>> clerk: this is a regular meeting of the small business commission held on tuesday, november 12, 2019. the meeting is being called to order on 2:04 p.m. the meeting can be viewed on sfgovtv 2, channel 78, or sftv.gov. members of the public, please take the opportunity to silence your cell phone or electronic devices. public comment is limited to two minutes unless otherwise stat stated during the meeting. please place speaker cards in the basket to the right of the lectern. speaker cards will be collected in the order in which they were placed in the basket. additionally, there is a sign in sheet on the front table.

sfgov, please show the office of small business live. >> president adams: okay. welcome. it is our custom to begin and end each meeting with a reminder that the office of small business is the only place to start your small business in san francisco and the best place to get answers to doing small business in san francisco. the office the small business should be your first stop when you have questions about what to do next. you can find us here at city hall. best of all, our services are free of charge. the office of small business is your place to voice concerns that affect the economic vitality of small businesses in san francisco. if you need assistance with small business matters, start here at the office of small business. >> clerk: item one, call to order and roll call.

[roll call] >> clerk: mr. president, you have a quorum. >> president adams: great. next item, please. >> clerk: item 2, general public comment allows public to comment generally on items that are within the small business commission's jurisdiction but not on today's agenda and suggest items for the future commission's consideration. item 1, members of the public, you are welcome to come up and make public comment. >> president adams: so would anyone like to make public comment on items that are not on today's agenda? come on up. >> clerk: and members of the public, if there are going to be many of you, if you could

lineup on the right side of the meeting room, that would be great. thank you. >> thank you for having me today, small business commission. my name is ben bleiman, and full disclosure, i am president of the entertainment commission, but today, i am speaking as a citizen and a small business owner, myself. small business is in a serious crisis as we speak. businesses are shuttering left and right. entire blocks are lying vacant with no hope in sight, and a lot of this is possibly well meaning but unintended consequences of actions taken in this very building by our city leaders. we need city leaders that recognize our situation right now and see it as the crisis that it is and take immediate action to help us. this is why it was such a relief to us for the past recent history to see a reinvigorated small business commission that really seemed to be asking tough questions of

our city leaders, tough but respectful and really holding them to account on the effects that some of their proposed actions would hold on our businesses. when you did that, we cheered. my point is not to call out people or to shame, but it's to beg and ask our city leaders to work with you in doing the job that you have been given, and -- and to thank you each individually and together as a body for doing the work that you do and let you know that we have your business. on that account, i wrote a letter to the entire board of supervisors last week. it was signed by over 200 local businesses of all different stripes, and colors, and so we are here to tell you that we have your back and we hope you keep doing what you're doing,

because without you, we may all die. >> president adams: thank you. very much appreciated. [applause] >> good afternoon, commissioners. mario mcgann, president of the council of district merchants. long time san franciscan and small businessperson in san francisco for 25 years. i unfortunately don't know all of you and some of you may know me too well. i wanted to congratulate you on crossing a chasm of -- the last meeting or a couple of meeting ago was confrontational. if anyone who knows me, i always say dialogue is messy, but it is necessary. if you're asking questions and the other side is getting frustrated or animated, you're probably asking the right questions. i come here on behalf of our 33 organizations, and hundreds of small businesses on the

commercial corridors that we represent, to please keep it up. do not be discouraged. yes, transition is tough and it can be hard to take, but please know that we have your backs, and we will support you. please keep advocating for us. we have long thought that we have been either dismissed or totally ignored at times, or at least that's the way we feel, and a lot of times, legislation does not have a pulse of how small business needs to really function, and you are our conduit for that, and i commend you for that engagement that you had. i also ask everybody on all sides to take the high road, and to, you know, ask questions, be professional, be understanding, be patient, but keep asking questions until the questions are resolved. thank you very much. >> president adams: thank you

very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. henry campagnolo, vice president of the small business association. in san francisco, small businesses are moving out, and a couple are not coming back. it'd be nice if the city could somehow get involved with help these folks could get back into the buildings once their soft story is finished off. we pay fees, and if we go out of business, that's fees that the city won't collect. so it doesn't make sense for this city to try to collect

