Address the financial strain of opening, making improvements to and operating a small business and work with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the Office of Small Business to increase accessibility and availability of funding mechanisms as well as explore eligible fee or permit waiver opportunities.
Owning a small business can be a significantly costly endeavor. Our office has been committed to working with small business owners to ensure that costs are as manageable as possible. We work closely with small businesses to make sure they are aware of and access all of the resources that the City offers. Whether it is by referring them to the Planning Department to see if they qualify for the Community Business Priority Processing Program, which streamlines the Conditional Use process for certain small and mid-sized businesses, or connecting them to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development’s (OEWD) Invest in Neighborhoods program, we are here to serve as a liaison between the business community and local government. For example, Rolling Out Café and the Outer Sunset Merchants and Professionals Association (OSMPA) were able to successfully apply for capital grants through OEWD that will help them create a parklet (Rolling Out) and carry out façade improvements (OSPMA).
During the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 budget process, we successfully advocated for funding for OEWD to conduct District 4 business attraction efforts. We look forward to working with OEWD in effectively utilizing this funding. We also successfully advocated for a Client Service Manager to be available through OEWD as part of a pilot to facilitate the cross-departmental permitting process for small businesses.
Our office also called for a hearing in July 2015 with our city departments that interact with small businesses in order to understand and identify challenges in the permitting process for restaurants. Challenges and solutions identified at the hearing will help us improve the permitting process for all industries and decrease costs through identifying and implementing efficiencies. We will be following up with departments in early 2016 given that we have asked departments to conduct internal reviews on how to improve efficiencies in the business permitting process.
Find out more:
Learn more about the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and its Grant and Loan Programs:
Read more about the Planning Department’s Community Business Priority Processing Program: