the small business community in the city to see how we can work together to move the small business forward. thank you very much for this opportunity. i am open to any questions that you may have. >> thank you very much. that's very informtive. >> thank you yvonne. diunderstand was there somebody in the appointed position prior to you or was this position vacant for a while? >> because the chief counsel has to be appointed first before we are appointed. after that, then all 10 of us were appointed this january. so, there was a two-year gap. and prior to that my predecessor was working out of arizona for eight years. so that might be the reason why that -- >> congratulations. we work closely with the district director. just one note to advocate on behalf of our small businesses. i am sure that you may have heard about the small businesses and the a.d.a. lawsuits and the department of justice has just recently come out with new guidelines in their booklet. we have seen many small businesses where english is not their first language. and they are not going to be translating the new book

the u.s. small business administration. the small business administration covers not only san francisco proper but the bay area. the severed his third district is responsible for a business loan portfolio of 12,000 loans worth $4.2 billion. in 2009, the sba approved $500 million in lending. next, we have the executive director of the san francisco small business office. she was in san francisco in 1986 to open the buffalo exchange limited store, and in the 13 years she worked for buffalo exchange, tennis district manager, she held her open the company from four to 11 stores. in 2009, the mayor appointed her as executive director to the office of small businesses. next, we have the ceo of opportunity funds. he has combined his background as a community organizer with an education from stanford to develop an innovative, not-for- profit financial incision that uses market principles to affect systemic change. it operates one of the nation's largest individual development, programs, a leading provider of micro loans in californi

the community. saying we are being hit by this. chances are that small businesses across the country are facing a similar challenge. a.d.a. is unique because california, because of the density of our area. especially from minority business owners. but in general when they feel that there is something that really has, you know, basically keeping them from really growing their business. so, if they have certain issues that they want to share with us and we take a look and say, hey, we are hearing this from atlanta and from washington. let's bring everybody together. again it is the small business voice we represent. usually if someone brings up a.d.a., right now a.d.a. is confined to california. maybe we can put together a roundtable in california. and i know that other business groups have asked for that. in order to bring together the roundtable all we need is some issues to take a look at and that we would bring together stakeholders. unfortunately right now we are holding it in washington because our experts, our researchers, economists and attorneys are all at h

i and the co-chair of small business week this year. there is a quick change here, we are doing flavors monday, 5:16. from 5:30 to 6:00, we will be doing the awards first. myself and director have been out soliciting restaurants, very successfully. i encourage everybody to be here, we will be having a recognition with the board of supervisors at 3:30. we are having a reception prior to that. >> it will take place between 2:30 at 3:30. >> we have an all-day conference sponsored by san francisco state university. it will be at the center offices there. golden gate business association expo has been moved till june. but there will be several different neighborhood organizations. there will be mixers sponsored by wells fargo and the golden gate business association. we'll be having hours at the center on market street. a lot of these other neighborhood organizations will be having theirs as well that we. most of them are having them on tuesday night. saturday, the sidewalk sale throughout the city, i think everybody on this commission for ap

occupancy is something that the commission does annually for small business week. supervisor avalos has agreed to be the representing supervisor and sponsor, but normally, what we do with the commission is that brings forth the draft for you to take a look at, because, generally, with the timing, to get as many in the merchant's association involved, the 30-day hold is waves, -- waived, and we would like to do this with your approval so they do not refer it back to the commission, and then we can expedite it through the committee process and hearing and get it done in time for small business week, so what is in the legislation is the spaces that the department, the commission is asking to have the permit fee waived for each of the participating merchants associations, and you have a list of merchants' associations, and how many do we have, chris, total? i thought maybe you would know that number of hand. clerk: 16. there will be a sale on saturday may 7, due to scheduling, with other conflicts with school schedules. commissioner yee riley: do we have to do this ever

small businesses are the center of her agenda. congress under her leadership gave 27 million small businesses tax cuts. two main pieces of legislation -- the small businesses jobs act in the information you have, will create a total of 500,000 jobs and create eight tax cuts. they are all described in the packet you have. also, unleashing up to $300 billion in credit for small businesses to access. there are another eight tax cuts that were passed through a number of different laws. some of our panelists will address those. even though now we are in an environment where there is a republican majority in the house and a slimmer majority in the senate, please note that the leader and democrats are going fight hard to keep their agenda and restart our economy, and there will be more work to be done. i would like to hand over the podium to nicole rivera, who put this together. she will introduce the panelists and go over some logistics. i want to point out quickly that we are being recorded by san francisco government tv. the camera in