fees and then have us go out of business. also, there's the issue of zoning and conditional use and things like that. they just take forever. you know, it can take seven to nine months for getting a conditional use. it's insane, and the amount of money it costs. and so i feel like we've got to do something about it, and what a body that can help us with that is you guys out here. i would like you to say hey, folks, let's sit down. what can we make sure that small businesses not only exist, but be successful and grow. thank you. >> president adams: thank you. next speaker, please. [applause] >> hello, commissioners. jay chang with the san francisco chamber of commerce. we represent over 1,000 businesses, large and small. we're here to stand with all the small businesses here today in thanking this commission for your strong advocacy and your

sharp questions. you know, this commission, like all commissions, is a public forum, and the purpose of the public forum is robust discourse. and when that discourse is robust,

legislative teeth and to make those legislative teeth give you an approval -- mandatory mechanic -- approval mechanism. i had 65 employees at cafe flor when i started three years ago, and i have eight now. i have eight gyms and yoga

studios thanks to the planning process that has taken up space on ground floor retail, replacing clients -- potential clients with people that are in a hurry and late for their yoga instruction and too sweaty, oh, i can't go home now, i've got to take a shower. at the end of their work out. they don't help the neighborhood fabric. they don't help my business at ca cafe flor. we need to relook at these neighborhood processes, but we need you people to say up or down when these ideas first come forward because the ones that are currently saying that i don't believe they've ever run a small business, and that would allow this to run unchecked. thank you. >> president adams: thank you very much. next speaker, please.

>> good afternoon. my name is duncan lei, and i am a small business owner. i'm here to let you know that i support you, also. the number of people that is in support of facebook and e-mails and texts is far greater than the people that are here and want you to know that. and i also want to say that -- to say thank you to regina who's probably been the most steadfast supporter, staunch advocate in city hall that i know for the last decade, so thank you, and we appreciate what you guys are doing. >> president adams: thank you very much. [applause] >> president adams: anymore speakers? okay. public comment is closed, and i just want to thank everyone for their kind and awesome words. i think that means a lot to not

only myself but all of my fellow commissioners. commissioner laguana? >> yeah. i wanted to say thank you for coming out. we respect working with the board of supervisors. we respect our leaders. we are here to -- purely as an advisory role. we don't have any teeth, as one of the speakers mentioned, so all we can do is ask questions with an effort to try and make the legislation better for all of us. everybody on this commission is a volunteer. we aren't paid a dime to come here, we aren't paid any money to try to evaluate the paperwork and make sense out of it. we're all small business owners. we're all in crisis, we're all struggling. i don't know if i'm going to make payroll this friday. i came here because you guys

are here. so i just want to say thank you, it means a lot to us, and we will keep trying to push forward and make this better for all of us, all citizens of the city. let's just come together and make it better for all of us. we can do that. [applause] >> president adams: okay. next item, please. >> clerk: item three, approval of small business registry applications and resolutions. action and discussion. the presenter is richard kurylo, legacy program director of the of the small business registry. >> before you today are five applications for your consideration of the legacy

business registry. the applications are reviewed to me for completion, submitted to commission on october 9, and heard by the historic commission on november 6. item 3-a is academy of ballet. the business is a ballet school located at 2121 market street in the castro neighborhood. it was founded in 1923 by edward sassoon. the business offers training for chimp, adult, students preparing for a professional

career and other benefits. when janet sasoon retired, she returned to san francisco and managed the business until 2009 when she sold the business to its current owners. item 3-b is li po lounge. the business is a bar established in chinatown in february 1937. it was named after li po. it is a small and unpretentious business. it is mentioned in numerous guide books as a place to visit when visiting san francisco.

item 3-c is lyra business. m and h type, established in 1915, which is now one of the oldest and largest continuously operating type foundries in america. located in the presidio, lyra corporation is owned by and works in conjunction with the nonprofit grab horn institute, established in 2000, which supports the only paid

apprenticeship program in book binding in the country and houses one of the largest collections of type faces and associated ornamental cuts that reaches back in the 1800's. item 3-d is rebuilding together san francisco. the business is a nonprofit organization established in 1989 to promote safe and healthy housing and community spaces by providing home repair and renovation opportunities for homeowners and community spaces. the organization was established as christmas in pr april foundation. until 2001, the organization's work consisted of one major annual event called christmas in april. hundreds of volunteers were

assigned to ten to 20 homes and community spaces in san francisco. in february 2002, the name was rechanged to building together san francisco to reflect the nonprofit being secular in nature with their annual event still being named christmas in april. item 3-e is zazie restaurant. the business is a bistro established in 1992 and named after a film. it quickly became a popular locals favorite restaurant. jennifer bennett joined as

