often it's a challenge for a small business to, small businesses are very small person shop. they don't have a full marketing department to develop glossy proposals or things of that nature. we question for those statements and it's not as big a burden to submit those and we have short listing the firms ensuring there is a representation of diversity in terms of the population here in san francisco. so, those are components that we look at as well in terms of what you may view as being outreach targeted efforts at looking at specific populations in areas. in terms of whether there is a direct target currently with latinos, i have to say there hasn't been a discussion specifically looking at latinos per say. but that maybe an area that we will be looking at in the future with some of our partners. >> well, with the african american is 4.9 percent also which is quite low. >> can you repeat that? >> i was saying with the african american the percentage is low. i know you put out your rfp or announcements to the current listing and those that are probably already certified with t

for small and rural systems with small customer bases, this is incredibly important. unfortunately states are not currently required to provide the assistance to disadvantaged communities and not all do. the assistance may become scarcer in coming years as the need continues to grow faster than the available funding. when this subcommittee with legislation addressed toxic algae i expressed my hope it would be the start of broader drinking water work and i'm please ds the chairman is now addressing another important drinking water issue. but as i said in the toxic al gee algae, small systems serve only 8% of the population. we should absolutely do what is necessary to ensure they have safe water but should also protect the other 92% and that means reauthorizing the srf, ensuring fracking is done safely ensuring source water protection addressing drought planning, of course, for climate change. i look forward to more drinking water hearings and more bipartisan conversations about some legislative solutions. thank you, mr. chairman. >> gentleman yields back his time. now

businesses and the office of small business to share they're planning it will not interrupt the small business. >> what was the context of the - what in what stent a they'll plan in what context. >> the context is coming from the quarterly meeting with the mayor and again talking about the infrastructure projects the mayor encouraged different members those that are interested from that group to meet with the different departments and bart is one of the entities that government entity that deals with infrastructure that the city interfaces or businesses interface with so scott has been setting up the meetings

that small business. what we are proposing is a workshop regarding amending the sbe policy and coming back before the commission for your approval and consideration likely in june of 2015. that concludes my presentation. i'm be happy to answer any questions and also again have the director of city built miligan along with his manager >> thank you. madam secretary, do we have any speaker cards. city clerk: we have mr. ace washington. >> i might as well call this mr. ace show. there is nobody from the community. i have a couple of challenging questions but i want to say congratulations to your new compliance officer. he took time with me last week and we talked about some challenging things on the western edition. as i speak on the western edition. as a prime example, all of your paperwork state all the other cities and all the departments and different parts of the city, but it seems like somebody in the city erases them and western edition. nobody put it on the paperwork. i'm not an advocate but i show yo

. >> item number 3 a presentation on google small business engagement today commissioners your receiving a presentation from rebecca the public affairs manager google and joe global business with google and adriana the person that oversees the diversity with google and alison is with the diversity section of google sfgovtv i believe we have a power point presentation. >> probably google dots actually (laughter) exactly. >> it is up on the computer not on the screen is that how it - . >> there you go. >> great. >> good afternoon commissioner thank you very much for hosting us today as i was introduced i'm rebecca respect started with google about 6 months ago that is your broader program to explain to the partners and city how google participants in helping small business so a few things i wanted to point out number one google has an office in san francisco since 2007 at fulsome and spear one of the things number one was to make on appointment with our director to talk about how we could infuse more san francisco businesses into google we support a lot of local san francisco business with

businesses and the office of small business to share they're planning it will not interrupt the small business. >> what was the context of the - what in what stent a they'll plan in what context. >> the context is coming from the quarterly meeting with the mayor and again talking about the infrastructure projects the mayor encouraged different members those that are interested from that group to meet with the different departments and bart is one of the entities that government entity that deals with infrastructure that the city interfaces or businesses interface with so scott has been setting up the meetings there's been a meeting with dph and different meetings? a meeting with bart to have general discussion and they also provided a presentation on a better bart which i mean will likely schedule if not urgent but schedule that you're aware of the bart scheduled projects that they're working on. >> and also, they mentioned that the affair only covered 75 percent of their costs so in new york their central station underground lots of restaurants and shops and that yes, i did. >> a lot

