the best service providers.

The mission of SBS is to support the formation, growth and expansion of New York City’s small businesses by providing business assistance, fostering neighborhood development and promoting financial and economic opportunity through government procurement. In the past year, SBS has engaged in several initiatives to better support t the small business community including:

•  Securing a bill authorizing an increase in the assessment budgets of 19 Business Improvement Districts (BID). Developing steering committees for each of 7 potential new BIDs and 17 additional groups interested in forming new BIDs with whom SBS will coordinate.
• The Energy Cost Savings Program and Industrial Relocation Grant program helped attract and retain over 150 businesses and 7,700 jobs in New York City.
• The Agency’s Emergency Response Unit served 2,657 businesses affected by 13 emergencies including over 2,000 businesses affected by the September 11th disaster.