general manager in april 2000, then purchased zazie in 2005. jennifer took over ownership with a unique mindset determined to make the staff part of zazie. she established a 401-k with 4% employer funded match, and paid parental and sick leave. zazie is not yet 30 years old but faces a significant risk of displacement because of a double of their lease the last lease renewal. after reviewing the applications and the recommendation from h.p.c., staff find the businesses have met the three criteria to

qualify for listing on the small business legacy. your support of the businesses should be as a motion in favor of the resolutions. in the resolutions, please pay close attention to the core physical features or traditions that define the business. once approved by the s.b.c., the businesses must maintain these physical features or traditions in order to remain on the legacy business registry. for academy of ballet, it's ballet school, for li po lounge, it's bar. for lyra, it's type casting or letter and book binding. for home together san francisco, it's renovation project, and for zazie, it's restaurant. that concludes my presentation,

and i have individuals that would like to speak on behalf of the organizations. >> president adams: okay. we're going to go right into public comment now. don't be shy. >> hi. my name is zori carr, and i am the director of the academy of ballet. and i would like to, of course, thank you for helping us maintain the legacy of the academy of ballet. you made a -- the 85-year-old janet zouzouin very happy. i'd like to thank supervisor yee and mandelman for their assistance in this designation, as well. i'd like to tell you why we did become a legacy business.

after the building was viewed by the architect and chose it as a city legendary business, they told me why they chose a legacy business, and i didn't even know that it even existed. and then just because of turn of events that we had problems with the open bible church that used to be next to us -- both businesses were sold separately, all of a sudden, we need to find another way of egress. we got letters from the department of building inspector, i couldn't get any replies from them. thank god for tom temprano who came in and said let's put all these people together and see what we can do. the last estimate for the exit is going to be between $150,000

and $250,000 which is not going to be feasible for the academy of ballet. i actually had to get a law firm for it. [please stand by]

>> by the way, our deadline was november 30th. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is kathleen walkup. thank you for the opportunity for me to speak on behalf of the lyra corporation as a legacy business. as a young printer in the 1970s, m&h foundry was our lifeline. in fact, just as my press partner and i had decided to open the first women's letter press job shop in san francisco, since the late 1800s, we found out that m&h might close. that was such a serious employee to us, we reconsidered our ability to open a business in the absence of the foundry. luckily for us, the foundry was rescued from oliveon and it went

into successful operation. in 2001, therefore, when a member of the presidio commission phoned me to ask if i could speak on behalf of m&h foundry and the move to the presidio, i was more than happen to support this application, since i had firsthand knowledge of its importance to the business and cultural community in the bay area. since the late 1970s, i have been professor of book art at mills college, where i have had the privilege of teaching new generations of students the arts of letter press printing and fine book making. once again m&h foundry is critical to our ability to provide type for the students' work in the presses. our annual pilgrimage to the press, which by the way is tomorrow, and foundry, is the all-time favorite field trip for our students where they can literally see history in action, while also viewing the highest level of achievement in book-making. our current studio manager mark

was trained at mand h and has been a central part of our team for four years. this year m&h welcomed the first graduateern intern as part of our new initiative, bay area partnerships. personally, i feel as if a loop that began in the early '70s, with my arrival on the book scene in san francisco, has been closed with this internship. i am proud and grateful to speak on behalf of this continuously vital institution. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is kelsy hall. and i work for rebuilding together san francisco. and since 1989, rebuilding together has been bringing san franciscans together to fulfill our mission, which is repairing home, revitalizing communities and rebuilding lives. in those 30 years, we've brought together 30,000 volunteers and done repairs on over 4,000 homes

in san francisco and 380 community spaces and non-profit spaces. the neighbors that we are lucky enough to work with, on average are 74 1/2 years old, have lived in their home for over 30 years and have an annual household income of $13,333.82. and these are families who have lived in their homes and in their neighborhoods for a very long time. and their property taxes are low, but they cannot afford the critical maintenance and safety modifications on their home, while keeping up with what you need to get by. i was thinking about what it means to be a legacy business and have a legacy and to preserve the heart and the character and if the diversity of san francisco.