a bit of small definition. there is a cap that the revenues that define the small business. the ocie does define small business with caps of $2 million for professional services. $7 million to suppliers and $14 million for construction services. now, i also have placed on the screen the definition of ownership and control and also licensing. what's common with a lot of certification programs and before i talk about that, i do want to preface by saying that ocie no longer certify small businesses but for many of the certification programs is what's looked at by governmental entities and other parties from small businesses whether a local business, minority or female business. what's looked at are the aspect of local control and operating the firm which is something that the former redevelopment agency have practiced as well. since we no longer certify businesses, what we have done is accept the certification activity of other governmental entities. again, based on the principles of ensuring ownership and control. what is different with many of the certification programs betwe

and by wants direction when this is to be infected i think from what the discussion came from the small business be consultant to codify when the economic environmental impact report is done like the eirs not the same standard but to crate sub standards for which we as the city look at the economic analysis and economic reports and studies we've heard even in discussions here with the commission and the held the joint commission with the board we've talked about looking at the economic impact studies each of those things are a very different thing in and of itself and so and even amongst the discussion with the business county the intent is the economic analysis so their needs to be clear guidelines and objectives when things are triggered for what in terms of is that a study or analysis or comes ahead of time or is there a followup report after an infrastructure project so that's said the commission is embarking on the outreach and it is we're being looked to to provide direction and recommendation we'll not be able to embark on this until the secretary it in place hopefully no more th

business commission california. >> hi scott. >> how you doing small business commission along with the federation of the and the handsomely has the ab 1280 what it does basically give a one-day tax holiday on small business right after thanksgiving for your information the tax state tax is 7 and a half cents and san francisco is 8 so san francisco tax on another quarter percent what the hope is that if this passes the state that we can get local jurisdiction the legislation does not require a local jurisdiction to wave the tax that would be a problem if they didn't do it so the idea is to promote small business they're doing something similar in florida it is pending working its way through the system we think this is a good statement to assist small businesses we are aware we don't know what the cost is just yet we have down the road of the the department of finance with workout the finance and get back to us. >> scott scott this is to propose it right to jaundice and yeah. yeah. >> so i'm saying the details are unnecessary in this quorum if the data is on the agenda we'll video a ful

what is exciting from our perspective as policy folks in small business we have 144 businesses, small businesses that are working on this project and some of them have multiple contracts so we have 167 contracts that have small businesses participating on them and what is more important -- you can't tell because of the line there but on the first tier subs and those operating as prime contractors there are 17 non sbes but we have 14 small businesses acting as first tier subs which other contracts are called prime contracts and that is important because that's the part as a small business you could grow your business. as a small contract you're at the behest of the larger contract and having this is enormously helpful in designing their own destiny and we are providing beyond just promises and with that i ask if there is any questions. >> good news. >> thank you paul. this is a passion of mine working with small businesses and disadvantaged communities, disabled veterans as well as the lgbt community so i want to thank paul for the great work as well on this. we should be very proud fo

the rate for these small systems are too small to cover the essentials and services. it is long past time for us to provide robust support for our water utilities. investigation to the support our grant programs, we should also examine alternative finance financing mechanisms and potential new partnerships that will enable every dollar to go forward in reducing the backlog of infrastructure projects and in ways reducing operating costs through efficiency, both water and energy. i'm very pleased to have mayor keegan here this morning to serve people throughout our state. mayor keegan and our witnesses from representative harper's district will provide us with a glimpse of the challenges they face each and every day they do a remarkable job in keeping clean water flowing to every home, every day. water infrastructure is essential. it's the only way to state it. we can afford to do this, we cannot afford to delay these investments any longer. economic vitality rests on a sound structure. we cannot keep in a 21st century global economy with infrastructure held together wi

this is for small cities.he big cities have their own issues but they have the resources and the critical mass to be able to take care of our small towns of 4 hundred and 500 people are struggling. we need to take care of it. >> and congress from ohio for five minutes. >> i represent appalachia, ohio, and i don't have to tell you folks how rural that is. i hear the horror stories, many of which you just heard i could cite similar cases that my colleagues from west virginia mr. mckinley did, mr. sellman long before i was elected to congress ip served -- i served 26 years in the air force and stationed in columbus mississippi and you know how rural that area is. and so i've seen this for a long time. so does the gao track and can you tell us in regard to all urban and rural systems how many municipalities have their systems charge the true cost of providing water to their customers and how many are operating in the red? >> and that is debatable, whether people are paying the true price of what the water costs. i

