business. credit unions offer micro loans. we do a lot of micro loans up to $50,000. this is -- we check credit. we need a business plan. then we look at the three-year tax return and that statement. we do a lot of home care and mom-and-pop shops. we also do start ups. we asked for approval through documents. we work a lot with people who do not know how to file taxes properly. we are mainly focused in san francisco. we are small. we focus mainly on the tenderloin, chinatown, bayview, visitation. we do a lot of expansion. people start small through the credit union and then want to go to the bank. we know we are limited. we cannot afford to give out a big loan. starting from the credit union, we educate them about filing taxes properly and then moving on to the bank, a small one, expansion, and we work with the bank. the bank and credit union are similar. we do allow tax returns, projections. credit unions do not charge an additional loan or processing fee. processing time, on a small loan, --

businesses understand how to get started in business, how to develop business plans, how to be able to put yourself in a position of planning for your business as much as running your business. a big part of what we do is the technical assistance and counseling work we do for folks interested in starting a business or those in the early stages who really need advice about where to go when you run into the wall, about financing, marketing, managing your business. that is an important role we play as well. another role we play is helping small businesses understand how to do contract thing, particularly with the federal government, but in a more general way, with all the public sector players. one of the things that small businesses always need is customers. one of the big customers out there is the public sector, but one of the challenges is the public sector on every level, federal, state, and local, are always difficult for small businesses to understand how to navigate the process of getting certified to do business, finding the right sources to be able to talk to and understand h

business, talk to them as you are growing your business. when the economy is strong, all lenders are shopping for transactions. in times are tough on credit, you want to rely on those deeper liberation ships with your lender. you want to develop a relationship with a lender. it is the case where you want to open up an account, while to have another bank services that you want to have a relationship with your lender with it because when you go to them for any loan requests, you want them to know about your business and feel like they are a partner of yours, not just that you are shopping them. if you are shopping, you are just looking for the best deal from them, rather than a long- term relationship. >> i want to thank everyone for coming. hopefully, you have all signed up for our updates. we are going to be hosting these on a regular basis. the next two coming up will focus on becoming a government contractor, how your small business can partner with the government. the next one will also be on how to grain your business, with tax -- green

i ask with these three mom and pop businesses continue to thrive? we do not want to see the church street corner to become another strip mall and i ask you to deny chipotle from moving in, thank you very much. >> call a few names and keep coming up. >> cristina calera, john calera, scott, marrlo, peter gunned, edward, michael brisben and katherine burns. >> my name is jay davidson and i have lived in the neighborhood for 41 years and i recognize that it is not a simple situation. that there are indeed, many vacantcies in the neighborhood. the storefronts will be better filled and empty, but we have to ask ourselves, with what do we want to fill them. just as you decide when you purchase a burrito what are you going to put inside of it, we have to make the same consideration with the storefronts. downtown san francisco already looks like anywhere usa. our neighborhoods are different. take a look at haze valley, eureka valley, and the volunteer corridor and you can see the thriving neighborhoods there, made so partly because of the individualization o

i think that most small businesses do, and most businesses do. and we are concerned about this being rushed, we are concerned about going through a ballot and we are concerned about being put in a position that we are anti-family. and so, i would urge you to oppose the legislation, unless amended with the items that have been mentioned tonight. >> thank you. next speaker please? >> i have kevin wal ace and elizabeth lefera as the final speaker cards, excuse me, bob black and art swanson, if there is anybody else you can line up on the side wall if not those speakers can go up in any order. >> good evening, my name is rob black and i am the executive director for the golden gate restaurant association, and we represent over 1,000 member locations of restaurants throughout the bay area. most of which are small businesses, like yours. the concern that has been many concerns expressed tonight about the legislation and the impact that it will have on the small businesses and the ability to do business. and i do think that a lot of that came out of the

to the office of small business owner and the small business owner commissioner. he started the office of the small business owner and his contribution has helped to establish the go to for small business owner. but most significantly wins starting with the smoking free ordinance and the alcohol recovery fee and the revisions to the health skirt ordinance and ending with the family free workplace. he provided excellent service and has represented the small business owner commission as well as the liaison city departments. the san francisco small business owner commission extends it's full guide to the commission we we wish you many, many successes. i'd like to make a few remarks to chris's contribution has really i think, you know, really evaluated our position around policy matter and really having different elected offices approaching us ahead of time and has established a wonderful working environment. and that's been greatly appreciated. i hope your proud of your accomplishments and just really want to wish you the best success and think you'll be great in our

