Transcripts For SFGTV Small Business Commission 20240713 : v

The auto prompts will look at callers entry. The questionandanswer time. But this is the Public Comment period. If you call in before Public Comment is called, youll be added to the queue. When you are called for Public Comment, please mute your device that you are listening to the meeting on, when it is your time to speak, youll be prompted to do so. Public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes per speaker, unless otherwise established by the presiding officer of the meeting. Speakers are requested but not required to state their names. Sfgov tv, please show the office of Small Business. Today well start with the reminder that the Small Business commission official public is the official public forum to voice your opinions and concerns about policies that affect the Economic Vitality of Small Businesses in San Francisco. And that the office of Small Businesses is the best place to get answers about doing business in San Francisco during the local emergency. If you need assistance with Small Business matters, particularly at this time, you can find us online or via telephone. As always, our services are free of charge. Before item number 1 closed, id like to thank Media Services and sfgov for coordinating the live stream. A special thanks to tom, shawn, jim, and corwin for their assistance. Commissioner adams . Here. Commissioner dooley . Here. Clerk commissioner huie . Here. Clerk commissioner laguna . Missioner william ortizcartagena . Clerk commissioner yekutiel . Here. Clerk mr. President , you have a quorum. Wonderful. Please call item number 2. Clerk item 2, approve of draft meeting minutes. Action item. Anybody want to make the motion . I motion to approve. Second. Clerk motion by commissioner adams to approve the draft meeting minutes, seconded by commissioner dooley. Roll call vote. Commissioner adams . Yes. Missioner dooley . Yes. Commissioner huie . Yes. Commissioner laguana . Yes. Commissioner yekutiel . Yes. Clerk motion passes 70. Please call item number 3. Clerk item number 3. Small businesses forum. Impacts related to the covid19 emergency, opportunity for Business Leaders and Community Service providers to present on economic response to the covid19 local emergency and provide recommendations for recovery. Discussion and possible action item, presenters are carlos solorzano, mark trim please mute yourselves. Okay. Clerk wait. Not done. Sorry. Theres feedback. Everyone who is not muted, please mute yourselves. Presenters are carlos solorzano, Northern Regional chair, Hispanic Chambers of commerce. Mark quinn, adviser and former San Francisco Small Business Administration District director. Laurie thomas, executive director, golden gate restaurant association. Jen dasilva, executive Committee Chair of freelance Economic Development alliance. And founder and executive director of start small think big. And rodney fong, president and c. E. O. Of San Francisco chamber of commerce. Okay. Today we have invited a number of Business Leaders and Community Service providers to provide us with their perspective on the economic response to the local emergency. As we head into the second month of sheltering in place, its imperative that we hear from these groups and businesses themselves and put in perspectives to inform recommendations of the recovery effort. We know that theres not going to be a quick fix for turning the economy around. Thats the unfortunate reality. But we do know that the economy will come back and that any effort to support our Small Businesseses should be developed with their voices and diverse experiences in mind. For that reason, weve invited everyone. We want to hear what you have to say. Were particularly encouraging members of the public to call in and provide their input and voices. We received a number of emails. So with that id like to introduce carlos solorzano, north region chair for Hispanic Chamber of commerce of San Francisco to kick off our discussion. Welcome, carlos. You should unmute yourself, carlos, if youre muted. Hello. Can you hear me now . Thank you very much for the city, the mayor, the Small Business. Im the c. E. O. Of the Hispanic Chambers of conference of San Francisco. And the chambers are the american, the american caribbean. Also the chair for the california Hispanic Chamber and northern region. Im proud to be part of the Economic Task force. Which is something thats really important. This is my third meeting today. The main reason is because we believe, as all of you, that every latino professional and every professional should be morally obligated to support the community. Thank you. The main concerns that weve been having are several. One, although theres been opportunities for loans, theres been opportunities for access to small capital, they have been really not enough to support a Small Business, especially the independent contractors or independent consultant or Small Businesses that are not that doesnt offer tangibles. They offer Services Like tax preparers, like real estate, like immigration consultants, like business consultants. So our concern has been that it hasnt been that much. The other concern is within the community. Theres really no what i do want to express in between