so what was too small, too big to succeed or too big to fail has now become too small to succeed, so it has then allowed new entrants into the market that are competing without the burden of regulation but also has really made not just look at shutting down banks or closing down banks but removing lines of credit especially in the mortgage area. so i want to i want to kind of get to two points. it would be very informative to know what reactions you have had to what you've already heard in the dodd-frank arena, what reactions you've had to what you've already heard about the need for accommodation and retreat on some of the regulation. on the other hand, mr. bland, you said to the extent the law allows. and i think that's the other challenge we have here is trying to figure out where we're going to put the burden on you to solve this problem, and where we need to be a partner. and so i'm curious, as you've been going through the agrippa process, as you've met with the community bankers in your meetings, what are you hearing about dodd-frank that would be impossible for you to fix wit

you have been looking g at small businesses. you love work that raytheo -- you ve work that rayeon and sprint. at is the biggest mistakes small businesses are getting it wrong? >> the biggestistake is they are counting on oror expecting the government or the larger industry to solve the problem and that's just not happening.. there are things they can do proactively to start to address cyber security at a small busineness or consumer level. >>>>onal big businesses, you worked att helansecurity, r big cyber companieses. now you are a consultanlooking at bignd small. from the big company perspective, what is the biggest mistake they are still making? they are getting hacked right and left. >> one of the mistakes they're makingng is thinking ciber is an industry. thatat's not t our industry. we don''t need to worry abouout it are criticainfrastructures e covered, you needo be protected. rebecca: forget caing anything cyber, it's all cyber now. onone of the points i have heard people make when it c comes to small business and cyber

and small scale solar and that's a challenge for labor because labor hasn't hasn't traditionally been in those areas so long and don't have as deeper roots in those areas and how do we address good jobs with good training in the future where there is small distributed resources in a lot more places and i think that's part of our job. >> you know i know director raphael is aware of and i was going to talk about it in my president's report later on but specifically to that point the department of the environment has been leading the way through our refinance sf team with rich chin and gill rodriguez and our energy efficiency work with training there's hundreds of thousands of dollars of training happening to train folks too the smaller work and just tomorrow morning different city departments city officials and even contractors are going to tour that facility tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. so no i think you are right i think that all the parties are starting to look at how to deliver this type of good paying job that lead to careers and retirement and career development to look at how we

it depends on what kind of treatment the epa is requiring the small small community to treat for. the question i have, and you talked about some of these things, how do rural systems get the funds they need to deal with this compliance issue? do you have any thoughts of this, on what we do? i heard one comment could the federal government sends more money. i sometimes think it's unfair to say you must do all these things and spare the costs. it comes down to a question of what else, how are these costs born often times when you have someone that lives a mile from the next person. there's huge costs associated with this anyone have any comments on how this should be set up? >> we raise our rates, we have the dec required our local school district. they passed a bond they passed that price on to the taxpayers to hook into the system at quite considerable expense. and -- >> what kind of percentage increase would you say that was? >> i'm not shire. >> anybody else have any other thoughts other than put on the rate payers. >> the raising rates is the only way like the small communities

the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. getting your customers to embrace your brand is hard. but when you do it right, it's sort of magic. that's when you get customer loyalty, and a business that is more than just a passing fad. we visited one company which combines paint, a few glasses of wine and a smart business plan that's making it all work. >> i think it's still here because it hit a nerve. >> people said it's a fad. and i always say, well was golf a fad? >> renee maloney and cathie deano's company has a colorful future. they know that it's more than just a trend. >> we built this concept thinking it would just be a fun night out for women. >> if it had been a fad it would have fallen off way before now. we started out in a recession, and we never missed a beat. >> the founders of painting with a twist in mandeville louisiana, say they saw demand right from the start. >> people were waiting, you know, open open open at the front door when we would get there to open the studio and we were noticing that there were peo