to do with the nature of the work and the availability of disadvantaged businesses to do the work. contract one, as i mentioned, is an environmental contract. it involves a lot of plant collection and nursery activities. it just turns out there are not that many firms doing that business in san francisco, disadvantaged businesses, that can do that work. there are a number of small businesses that can do the work and we are pleased that we were able to achieve those numbers. we are continuing to push hard on the disadvantaged business side. but is a challenge. looking at contract four, under- utilized business goals for this contract, we are generally on track and expect to meet goals by the time it is completed. phase two is being done as a public-private partnership. it is a different contract in format that has given us an opportunity to create what we think is an innovative program for small and disadvantaged business participation. unlike a typical construction contract, we are requiring the preparation of a very detailed work plans for the participation of small and disadvantag

occupancy is something that the commission does annually for small business week. supervisor avalos has agreed to be the representing supervisor and sponsor, but normally, what we do with the commission is that brings forth the draft for you to take a look at, because, generally, with the timing, to get as many in the merchant's association involved, the 30-day hold is waves, -- waived, and we would like to do this with your approval so they do not refer it back to the commission, and then

to support the business. also, they relied on home equity lines of credit, which in many cases do not exist anymore, also as a source for financing their business. as far as doing public contracting, one thing about public contract in that you can count on is the city of san francisco will stay in business and pay its debt, just later than you would like it to be. when you're doing public contract thing, if you will, cash cycle -- when you do the work and when you get paid is something you have to factor into your understanding of capital needs. so you have to figure that into the process. usually, that is figured into the pricing. but it is also the case that would you also probably need is a line of credit. depending on whether you feel your credit situation is where you want to go to a bank like wells fargo or another regulated bank, and line of credit, or work for a working- capital type of loan, which is something you look to do, the opportunity fund. you probably want to try both avenues. as far as your

for the business sign. when you can have the sign on the awing and that is based on the square footage. >> and one more awning question and i know they have talked about new guidelines in businesses in our district. do you know whether or not that is possible for the corner stores? >> we are working on a survey of downtown to develop sign guidelines for the downtown district. i'm not aware for that district. >> you mentioned that you don't regulate the content of general advertising signs. i am wondering what is there threshold of language and somebody say this language offensive, substandard. >> no. issues have been raised with various clothing stores but in terms of actual regulation we don't regulate the content. >> obviously lines of profanity. >> it then might go to a police issue but we wouldn't regulate it. >> about the sign and the aliens and big brouhaha and the board of supervisors took it up. >> i don't have information on that. >> yeah. i think part of it - >> down by the market street and i will

if we want to expand and to amend this resolution to include the businesses that might be affected that might be just a side of the port property, then we can include that, and we can provide staff with some guidelines of what you would like to say, and then we can bring it back to you next month. >> and also, we'll be happy to include any comments and a corresponding letter that would go with the resolution. commissioner dooley: i do not know if we want to add this are not, but one thing we are not addressing at this point is the impact on small businesses cost -- business is who i know are already concerned with the impact on traffic and parking, the influx of parking that they are feeling, like people are not going to be able to access their businesses. it is already going to be brought up now. the f train is packed at all times, and the number 10, which is the only city bus which serves that area, has been drastically slashed, so, in a sense, already, there is no public transportation. surrounding neighborhood small businesses are concerned this 11 impact on their business, and they

a local small-business as part of the small business recognition program. >> it really is my honor this month to introduce a couple of people from the fillmore neighborhood. i would like to be joined by meghan, and from the fillmore cbd, [unintelligible] from me -- from the sheba piano lounge. every once in awhile, a person just needs a good piano lounge. we will talk about why she is deserving of this honor. >> i am really happy. i feel she deserves this award. she is a real community member. she does a lot for the district. she is very generous. she is wonderful all around. when you walk into the piano lounge, she is very nurturing and very smart about how she does marketing. if you walk in, you will see her paging through a recipe book. she is always finding new recipes for people. i am so sorry. net is one of my favorite people in the fillmore district. she is one of my favorite people. she always gives me a hug when i walk through the door. if you are a waiter or server in the fillmore district, you are going to she broke -- to sheba piano lounge at the end of the evening. we are a

that bind increase the ability to close the business case. i don't think there is anyone in here that would put your life savings up for something that might be delivered in 2018. , especially of the track record of delivery is uncertain. the only way to do is to say that i will put the money up, but you need to tell me you will deliver this and if you don't deliver it, there has to be accountability for what happens. that is what that is all about. >> alright one more? over here? >> why do need loan guarantees? what are you guarantee? >> alone guarantee reduces the cost of capital. it is not impossible without a loan guarantee, it is just harder. the key is the business case. if you cannot close the business case, nobody quips. i hate to say this outlet sometimes but the reality is if you cannot close the business case, there's probably a good reason why you should not invest. while that is not exactly the line everyone likes to use, it is the reality of capital. whether we are funding a government agency or running an airline or flying an ai