and the ability to do business. and i do think that a lot of that came out of the initial draft. and the supervisor has made some strong moves as far as really trying to address the comments back from the business community. but i think that there are some existing concerns that are still outstanding, that we would love to see addressed. and as scott said, i don't think that there is anyone who opposes on any side, the right of an employee to ask for a flexible schedule and a predictable schedule and there is agreement axros the board for that. but there is a couple of areas where i will be very specific that we have the big concerns about that goes beyond that. and one, is in section 12 z 5 g. where it provides if you have provided an employees with a predictable schedule, you have to give them reasonable notice, which is undefined, in order to change that, or to reduce those or to change that schedule or reduce those hours. so for example, it was a comment about a painter who will be coming into work but it rains

businesses thriving. that's coming up next on "your business." >>> small businesses are revitalizing the economy. an american express open is here to help. that's why we are proud to present "your business" on ms c msnbc. >>> hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to help your small business grow. when we think about main street we think about the heart of a community. a place where small businesses usually the focal point and where you expect something special, like great customer service or a terrific cup of coffee or to be greeted by your first name. so how is main street america doing in the economic ups and downs this country has been facing? we decided to travel the country to find out. our first stop, galina, illinois. welcome to main street usa. a series we're doing about companies on main street across america. today we're in galena, illinois, a community that is rich in history and beautiful 19th century architecture

should run their business. i am sorry for those of you who think that two employees and employees and keeping notes for years does not cost you monday y i don't know what business you run but time is money. it will cost money. respectfully for the gentleman, very articulate man who came up here and started telling you that this is going to get the boos and i perceive him is from being the entitled generation when he says that we expect it from the employer. again, i run a business. and we work together with the employees. very happy. and what you heard most tonight, was, if we can just work together, if we can just have a flexible schedule and request a flexible schedule that is all that is needed here, not all of the other manutia, thank you for your time. >> any other members of the public who would like to make a comment this evening? >> come on up. >> i am jay lantus and i am speaking for myself here although i am a member of the small business network. the offense that i take to the entire discussion that

i also want to address the fact that someone who ran a small busy ran a business fof nine years. we had 30 and 40 employees during the course of those five years, we made a decision in the first couple of years because we had the young employees who were starting to have kids and starting to ask us could i work at home? could i work at night as posed to in the morning. and we face aid tough choice, but decided that we wanted to provide more flexible working arrangements for our employees and this led to incredible dividends for our company. we had many of the parent employees never left our company and stayed with us for the entire tenure that i was with the company because we knew that they were working hard, when they were not at the job, they figured out a way with the flexible work arrangement to be productive and that was something that we saw worked within our company. now, i also hear that a lot of folks say, hey, if you want to do things for families, there are other things that you can do, and i acknowledge that, but the board of supervisors we don't have any jurisdictio

we've been in business for 20 years. for 7 of those years mcdonald's was an investor in our company, but they've been entirely divested since october of 2006. and the other is that somehow we magically outmaneuvered or outbid local restaurateur for this space. we did not. there was an independent restaurateur interested in the space prior to chipotle and when their negotiations got so far as exploring the very convoluted circumstances surrounding the liquor license associated with this space, they withdrew and that's when we got into the space. with those sort of out of the way, when we think about the variables that contribute to making an outstanding food culture that we very much enjoy in a city like san francisco, the things that come to mind are access to the best of local foods, beautifully or produce grown by local farms, animals raised in humane ways by farmers who emphasize the use of care over chemicals, food artisans who are making cheeses and cured meats in very traditional classic ways and always trying to e

businesses together. a way to take care of the people in my community. i think that the most important thing is to feed people. and i found it community in hayes valley i reached out to russel regarding the location before putting down a lease because i wanted to become a part of the community that my business and i could glossogrow with. i choose to open there and. i think that the amended ordinance at hand goes to the heart of what we're talking about with the formula retail ban. the desire to preserve in san francisco a space for individual sole proprietorships. i can food my rent but it's not possible if i parking meter with a number of much more infinitely popular organizations. in addition maintaining and that is important you have a lot of neighborhood locals that hang out and one of the things i've heard as resident of the community we need the services that can be provided should be provided at a southern price point. we need a laundromat and those are not largest organizations that can parking m