are they small businesses or are they part of a larger company? the issue is a legal one and it's coming to a head in seattle. >>> here's a look at what to watch tomorrow. the federal reserve issues its policy statement. chair janet yellen holds a press conference. >>> fedex often viewed as a brock tore of the economy has earnings after the bell. >>> the unemployment rate in 24 states fell in january according to the labor department. north dakota had the nation's lowest jobless rate. 2.8%. a sign that layoffs in the energy sector are yet to have a major impact there. rates rose in just eight states with mississippi nevada recording the highest level of joblessness at 7.1%. >>> seattle is getting ready to roll out the nation's biggest minimum wage hike but not without a fight. at the center of a legal battle is whether franchises are small independent businesses or whether they are part of a much larger network. the answer could have a big impact on how they do business. kate rogers has more. >> reporter: are franchisees big or small businesses? i

this provides a marketing tool for small businesses.times they say they are undercut in terms of labor. we have a minimum wage in many other countries do not. this levels the playing field. mark: last month you were on capitol hill discussing your agency's budget request for next year. the chairman of the house small business committee said the sba pursues in his words its own initiatives and priorities and he added that it ignores congressional directives and even some democrats took issue with the way things are run. is congress questioning your agency's relevancy? >> what we know is what businesses that we think are within our authority to launch. they have been authorized and my job is to execute on the programs that are in my budget. we have so many men and women that are returning from their uniform life to civilian life. our boots to business program prepares them for entrepreneurship. they are coming with a plan in place. those are the kinds of programs we are launching that are proving to be very successful. mark: joining us fr

but so will small liberal arts colleges. the main issue is not being a women's college but a small liberal arts college and location also counts. >> that was a tough challenge for sweet briar where it is you can't simply pick it up. it's 2,500 acres of loveliness and move it close to a subway line or a cool place to be. >> at sweet briar ten years ago there was an understanding and no official public announcement that the school needed to change course but we were not blind and we were aware what other womens colleges were doing, neighboring colleges. hollins expanded to be a university. randolph-macon as well. while the decision was devastating to me it wasn't a shock. wasn't something out of the blue entirely. i think that it's a challenge that sweet briar has been facing for a long time and maybe if it hasn't been up front and center there's always been an underlying current that it's been a risk and change course or consider alternatives. >> i remember such famous names as vassar and sarah lawrence when they went coed an

arguably represents the population that the demand out weighs the supply the physical captions the small triangle parcels that measure 31 hundred square feet ran several scenarios and found two bedroom comparable unit are difficult due to the requirement for speculation and other typical features found in 2 bedroom units to make the project economically feasible it varies than less than 40 percent of units contain 2 bedroom units the octavia plan courageous it to be approved the project sponsor has elected by payment of the fee must be received prior to the first site or building issuance the project seeks modification from the rear yard for the planning code and section of the property they exceed the size in order for the project to proceed the commission must grant conditional use authorization for modification from the unit mix of 40 percenter is to only 2 bedroom units the planning department represents approval are conditions for the following reasons the project was consistent with the policies of the market octavia plan with the residential and commercial ground floors were submi

would qualify as a local or regional job it's too hard from an economical scale san francisco being so small you can't do an economic report that's really san francisco based you have to look at a broader based area and they are two different models but similar in nature and you will see numbers missing those were projects that actually fell outside the regional jurisdiction and they took those out of this particular slide here and went through energy efficiency strategies that could be used emphasising the work and the city has the availability to apply for those moneys and some moneys actually still have to go through pg&e and they were pointing out some of differences and also the early discussion of this program was that it was going to be mostly focussed on residential but commercial and residential would be involved. it was in some ways on the back burner in some instances and so while the big picture stuff was on the residential and they were bringing up yes we know commercial can be done and highlighting some some of the things already in the program and the importance of of the comm

. >> reporter: overall, small cap stocks have also seen strong gains helping to drive the nasdaq higher. >> smaller caps are attractive for a couple of reasons. one is the run-up in the dollar and small cap have more domestic exposure but secondly this was an area that way underperformed last year and i think you'll see a rotation. >> reporter: one of the biggest changes from 15 years ago was that investors have more ways to gain exposure to the sectors through the surge in exchange traded funds. they no long verer have to make a bet mitigate downside risk. bertha coombs, show"nightly business >>> biotech has been higher for 8 straight days and up 42% in the past year. biogen was one of the best performers in the s&p 500 after the experimental alzheimer's drug we told you about last night showed in a study it significantly slowed mental decline. shares jumped nearly 10% on the news. meg tirrell has more on this possible breakthrough. >> reporter: the expectations were sky high and today, biogen exceeded them giving hope for a disease with no good treatment options. in a small study repo