TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 29-JUNE 4, 2020 11
New SBS commissioner says equitable
distribution of resources is priority
tan again leads with approximately
60 percent of
loans going to their small
businesses, followed by
Brooklyn with 21 percent,
Queens with 12 percent,
Staten Island with 4 percent
and the Bronx with 2
percent, according to SBS.
Doris noted that more
than 50 percent of the
loans went to minority
or women-owned
businesses.
But the lawmakers
wrote in their letter that
a lack of “data-driven
approach to identifying
small businesses and a
system to establish communicative
relationships
with them,” is part of the
reason why foreign-born
folks have a tougher time
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Jonnel Doris is starting
his tenure as the
new Small Business Commissioner
at a crucial
time for small businesses
in Queens and New York
City as a whole.
After taking over the
role from Gregg Bishop
— who will serve as senior
adviser for small business
COVID-19 recovery
— about a week ago, Doris
told QNS supporting
small businesses in every
community is at the front
of his agenda.
“The challenges that
small businesses face every
day are the same challenges
that they face now,
but these challenges are
so much more acute and so
much more real because
of the environment that
we’re in,” Doris said. “And
so we are going to deepen
our reach, particularly
in communities that are
underserved, and ensure
that we are making sure
our resources are being
distributed out to them in
an equitable way.”
Prior to his role as SBS
commissioner, Doris led
the Office of Minority
and Women Owned Enterprises,
the first of its
kind in NYC’s history.
There, he helped Minority
Woman-Owned Business
Enterprise (MWBE) get
certified and navigate the
city’s processes, which totaled
9,800 firms and $14.6
billion investment within
four years.
And before that, he
was the chief diversity officer
for the Governor’s
Office of Storm Recovery
(GOSR), a $4.4 billion
program that reached 36
counties. He managed seven
programs, including
the Minority and Women
Owned Business Enterprise,
Fair Housing, Equal
Opportunity, American
Disabilities Act and Limited
English Proficiency
programs.
When de Blasio announced
Doris’ new role
on May 11, he asked him to
start from scratch. When
asked what that means
for SBS, Doris noted that
COVID-19 has completely
upended the way they
do business and conduct
their outreach.
“We normally did most
of our work in person, and
when you do business and
training, they were generally
in person — but we’re
in a new era,” Doris said.
“So most of what what
we’re doing is being done
remotely.”
SBS has a number of
services for small businesses
and job seekers.
Most of their work consists
of helping small
businesses understand
paperwork and apply for
funds and loans to continue
operating or start an
enterprise. According to
Doris, they have about 40
lenders they work with
throughout the year, and
last year they connected
businesses to $70 million
worth of funds.
In an effort to help
small businesses during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
SBS is managing two relief
programs: NYC Business
Continuity Loan
Fund and NYC Employee
Retention Grant.
But SBS recently came
under fire when state Senator
Jessica Ramos and
Councilman Costa Constantinides
sent a letter to
the mayor and SBS after
they learned most of their
COVID-19 assistance has
gone to businesses based
in Manhattan.
The lawmakers called
on the city to refocus
their efforts to help shops
outside of Manhattan, as
businesses in Queens and
other boroughs are suffering
just as much from the
economic crisis.
SBS has given 293
businesses the NYC Business
Continuity Loan
Fund, which makes up
$16.7 million of the $20
million program. For the
NYC Employee Retention
Grant, they’ve approved
3,200 businesses, or $23.4
million of the $40 million
program.
As of May 13, Manhattan
based shops have
received approximately
54 percent of the grants,
followed by Brooklyn with
24 percent, Queens with
17 percent, and Staten Island
and the Bronx with
3 percent each, according
to SBS.
For the loans, Manhat-
accessing that help.
While Doris mentioned
the services and ways SBS
tries to reach out to small
business owners — whether
it be through their technical
support, their active
social media presence or
the information on their
website that’s translated
to 16 different languages
— he added that SBS is
“doubling down” on their
outreach.
“We have about seven
social media sites
where we’ve pushed
out 150 messages across
those platforms since
the crisis started every
week. We have 180,000
individuals receiving
our updates through
emails for business owners
and job seekers. Our
website alone reached
over 700,000 businesses
since March,” Doris
said. “We’re deepening
our outreach to the outer
boroughs, we are speaking
directly to our community
partners in the
outer boroughs, and we
are here to make sure
that the businesses that
need assistance will get
it from us.”
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