them that, i thank the office for the Workforce Development because they are making an effort. But we still need more in terms of communication through the spanishspeaking and for the other minority communities. You know, the mission is very diverse. We have asian parts, we have american, we have latinos, we have africanamericans. Its a good conglomerate. The point on is that with all of the efforts that theyre doing, we need to make extra support for Small Businesses. Thats why i was happy when the Small Business commission invited us to participate in this, because, you know, when you dont have presence, its like somebody once told me, if youre not sitting at the table, that is because, you know thats whats been happening for us. You know, i know that the supervisors have a lot of good intentions, urn. But a lot of times you need to do more than good intentions, especially with the Small Business community. People forget that were part of the community. People forget that we need to advocate and get together. People forget that we need to make a plan for having a community for the local stores, support the local stores. We know that the taxes and the registration. That is all good things. But if we dont have access to the money, you know, and just right now a little while ago, i have one of my members, who was one of the first moving companies, latinoowned, he said, carlos, ive been applying for this. I applied for the emergency loan. I applied for the personal protective equipment. What happened with that . Well, thank you for your interest. At this point you have not been selected. When you heard that one, two, three, four times what do you do . Or the Hispanic Chamber joined with the california hispanic. They do not have enough people. So we join them and to help them, to guide them with that. And so were becoming a certified with the Small Business development. Since we were to guide them, the commune sayings is really communication is really important. I do want to commend the San Francisco chamber, the filipinoamerican chamber, the africanamerican chamber. And all of you for doing the work youre doing. But we need to have more communication. We need to have more access to information and access to the capital, access to the money. I know that now its a lottery because, of course, the applications. So much money. Weve been attending meetings. But to promote that, its very important. That its there right away. Not when the money has been gone, not when the applications are gone. So for us, you know, thinking about that, being part of an obligation for us, the moral obligation. Being a part of the task force. Thank you for the Small Business commission. I do want to give kudos to you guys. I have worked with william, i have worked with miriam. I have worked with you. You know, its really important that this is the time. Because the new normal is its nothing. And it will not be part of the old normal. You know, if we dont work united, if we dont communicate and provide support with the economic support, we dont provide information, you know, help remember thinking about the Small Business they are landlords, they want to rent rooms, they want to rent. So many things that we can do together. It is very, very important that we work. I cannot stress it enough. Work together. Be safe. My time is coming up. I do want to thank you all. Were available. Were processing information. Like i said we thank you guy, the Small Business commission. Excellent work. I know youll keep doing better. We have a lot of work to do. The mayor,. Commissioner haney the mayor, lets keep going. Its important. I wanted to expression the positive that we have. The positive energy of our people. The positive energy of San Francisco. Thats who we are. Thats what we need to do together. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioners, do we have any questions . All right. A reminder, commissioner, ill recognize you. A reminder, commissioner, if you could put your name in chat so that i can all in order. Commissioner yekutiel . Hi, carlos. Its manny. How are you doing . My question for you is whether or not youre hearing from your members, if you think that the mission and specifically latinowned Small Businesses are accessing and receiving less funds than maybe other parts of the city and other communities . And if so, why do you think that might be . Okay. First of all, manny, i had youre a new commissioner. Congratulations. You represent us well with all of the businesses, especially with your Small Business. I want to give kudos to you in that direction. Yes, the Latino Community, i use the term latino. Im sorry. But the latinos, you know, we still need to have that access. We need to have the information. Were not getting enough of that. Because by the time we find the information, its already done and gone. Okay. So thats the problem we have. I urge you and all of the commissioners to make sure that theres something with money available, by the time it gets to the Latino Community or to the minority communities, its already done and gone. You know, so its not really original. We have a lot of young people with Small Businesses in the Mission District, right where you are, right in valencia. All of the Small Businesses that need help, okay. We