and and i was going through thank you letters we get from our letters. and one of our neighbors charlene mentioned legacy in her letter. and charlene has lived in her home for 58 years. she lives there with her sister and her son. her father built that home for her. and he passed away and she's unable to keep up with the maintenance of that home. she wrote to us and she said what a joy you have brought to our home and family. i could never thank you enough for all of your expertise and selfless hours you have so willingly given to make sure the armstrong legacy continues -- that my father put his sweat and life into. i hope the universe returns to you 3,300 what you have given out. so these critical repairs and deferred maintenance and safety

modifications are often the difference between a family getting to hold on to their home and losing it. [bell dings] and so we preserve the legacy of families, like charlene and her family, and we also preserve the safety of our older neighbors, so they have grab bars and they don't fall in their home. and after 30 years in san francisco, we are trusted in the communities that we've been working with. and it's certainly a legacy that i'm proud to be a part of. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. mas -- [applause] >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is paul gray. i'm a longtime volunteer with rebuilding together. and i want to give the perspective as a volunteer. when i say long time, i've been there for a solid 10 to 11 years and a smattering of days when it was christmas and april. oddly enough i'm considered a kid when it comes to the

volunteers. there are many tradespeople that have been there 20, 25 and a couple that have even been there since the very first year. the volunteers are very loyal and it's a wonderful organization. i've been part of probably 20 large projects and a few dozen small projects. and one thing that's always for sure when i walk out of that job is the homeowner or the facility -- well, we'll stick with nor a second. the homeowner's lives are drastically improved improved fa health perspective, a safety and a comfort. the things we can do in one day on larger projects a couple of weekends are phenomenal. as kelsy had laid out, we're providing critical upgrades to homes, that are keeping the seniors in the city ages gracefully. and it's really truly the affordable housing, keeping that set of elderly in their homes and being able to pass it on to their children. we also do repairs on non-profits.

san francisco is getting more and more difficult for non-profits to be able to stay, as we all know the economic pressure not only of residents, but of non-profits. rebuilding together does something no one else does. they fill a market from a business perspective that no one else does. we help other non-profits, who are just on the edge of leaving, provide services to their community centers and to their businesses, so they can in turn do the missions that they were set out to do. so i know there's many businesses and many entities that are need, in which to keep homeowners and small businesses here in the city. everyone together does something again truly unique. so i urge you to do everything in your power to keep rebuilding together here, because other businesses will have the domino effect, if we're unable to do what we -- the critical services we do. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please.

[applause] >> hello. my name is zai. and i'm the outreach and volunteer manager with rebuilding together san francisco. i came to rebuilding together as an americorps member from a really small town in tennessee. so small that the people that i started kindergarten with are the same folks that i graduated high school with. so i'm really used to a pretty tight-knit community. and like knowing my next-door neighbors. when i moved to san francisco, i was horrified that i wouldn't know anyone. i moved here all by myself and started with rebuilding together, you know, just scare of the of this giant city that i've been dreaming about moving to since i could remember. working with rebuilding together has given me an amazing perspective about the heart and the spirit of san franciscans. i have met people who raised their families in their homes,

got married in their homes, gave birth to grandchildren in their homes. and it's just amazing to know that those people are so willing and ready to stay in their homes, and still volunteer and help people who live next door to them come together and just really feel like they're not alone. so i urge you to push rebuilding together into a legacy business, place or whatever it's called. to make sure that we're able to stay here and revitalize under moos and help this huge place feel smaller, safer and like you can call on your neighbor for a cup of sugar. >> thank you. neuromuscular next speaker, please. >> my name is misty palmer. and i live in the mount limb bus neighborhood and i have lived there for 36 years. i'm here on behalf of zazie.

i knew katrine. in fact, i knew the person that owned the restaurant space prior to her. and under katrine's leadership, the menu really flourished. when jen came, they -- she expanded on that. and i have always just felt that she's -- she's been a real focal point for the neighborhood. coal valley is a real neighborhood. i hear people talking about the rebuilding and the sense of community. well, that's what we have in coal valley and mount limb bus. it's -- mount olympus. i admire jen's ability to higher wonderful staff, to keep them, to pay them appropriately. they're very loyal. she's very good to every single employee working with them to accommodate their needs. and it builds on the sense of community, because you go in and you see the same restaurant people. i have a lot of national and international guests. and i always take them to zazie for what i consider a real