san francisco needs to support small businesses in order to thrive, but bacon bacon is not only a business, but it's a gem. bacon bacon has good food and for locals and added tax revenue as well and only as san francisco resident, everything taste better with bacon. we whole heartedly support bacon and bacon. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> good afternoon president fong and commissioners. my name is rene pickso, i am a neighbor and here in support of bacon bacon. it's my hope that the city will allow the business to continue to operate. my family has lived in this neighborhood for over 35 years. after going away for college, i returned to this neighborhood. as a kid we became close to the wong family who owned the market. as we heard earlier one of his sons opened a sandwich shop. it allowed friend and neighbors to meet there. i met many of my friends there often. unfortunately the sandwich shop closed. for years the windows were boarded up. i saw people sleeping in the door ways of this store. it was a great reaction to see the store open. i'm blessed to have three small boys now a

business people show up here. a lot of restaurants and small businesses, and i am certain those members are very interested in this program. i myself have been faithful so long. that is why i am interested. hopefully i will be able to learn something and pass on to the people who need my assistance. if there's any way the supervisor would be able to generate a little more activity, maybe the location might not be perfect for the small orders to attend, and hopefully, we have another similar occasion to notify all those people to attend. but thanks so much for being here. thank you. >> yes, so, the typical loan for small businesses, these compliance issues, the term depends on the loan amounts. the most we can do -- in terms of other qualifications, again, this is a loan program, loan fund. these are not grants. they are credits. we will look at the capacity to avoid loan payments and also the totality of the situation, taking into consideration whether there are legal fees or remediation fees that need to be paid.

are we looking at a war between small business and big business?orporations are at the same place. we have a coalition that we recently helped found begin that talks about effective tax rates. there are corporations that pay pretty close to the tax rate. there are some that have money in the cayman islands. we believe all of that ought to be closer. what we ought to look at is effective tax rates. at the end of the day, what you pay is what really matters. dennis: i hope you are not criticizing companies for using all means possible to lower their tax bill. >> we agreed that it needs to be changed. we need comprehensive, across the board tax reform that includes individuals and small businesses that address all of those kinds of loopholes. dennis: so far you are not getting it. dan danner, keep up the fight. >> thank you very much. cheryl: love for facebook. if you listen to mark mahaney, you would have made a profit. he is coming up. dennis: many people think it is dying media. i have always had a face for radio. as we do every day at this time, m

charity diplomacy and business. and. and and and and. cleaned. real damage and complexity of this oil spill was not something you can grasp just by looking at dirty birds we have between four to five million people in this directly affected area of the coast and it's pretty clear why it's not being reported because b.p. can't afford to have a reported all along the gulf coast are clean they are safe and they're open for business if b.p. is the single largest oil contributor to the pentagon the us war machine is heavily reliant upon b.p. and their oil this is a huge step backwards for the marker see it's a step forward. carex it is toxic is a look a lot like spray in vietnam it was it was not a picture that either the government or b.p. really wanted to have out there i don't want dispersants to be the agent. of this. dozens of detainees being force fed and fresh claims of sexual abuse by guards at one time obey that's where a hunger strike is now entering its sixth month. bolivia's president gathers latin american leaders to condemn what he calls

in larger spaces so the rest can be smaller for businesses it could be great. thanks for your work on this. >> thank you. next speaker. >> thank you for allowing me to speak. i didn't have a card but supervisor kim i just wanted to support this legislation. i serve on the soma stabilization group and we are aware of the small business and there are many families south of market and when we have meetings about public safety, about families, about food access, any of these in soma it's rare if ever that any of the large formula retail stores come and visit us whereas small businesses are there supporting us and trying to continue to make this neighborhood a place that thrives and thrives for everybody so i really support this legislation. i had understood there was some folks who were interested in slowing down this process and i want to urge this interim to be passed now. it's too late already and needs to go forward and support the city as we go through the lengthy process with a city wide action so thank you supervisor. >> mr. brooks. >> good afternoon supervi