need to get the support and the access as fast as we can to them. Because by the time they come out, its already done and gone. Like i said. So, yes, we do need the help. We do need the communication. Great. Commissioner ortizcartagena. Thank you. Thank you, carlos for your time. Thank you for your feedback. Thank you for highlighting the issues that our latino communities are facing, not only in the mission, the region, the state and nationwide. I want to concur and say, yes, all of the resources typically evaporate by the time they hit the Latino Community. Wondering, carlos, what are your suggestions, what we can do as a commission to make sure the information gets at the same time to the Latino Community. And also in our language. Because so much of the information, the applications come out in spanish and then theres the capacity issue. Even if they get the information on time, if they dont understand it, whats the point. Yeah. Thank you, commissioner ortiz. Thank you yekutiel. I forgot sometime there. So excited about being part of this. Youre in the superviseory position, i need you to treat you with the praise you deserve. One of the things that happens is this. Theres a budget. I dont know if you could reach out. I know were talking about the Hispanic Chamber of commerce. Everything we do receive with marianne and regina, everything that we receive we right away put it on. The communities that dont have access to records, the wifi, the internet or theyre not savvy enough for that. So once you have that, its important that we have the sense of communication through the app all of those that are reaching out to us. More than happy to help, if you need it in spanish, i know that you translate over there into spanish. But also needs to be connecting with them. I know you do a good job on that, because i see you in the Mission District walking around. You know how we have suffered. You know how many businesses they have closed already in the mission. And valencia. And with this new abnormal normal with covid19, were losing more of that. What can we do . We need to get your communication right away and have it that we can understand it. And we need to reach out from the city. Recreations with creative ideas. All of those people we need to reach out directly to them, not just in general. Okay. More than happy the Hispanic Chamber of commerce in San Francisco, continue providing, promoting and supporting everything that you do, both communication thats power. When you do it and you do it fast, you allow our communities to join and get more support. Okay. Carlos, we are out of time. But im going to extend the time a little bit. Because i did have one quick question for you. You mentioned the laurie. In expect to the Resiliency Fund or is that were you talking about some sort of federal aid . Well, you know, in part its the fund. So are the other ones. You need to be we dont need to have we need to have equal access. We dont have need to have a fair access. We need to have equal access. Okay. Let me im sorry. Just because were short on time. But on the Resiliency Fund, do you do you think a lottery is the best approach to that or would you recommend a different approach . Well, you know, it would be great if it could be awarded equitably. Some money for this, for this, for this. Its not going to work that way. Why . Because the more savvy, theyll be moving fast on in that direction. If you do a lottery with all of them, at least maybe you get the same. Maybe you get one from each one. You know, its a little bit closer solution for the time being, until we find something better. Certainly my feedback on, that we should make sure there are Funds Available in each and every tier, you know, to break up the fund into smaller pieces. Well have to continue that conversation later. And i may follow up and reach out to you later as well. Because thats an important issue. And i want to make sure that the city gets it right. And that the commission supports you and the Hispanic Chamber and your mission. Were honored to have you here today. Thank you. Thank you, carlos. Thank you very, very much all of you. Thank you for the good work. I get back to my other meeting. Have a good day. Bye. All right. Thank you. Bye, everybody. Now id like to introduce mark quinn, adviser to cameo and former San Francisco Small Business Administration District director. Welcome, mark. Thank you. Am i live here . I want to make sure my sound. Everybody mutes and unmutes. First off, nice to hear from my friend carlos. I cant compete with his passion. But its always good to hear from him. I wanted to cover a few things. A brief intro from my background. Ive been with the city in the city of San Francisco as a district director of s. B. A. Since the late 80s. In the last couple of years, ive been working with cameo, which is a California Association for microenterprise opportunity, which is really the umbrella for the network of microlenders and Technical Assistance providers, who are in the community throughout california, but in San Francisco we have a real rich mix of Technical Assistance providers, microlenders and other ways in which Small Businesses can get assistance. So i wanted to do two things. One, briefly talk about the experience that we ha