Mayor Eric Adams delivers remarks at the New York City Small Business Services (SBS) first-ever “NYC Small Business Month Expo” at Pier 36 in Manhattan | Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
NEW YORK – The city concluded its second annual “NYC Small Business Month,” a five-borough celebration of local businesses with resource fairs and events led by Small Business Services (SBS), local Chambers of Commerce, and Business Improvement Districts citywide. The Adams administration also announced a $10 million investment to seed the city’s next major small business fund, the “NYC Future Fund.”
According to the Adams administration, the fund will accelerate the growth of hundreds of new small businesses in New York City by addressing the gap in access to affordable capital faced by small business owners, particularly early-stage businesses, as well as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and women entrepreneurs who otherwise often cannot obtain traditional bank financing.
The first-ever city-run “Small Business Month Expo” capped the month’s activities with hundreds of free services, programs from more than 40 city, state, and federal agencies, and other partner resources, all under one roof to support the city’s 200,000 local small businesses.
The NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCDEC) also released a new report on small business growth, showing New York City has more small businesses than ever recorded in its history. The report says that in 2023, there were 183,000 small businesses across the city — over 1,000 more than pre-pandemic levels.
In addition, the report found that 62,000 small businesses were created in the past two years alone, representing one in three small businesses in the city. While new business formation remains concentrated in central business districts, including Midtown Manhattan, net business growth has been most robust in the outer boroughs. North Brooklyn continues to lead the city’s small business recovery, adding 1,000 small businesses since 2019.
“When we create the conditions for small businesses to succeed, our entire city wins,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “We have reached a record number of small businesses under our administration as a result of being laser focused on three core principles of our vision: protecting public safety, rebuilding our economy, and making our city more livable for working-class New Yorkers.”
The Adams administration said that SBS has facilitated or administered over $265 million in grant and loan funding to small businesses. The NYC Future Fund, being developed by SBS, will add another resource to the expanding toolkit of resources announced since the start of the Adams administration to catalyze small business growth, fill vacant storefronts, and revitalize commercial corridors.
The fund builds on the success of the landmark $85 million “NYC Small Business Opportunity Fund,” which provided loans of up to $250,000 to over 1,000 businesses, with 69 percent of loans going to BIPOC-owned businesses. Designed to help businesses access both start-up and operating capital, the new fund will employ an innovative revenue-based revolving loan structure with flexible repayment schedules that meet the unique needs of companies as they grow.
SBS said it would develop a coalition of private-sector partners this year, including local community financial development organizations, before launching the fund to supercharge new business formation across all five boroughs.
–With Ricky Rillera/PDM