neighborhood experience. and when they come back to visit, if they go nowhere else, they have to go back to zazie for at least one meal. and so i think that she's unique in what she has brought to the neighborhood. and this is what we all hope to happen in a large city, to have that sense of community. and she certainly fosters that. >> thank you. next speaker, please. [applause] >> hi. i'm jennifer, the current owner of zazie. although owner sort of implies that somehow it's mine. in many ways it's not. it is the neighborhood's. it is our employees. 38 employees and 38 families that rely on me and i take that responsibility very seriously. and that's in addition to the some 200,000 people that visit us every year. so i really applied for legacy status, even though we have a couple of years shy of 30 years, with the awareness that

landlords are changing, the neighborhoods are changing. i want to ensure, as best i can, that zazie can still be there for all of the workers that i rely on and that have become family to me. as well as for the neighborhood and the locals and tourists alike that come to us for that moment when you're not looking at your phone and when you actually have an interaction with a human being, that has a life, has personality. so i hope that you can consider us a couple of years early, so that in two years, when my lease comes up, we have a little bit more of an arsenal behind us to stand for coal valley and stand for my employees. and make sure that this little tiny place, that's just one of thousands of restaurants in san francisco. it's those tinies restaurants that really create our sign. everywhere else has applebee central. thank you very much. we appreciate your consideration. >> thank you.

[applause] next speaker, please >> hi, i'm sarah. i'm the director of programming at lyra corporation and the grabhorn institute. we are really grateful to be considered for legacy business status, as kathleen walkup so beautifully stated. we've been around for more than 100 years in various incarnation, teaching, handbook making and practicing type casting, letter press printing and handbook binding. we're open to the public every week for tours at 3:00. it is a very unique visceral way to learn about handbook making and we're really grateful to still be around, able to share that with people. and we're grateful for your consideration, including us on the legacy business registry. we're also great toast s.f. heritage for making us aware of

the possibility and for advocating to create this legacy business registry. so thank you. >> great. thank you. [applause] any more members of the public who would like to speak? come on up. >> i'll be really quick. i wanted to echo what everyone said about zazie. living in coal valley, it is really the focal point of our community and neighborhood. it's where i go with my parents when i'm in town, where i go to celebrate anniversaries, introduce new people to the town. it really is a vital part of our community. and i can't express my gratitude to jennifer enough. thank you. >> thank you. [applause] any more members of the public? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner. >> i wanted to thank everyone for coming and for creating really killer narratives.

these are great. i can tell you put a lot of time into it. it will give back to you. you can probably already tell, writing down your historical narrative, kind of reinvigorates things and, you know, restates the purpose of what you're doing. it's not lost on us. i hope it's not lost on you how important you have for the city. thank you for being here. >> great. commissioner dooley. >> one of the greatest pleasures of being a commissioner is to learn about some very unique businesses, that i may not have been aware of. and it just is really exciting to see you're here and you're going to stay. i've spent many an evening at the li po and i'm delighted to see that it's still going on. >> thank you. i'm just going to make a couple of quick comments. academy of ballet, an office

right across from you, the sterling bank. you're right. the block in my 20-something years being there, you know, it's changed. i really appreciate your comments, especially with the open bible church next door. you know, we need to some more changes up on our block of market street. and then rebuilding together san francisco. i am very familiar with you and everything you guys have done. and you should be very, very proud of yourself for what you are doing and what you'll continue to do. there's been a lot of businesses that small profits and individual home ownerships that i know throughout the city, that these people, these families wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. so you really, really should be proud of what you do and what your organization does. okay. because that's like the fabric of this city. and what we're all about.

and then zazie's restaurant, i love your restaurant. i have been there -- not as much as i should. i have been there a few times. i live up near mount olympus. you're right down the hill. we need to make sure you stay around for a while. so really appreciate that. so, commissioners, do we have any recommendations? >> i move that we nominate and vote for all of the businesses presenting here today to become our newest legacy businesses. >> i second. >> clerk: motion by commissioner dooley to support all five resolutions, seconded by commissioner riley. roll call vote. >> commissioner dooley? >> yes. >> commissioner dwight is absent. commission laguana? is absent. missioner alexandriareer --

>> commissioner riley? >> yes. >> commissioner zouzounis? >> yes. >> clerk: motion passes 5-0 with two absent. >> great. congratulations. [cheers and applause] >> we're going to do one group photo with all of our legacy businesses over there with the commission. >> rebuilding san francisco. lyra corporation.

zazie. >> all right, everyone. one, two, three. i'm going to take a few of them. one, two, three. one more. yep. perfect. one, two, three. okay. thank you. thank you.