and many of our businesses already know this small biz businesses have been that credible innovativeors. gift more smaller needs and flexibility is good for them and us. i urge you to support this measure and make sure that san francisco continues to be healthy and a flexible place to work and it will keep families in our communities. together let's help san francisco become the gold standard. and on 0 final notes the committees agenda change and be flexible so i don't have to run out and pick up my kids at the same time (laughter) >> that's part of being flexible. i'd like to invite of its director of small businesses. that's fair to say there's concerns raised as we discussed and i tried to work diligently to address them but on behalf of the commission is regina and a thank you supervisors you should have received a copy of the commissions response if not, i have copies hero. so the commission did hair the legislation the ordinance on monday july 8th and it's official responses not to approve as presently drafted amendments are required and between that the evening of monday july 1st

small business. this project started when we heard from neighborhood merchants. unfortunately, they had access issues, visibility access issues. we have been working closely with many of our partners year today to educate about these -- many of our partners year today to educate about these issues. also in terms of board guidance. i want to thank all of you for coming. many of you may have assistance. i know many merchants could not be here. please do it share this information with other merchants in the area. we have virginia from the office of small business. we have roger from the bar association. no carla johnson from the office of disability. -- we have carla johnson from the office of disability. i want to especially it acknowledge my colleague to help us get the resources and brought legal expertise to the table. i do not want to take too much of your time. thank you for coming. >> thank you, supervisor chu. i want to express my admiration for a supervisor chu's commitment to you. so, from our

the business activity? >> i have not. >> sorry i have not reviewed that specific study. >> okay. >> so there is no, there is no evidence that that is the case. >> no. >> okay. thank you. >> those are my questions. >> in the studies, yes. >> in the studies that you reviewed is there a correlation then between increased business due to increased i mean is there any correlation at all that the increased business is connected in any way to the increased activity bicycle access? >> our amenity to the area and that generates traffic and business and increases economic vitality. >> has there been anything that you have seen where it increased the bicycle activity verses the vehicular car activity? >> i mean is there any, i am not sure if i can frame the question here. basically i want to know if there is an inverse relationship if there are more vehicles having access or there are less cars. >> and i have not seen anything like that. >> okay. >> i have nothing further. >> because i have a question. and soonest wou

>> good evening, steven cornel and i owned a business for 37 years, 108-year-old business. and i think that i know a little bit about dealing with employees but tonight i am going to be talking as a member of the small business advocates. we have big problems with this. the biggest problem, of course, is the rush. we always want to be in front of legislation, we want to be part of legislation, we don't want to be the nay sayers afterwards. this legislation is rushed. one thing that we would like is to put it off until next june, that all of us can get in there and come up with some legislation that works for all of us. given that, here are some of the problems that we have. it is only for san francisco businesses. it is put us in an unfair position, let the playing field... part me, we have heard that this is wonderful in england and australia, and this is san francisco. it is 49 square miles. we are in a competition with people in oakland and those people will come in here and they do come in here now. so it is not the same. we are not talking england and we are not talkin

the locally owned businesses, the small business people are identifying the space and they are coming in, so the fear around the vacantcy and what do we do? it kind of start to sell it off to formula retail is actually baseless and there are people looking at this space in particular saying that it has been empty for two years what is going to change? all that we have to do is turn to the development that is coming in the neighborhood and say this is what is changing, the business is coming, and the people are coming, and the money is coming, and the small businesses will follow, in fact, as pat told you, we have evidence of several offers of small businesses on this fight in particular, whether or not those deals ever come through, the offers will keep coming, a restaurant space, in san francisco near the castro, near all of the foot traffic and there is no reason to expect that this can't be rented. >> now, when we are talking about the numbers, the 29 percent, the 20 percent and the 36 percent and do you include the parking lot and do you include the entire district, it is all kind

then you talk about business owners, and 39% of them own multiple businesses. they do this in combinations. >> your time has expired. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. mr. smith is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i know you have great respective and expertise on both sides of the issue. these discussions are healthy and need to be had. we know the american people want our health care system to work and there is growing skepticism the more it gets involved and the more expensive it becomes, and people can be harmed. that is a growing concern, one i think we all share. mr. jos, you are an expert on the healthcare bill. i appreciate that. you probably study that a great deal. this component we have discussed here today, we are told is not ready for enforcement. do you think there are other components that might share the same view of yours? are there other parts that perhaps you think need to be delayed as well? >> i think the administration is in triage mode. they do not have the resources to implement all of the provisions on time. >> it is a lack of res

