Banker Helps Small Businesses Navigate COVID Era
Steven Garibell helps clients adapt, pushes city to recognize LGBTQ-owned enterprises
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
As a business development
vice president responsible
for LGBTQ
initiatives at TD Bank,
Steven Garibell, through much of
2020, hustled to develop ways to assist
clients and other enterprises in
the community adapt to the daunting
challenges and disruptions
brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.
That effort involved working
with both business ventures and
non-profi t organizations — in both
contexts, fi rst and foremost helping
them to leverage the existing
relationship they have to greatest
advantage.
“You needed to have really good
partners,” Garibell said of organizations
looking to address unexpected
shortfalls in revenue
and funding. “Good relationships
with your payroll company, your
accountant, your bank. I acted
more as a connector, put together
training webinars with accounting
fi rms, payroll companies, and
the New York City Department of
Small Business Services.”
In working with non-profi ts, one
cardinal lesson he aims to impart
is that that they have to think of
themselves as businesses.
“Revenue streams may be different
than from a for-profi t enterprise,”
Garibell said, but diversifi -
cation of those revenue streams is
vital.
Many non-profi ts providing direct
services rely on government funding,
but with state and local governments
facing a fi scal crunch due to
the enormous cost of responding
to COVID, non-profi ts also need to
look to their own fundraising prowess
and to corporate and philanthropic
sources of dollars.
And, in an example of how critical
fi nancial literacy is to any organization’s
survival, non-profi ts and
small businesses alike needed to
be quickly schooled in how to apply
for the federal government’s Payroll
Protection Program and also how
to seek available rent deferral opportunities.
Garibell offered such training in
Steven Garibell, a business development vice president responsible for LGBTQ initiatives at TD Bank.
a variety of ways.
Partnering with Next Street, an
organization that helps businesses
and non-profi ts gain expertise in
capacity building and revenue and
funding enhancements, TD Bank
hosted a webinar for CenterLink,
a 25-year-old member coalition of
more than 250 LGBTQ community
centers in 45 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada,
Australia, and China. Though
some of the organizations that
joined the webinar were TD Bank
clients, others were not.
The webinar focused on the participants’
revenue streams — looking
at options such as galas, fundraising
events including walks,
runs, and bike marathons, corporate
and philanthropic gifts, and
government contracts. All of the
participants, Garibell said, had
faced signifi cant disruptions and
“they had a lot of questions.”
None, however, was yet in danger
of folding, he said, and he noted the
positive role that CenterLink plays
in providing technical assistance
to those community groups struggling.
And, many, Garibell added,
had already done a good job of shifting
services to online platforms that
TD BANK
gave their longstanding clients and
members continued access.
Garibell also devoted signifi cant
time this past year to offering fi -
nancial literacy training to staff
members at non-profi ts, giving
advice on how to move beyond pay
check to pay check personal budgeting,
establishing or improving
their credit standing, and planning
for home-buying — even at a
time of fi nancial stress.
Job fairs were another focus of
Garibell’s work during 2020, whether
participating in those hosted by
other organizations or through TD
Bank-run fairs. Despite the downturn
in other industries — especially
restaurants, live entertainment,
and travel — the bank continued
hiring throughout the year and recruiters
from different lines of TD
business participated.
Even in an environment where
so many businesses and non-profits
were struggling, Garibell noted
some impressive success stories.
The Stonewall Community Development
Corporation — which provides
housing opportunities for LGBTQ
older adults even as it builds
its capacity as a brick and mortar
real estate development partner —
BUSINESS
was one such group he applauded.
Stonewall CDC’s online platform
for providing support and access
to resources grew from 120 users
in March as the worst phase of the
COVID crisis descended on New
York to more than 1200 users by
September.
Garibell also continued his effort
in 2020 with the National LGBT
Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
to bring an Emerging Business
Entrepreneur (EBE) designation
program to New York City government.
Through a legislative proposal
before the City Council and
in brainstorming with the city’s
Department of Small Business
Services, TD and NGLCC hope
that LGBTQ-owned businesses
that have achieved certifi cation by
the Chamber can also win EBE
designation from the city.
The EBE concept is similar but
not identical to the longstanding
Minority and Women-Owned
Business Enterprise (MWBE)
program. The MWBE program includes
set-asides in city contracting
— that typically are not made
full use of, according to Garibell.
The EBE designation would bring
with it a variety of technical assistance
opportunities for qualifying
businesses and would also clearly
signal to larger businesses seeking
vendors that they can achieve
internal diversity goals by contracting
with LGBTQ-owned businesses.
An important component
of the Human Rights Campaign’s
Corporate Equality Index is working
with certifi ed LGBTQ-owned
enterprises.
Garibell, who believes it will not
be long until New York establishes
an EBE programs, noted that numerous
municipalities across the
country — including Los Angeles,
San Francisco, and, closer to
home, Hoboken and Jersey City
— have successfully incorporated
such principles into their contracting
practices.
He also voiced optimism that
the new Biden administration in
Washington would be open to exploring
an EBE approach in federal
contracting.
GayCityNews.com | January 14 - January 27, 2021 17
/GayCityNews.com