[laughter] >> thank you very much. thank you very much. >> awesome article. >> thank you. >> you've got to keep it going.

[laughter] >> clerk: item number 4, office of workforce development. update on small business streamlining legislation anded d administrative reforms. the implementation of mayor's small business budget investment. the presenters are joaquin torres, director of workforce development. laurel arvanitidis, director of business development. jorge rivas. acting director of invest in neighborhoods. and bert -- >> correction, he's the director. >> clerk: director perform -- >> good afternoon, commissioners. as always, a big thank you to all of you for all that you do in support of our small business

community. and our diverse communities of san francisco. we just wanted to take a few moments today to provide an update on the work that we've been doing. some of the policy direction that we've been taking. some of the legislation that we've been enacting, some of the investments that we've been making and how we want to continue to engage both with you and with the greater small business community in doing our work across san francisco. it's especially important for mayor breed in doing this work, for the continued success of our city. when you talk about building affordable housing, housing small business and neighborhood commercial corridors, creating career pathways to good-paying jobs. all of these pursuits are tied into a our larger goal of fostering a resilient, diverse economy, that creates opportunities for all san franciscans to thrive and succeed here. i know you all know the numbers, spa small businesses are a key economic driver for the people of san francisco. they are the cornerstones of our neighborhoods. they define the culture of our

city. they contribute to the character of every one of our neighborhoods, whether you talk about -- to the bay, view, to the outer sunset. there are community gathering spaces where residents get to know their neighbors and their success is essential, as i said, to advancing mayor breed's agenda on economic equity. i also just want to say that it really is an every day-to-day conversation that we have, how reframe of the discussions around how we want to support small businesses. so please be assured that those principles, those values about the work and value that small businesses provide are present in our everyday, day-to-day conducting of our business. it's a path to economic success that should be available to all san franciscans, regardless of their background. we also know that small businesses recently in san francisco are he feeling the pressure, from a changing retail environment, from the easy veeps of e-chamber of commerce, from rising costs and, yes, from at

times an overbearing, very difficult city bureaucracy. starting and growing a business in the city can have its challenges. but we are working and we have been working to make it easier, in partnership with all of you. whether it is by having more intentional forums and spaces for small business owners, to share their ideas and solutions to providing grants and access to capital, that's accessible to strengthen businesses and facilitate their growth, to introducing legislation to reduce vacant storefronts and streamline the permitting process. what's more in this past budget cycle, mayor breed entrusted us with $9 million in new investments, to empower entrepreneurs and support our local small business community. misses, i want to say your guidance, your leadership and togetherrer with your director regina dick-endrizzi, benefits that work in the months ahead. as we continue to deepen our efforts to strengthen and uplift this industry that's a vital piece of our economy and

culture. so today you'll be hearing hearm a few members of our team. the results of the small business roundtable, when we first came together with mayor breed during small business week last year. and what the outcomes of what those principles have led us to. the resulting $9 million and where we are in terms of providing those dollars to benefit our neighborhoods and small businesses directly. some of the recent and upcoming administrative reforms that are already in place. the small business streamlining legislation that we recently signed with mayor breed, together with supervisor vallie brown and later in a separate presentation, our construction mitigation efforts. i know you'll be hearing later on. these are all collectively a result of very impassioned, dedicated people who want for make sure that they're listening to you and your constituency and our constituency. so i want to thank you for this opportunity. for the partnership and we look forward to the further conversation. thank you. >> thank you very much.

>> thank you, joaquin. thank you, commissioners, for having us here. i'm the director of business development for the office of economic and workforce development. when mayor breed directed oewd to help small businesseses and to find real process change to alleviate the needs and concerns of our small businesses, we knew that our first step was to solicit feedback. as such, we called together the small business able, during small business week of last year. 45 small businesses participated in two sessions each. we worked to ensure the many businesses we invited were ones that we had encountered over the past few years. these are individuals that worked with our business solutions team, connected to us to our neighborhood outreach or participated in our marketing efforts. bringing new voices to the discussion and trying to cultivate additional voices, to participate in and inform our city's work. so what did we hear? we heard a desire to create a