commissioner that places you on item 17, new business? >> any new business? >> seeing none, next item. >> commissioners that places you on item 18. is there a motion and i want to motion on honor of chris >> commission meeting adjourned atrybody and welcome to the repeatedly scheduled meeting of the san francisco entertainment commission. tuesday june 18, 2013. black stone call

it is only for san francisco businesses. it is put us in an unfair position, let the playing field... part me, we have heard that this is wonderful in england and australia, and this is san francisco. it is 49 square miles. we are in a competition with people in oakland and those people will come in here and they do come in here now. so it is not the same. we are not talking england and we are not talking new zealand, we are talking san francisco. and we have a problem with the definition of number of employees. is it just the san francisco employees? or is just in the total number of employees throughout the united states? it should be consistent with the other legislation. we have. a lot of the legislation says number of employees in the whole united states whether it is one employees or 50 somewhere else and they come under the minimum. we as a group will not oppose this legislation if it boils down to employees have a right to request time off or change in their schedule without retaliation. that is what we would like fo

with the small business administration to nd to small business. ey have such a poor record. >> they do have a poor record. they tried to do away with it, and the democrats raised up and said we can't do that. in my opinion they spend a lot of money on nothing, a lotf taxpayer money on nhing. we spend our money producing videos telling us what a great job we have in the post them on youtube. we just had small business week with a lot of events going around, the piticians and corporate sponsors could have photo ops because small businesses are participating in that. during the height of the recession, small business lending from the fda went down. the bank actually specializes in loans, your chances are slim to none. if aank says yes, i guarantee that loan, and the business defaults on the loan, goes back and says cough up your amount, they can review the underwriting policies and if they disagree with something, they can back out. gerri: if you are subject to some sort of external review, why bother? if somebody defaults you want to move on. >> the

based on various business reasons. and if i would prefer to have a different answer than the one that mr. adams gave me, i would have the opportunity under this legislation to request a meeting. that is it. that is what we are talking about. now, when employers have granted employees a more flexible working arrangement, there are good things that come out from that. as you can imagine the employees who receive these arrangements they are happier employees and they are more productive employees and more satisfied employees and more loyal employees. and what hr studies have shown in these sorts of arrangements the number of absentee rates go down and the turnover rates go down. and studies have shown that this actually positively impacts the bottom line of companies and i have a fact sheet, that lays out a summary of all of the studies by hr professionals in the united states and beyond of the positive economic impact of what we are talking about here. and now, i also want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the ma

commissioner that places you on item 17, new business? >> any new business? >> seeing none, next item. >> commissioners that places you on item 18. is there a motion and i want to motion on honor of chris >> commission meeting adjourned at

as a result, the neighborhood businesses and the residents in our businesses or our basically, you know, the sole proprier one guy running his little business and we were not able to adequately nor they, are able to adequately represent themselves or their perspectives at the may second 2012, hearing. today many of those business owners are present at this hearing and we have letters and you have names up this and others are here to offer the testimony as well. this owner who hosts a parklet at trouble coffee, previously supported the parklet at 3930, and 40 juda and she has since submitted a letter stating that she now opposes the approved parklet. and if i may take the opportunity to display some photos? >> can you hear me here? >> all right. the names that you will see highlighted in the green and the following pages, they are, you know, businesses that contest the parklet as well. but this is on judah street looking west on judah between 45th and 46th avenues. and you can see right about here it is a little bit hard to see, but as a pedestrian island and on the entire north side of

american businesses. neal, what did you hear from the membership today? what will they do next with this extension? >> i think first they will take a deep breathe and reevaluate where they are. this announcement last night, bo surprised and pleased us. i think there is a sense that we were careering towards a deadline and i think there was some danger that we were going to get sideways on this. so i think we're very encouraged. >> put into perspective for me, if you would, neal, the number of businesses that would be affected by this employ ehrmann date and now won't be. i understand it's like 97% of all businesses in the country have fewer than 50 employees anyhow, and most of the businesses above 50 employees, full-time employees that is already provide insurance. so what number of businesses are we talking about? >> it's actually a large percentage of the employees are in those larger than 50 employee groups. we have a lot of members that are in that small mom and pop range, as well, but they still had