the ada readily achievable guidelines? maybe, depending on how much money you make in your business. >> before you get off the sidewalks an rea of confusion for a lot of small businesses is who is responsible for fixing the sidewalks or putting in curb cuts. where is the area of responsibility? who pays for it? . >> the sidewalk is a publicly owned way, but it has to be maintained by the property owner who fronts that sidewalk. if your sidewalk is cracked or broken by tree roots or whatever, then the property owner is responsible to fix that sidewalk with the appropriate permit from dpu >> curb cuts are a different matter. the corner curb cuts in the city are a public works function. there are some cases where someone is doing a really large project and public works says that's part of your job; you are going to have to provide the public improvements on the sidewalk to serve this very large building you are doing, but typically that's a public works department function. >> like the level landings of the sidewalk and so on, that's a maintenance issue. >> to maintain it so it's not ponding, yes, it is. that's the role of th

ike's place is the business name. i simply ask the commission to recognize the true appellant in this matter. i would start by saying that bike -- that ike has suffered expensive lessons and learned a great deal in this matter with regard to his property. briefly, historically, he and his mother bought this 400 square foot store from a seller in 2007 and paid $3,000 for that store. they installed approximately 100 dozen dollars of equipment in the store. ike's mother took out mortgages on her house to finance the purchase of the business and operate the business. ike has improved the business for over two years. he went from no employees to -- he had 50 employees. in terms of the application, the city did not request a conditional use application for two per se -- for two years after he occupied the premises. the planning department advised him to apply for a conditional use permit last spring for specialty food-service, which he did. ike spent $5,000 for that application and hired an expediter to move the application

commission was one of the key members of starting small business week. commissioner o'conner, you were probably the only commissioner here at the time. we stay outside the d.c. -- of d.c. they do have the president attend. and again, we have the board of supervisors recognition. this is a reminder to know that we are not going to be able to do that this year. the golden gate business association, they traditionally have their small business expo, and they are moving it during small business week. they think this is a more appropriate time to be conducting the expo. what i would like to focus on in the -- is the shock-your- neighborhood program to highlight retailers that are retailing sf-made products. and encourage retailers to think about considering carrying sf- made products. we will be happy doing a consignments trial. there is an affirmation in the packet that talks about this. we will be doing a joint promotion to help promote sf- made products. and the sidewalk sale as well. they're hoping to bring additional energy and attention to marketi

i would also suggest that you take a look at the small business commission hearing on the topic where we had dozens of individuals come out, merchants and small businesses from around the city, to talk about the economic impact of this. there is a reason why the small business commission unanimously supported it. that said, i also feel a little badly for our chief economist for the city because i know how many things you have on your plate with the budget with all the different tax proposals that we are about to ask you to do work on and other different things, but let me ask you -- how long would it take for you to do an analysis of this topic? >> i would imagine in hours of work, it would probably take one to two weeks. we do have a fairly full plate, so i would not want to promise a time line for that, but i do not think it is a particularly difficult for owners assignment. >> what i would like to suggest is that we continue this item to a date certain that someone in the future to give you enough time to do this analysis so you can provided to us and we can read it and have discus

quality is the best business case. let me talk about what can occur in creating a learning health system and how that learning can drive down the cost that was alluded to in both the previous discussions. if you look at the top graph, that is a normal distribution of term. where the evidence for term come from? it comes from an authoritative source. it may not be complete scientific. it was defined for western societies in the bible. that is terrific but in the days of ultrasound, the marker of nine months for a nine motorcycles may not be the best definition. -- nine lunar cycles may not be the best definition. normal distribution is moving to the left from an average of 39- 40 weeks back to 38 weeks and back to 37 weeks. a normal distribution, anything but normal. if you look at the risk for bed outcomes, one sees that natal mortality decreases as one goes to term. would elected preterm delivery it postponed -- it postponed result in better outcomes for babies and their families? the march of dimes and the american ec

weekend recognize her with the small business recognition reward. as you know, they have been very active on the divisidero corridor and assisting with the revitalization of that corridor. on this monday, april 11, 2011, the small business commission is proud to the knowledge the contribution of ms. peterson for the vitality of san francisco. mini bar demonstrates how my life and community can come together. the merchants association has become a strong representative of the neighborhood merchants and events, such as the art walk, and how they are helping the neighborhood thrives. her dedication is commendable, and she has felt give a strong foundation it, and it is sure to continue past her tenure as president. there is in collaboration with the office of work force development. it is a key stakeholder in making that program the success it is today, and i would like to thank you for your work, and also, i would like to ask you to say a few words. >> ok. i can start by plugging the art walk. we started doing this in 2008 when mini bar started. we jus