small business express lane. people asked for us to continue to find ways to build predictability into their process. they said give me a check list and then you need to follow it, too, city. they asked us to recognize the cost of compliance. how much does it cost to change your straws. how much does the health care security ordinance and complying and recordkeeping cost for a small business. what's the burden for professional drawings that must be submitted for a change of use to add line sales to your business. they asked us to educate them. they want to make sure that brokers and property owners have a more realistic vision of what potential rents should be. and the timelines for tenant improvements and permits that will be required from the city. they said they don't know what we're doing and they want to find it easier to find out the great work that the city is trying to enact. they asked us to articulate what's happening at 49 south van ness, at the one-stop permitting

center. a feeling that our ncds seem out out of date. they asked how can they be reflective of today's needs. and they asked for a better and more proactive communication. they said that they don't know what we're doing, they don't know what resources exist. and they feel like they've given each department their contact info, yet none of us know how to get in touch with them. they want more resources from us. they don't need technical assistance, they don't need money. they need to understand how to comply. they need to understand what tools we have, so that they can just continue to operate. so these are commitments back to the community. if you are operating a business, our goal is to simplify and reduce your payments, to make compliance easier, to improve communication, to create new resources for your business, and to allow for business model flexibility. if you're a new business our goal is to reduce the time it takes to open, provide clear pathways from idea, when you come to the office of small

business' desk, all the way to operation. and to help you staff up. and if you're a neighbor or a resident, we want to support activation of vacancies and support the existing businesses in the corridors that you love. so how are we going to do this? for each of these columns, we've identified vacancies, we need to reduce the permit time. we need to activate vacancies so existing businesses don't suffer from vacancies on their street and implement vacancy assistance to understand the conditions of their streets. for permit streamlining, with he need to reduce the time. we need to implement flex retail to allow current businesses to engage in new business models and explore new ways to create revenue. and we need to get our businesses opened faster, for our neighbors and residents to enjoy. >> can i ask you a quick question? >> yes. >> on the vacancy issue, and if

you can -- on the updated zoning, because you brought up how out-of-date that is, which is like one of my things i'm carrying, because it hasn't been updated since 1987. i would really love to work with oewd. i know there was a gentleman who work used to work at planning scott sanchez, he's no longer around. all of the neighborhood groups worked with and we were already getting ready to change it. and then it went away. so that's something if we can tie those two together. >> absolutely. >> that was like -- that's -- i think that would help a lot. >> i think it's -- it's a challenging one. it's one that oewd wants to embark on. i think we need to work closely with our elected supervisors and the mayor and the communities to make sure that we do it in a thoughtful way, that addresses all of the various concerns from the various stakeholders. >> oh, absolutely. >> we're ready.

so what are we pursuing with our sister departments? i talked earlier about how talking to our customers was step one. now we need to work with our colleagues on step two. we're spending this year doing a deep dive into actualizing real solutions for our businesses. how can we simplify process? what are the ways to reduce referrals between departments, are there opportunities for coordinating inspections, how as we departments work together to improve process. how can we reduce costs, what fees can see economies of scale. what fees are obsolete and excessive and opportunities to discount fees in certain areas. how can we better use the info to get information out to businesses. for instance, if a business got an awning permit 15 years ago, and we're about to reduce -- waive fees for small business we can week, how can we reach out to them and say the awning permit is 15 years old, do you

need a refresh. we're waiving fees. how can we be more proactive, so businesses know what opportunities exist for them to take advantage of. that's what we're working on in the future. what are we doing right now? jorge is going to discuss the mayor's new budget items, targeted at increasing services and opportunities for our small businesses. >> good afternoon, commissioners. president, thank you, laurel for that. i'm going to cover this, the additional dollars that the mayor allocated to our budget. these are new, just a reminder these are new dollars above our baseline. summary, there's $9 million. the mayor reallocated to the oewd budget, with one-time allocation of 1 million to recapitalize the revolving loan fund. $2 million over the next two years for the expansion of s.f.

shines. and i'll go into more details of s.f. shines in a bit. $1 million of -- a one-time of $2 million for small business fee assistance relief program. a one-time over the next two years, investment of $4 million in the program called community cornerstones, which is a pilot program, which i'll share more details in a bit. oewd supports various access to capital programs. one of those programs is a revolving loan fund. since the program commenced in 2007, the revolving loan fund has actually allocated 177 loans for a total of about $5.2 million. of these loan, i the majority have focused in high-need neighborhoods and supported over 60 women-owned businesses and 53 minority-owned businesses. as you can see, the repayment program is pretty high. the additional $1 millio w