WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES APRIL 29, 2021 7
HIGHER ED TODAY
City launches new small business
economic support programs as
part of COVID-19 recovery plan ������������������������������������������������������
Councilman Robert Holden is among the Queens elected offi cials touting
the city’s new small business relief programs. Courtesy of Holden’s offi ce
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The city is making more resources
available to small businesses as
part of its COVID-19 economic
recovery campaign.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
that $155 million of the funds will
go directly to small businesses as
grants and direct support through
the Department of Small Business
Services (SBS).
“As the City continues on its journey
to recovery, it is critical that we
make small businesses the central
focus of our relief efforts,” SBS Commissioner
Jonnel Doris said. “SBS
will continue to strive for an inclusive
recovery, ensuring all small
businesses have the resources they
need to get back on their feet.”
The programs will focus on lowmoderate
income businesses in
the hardest hit communities and
also help businesses in the arts,
entertainment, recreation and food
services, Doris added.
“The COVID-19 pandemic devastated
small businesses in the arts,
hospitality, and restaurant industries
in New York City,” Assemblyman
Davis Weprin said. “The launch
of.small business economic support
programs that provide millions of
dollars in grants and loans will help
our city in the recovery process. I applaud
the Mayor’s office, the Office
of Management and Budget and the
NYC Department of Small Business
Services for considering the needs of
underrepresented groups and communities
that were hurt the most by
the COVID-19 pandemic when they
created this program.”
For more information on the resources,
visit the SBS website here.
“Small businesses are the backbone
of a thriving Big Apple,” Councilman
Paul Vallone said. “These programs
accelerate our economic recovery
from the pandemic as commercial
corridors will benefit from these
initiatives. I applaud the administration
for administering and creating
grants and loans to support New
Yorkers.”
Councilman Robert Holden recently
passed legislation that would
help small business owner who have
been struggling to keep their doors
open.
“After a terrible year of being
closed down, limited operation
or being hit with draconian fines
by city inspectors, our small businesses
need all the help they can get,”
Holden said. “These programs are a
welcome step in the right direction
toward recovery. Let’s continue to
make city government more nurturing
to small business owners in the
wake of the pandemic and let’s shop
locally.”
The Queens Chamber of Commerce,
which represents more than 1,300
businesses and more than 125,000
Queens-based employees, endorsed
the city’s small business economic
support programs.
“The Queens Chamber of Commerce
wholeheartedly supports
and is grateful for the allocation
of grants and loans that are being
announced today by the administration,”
Queens Chamber of Commerce
President and CEO Thomas J. Grech
said. “We have worked side by side
with SBS Commissioner Jonel Doris
and his team over the past year and
look forward to continuing the work
together. As we see the light at the
end of the pandemic tunnel we look
forward to having the resources we
need to support our small business
turnaround throughout Queens
County.”
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In the world of higher ed, May 1 is
National College Decision Day – the traditional
deadline for high school seniors
to commit to a school for the fall. Nowadays
many colleges have flexible calendars
that make it more of a symbolic
date. Still, for students and their families
this is a time of year that signals
propitious decisions and great expectations,
along with high hopes and the
inevitable degree of apprehension. The
moment in which we find ourselves this
year only heightens those emotions.
Throughout my career as a college
professor and president and now as
CUNY’s chancellor, I’ve always appreciated
the energy and sense of anticipation
that drives students’ transitions.
From the acceptance letter to the welcome
to-campus orientation to the first
day of classes, the journey holds great
promise, but it can also be fraught with
hesitation, especially for students who
will be the first in their families to attend
college. At CUNY, those first-generation
students make up nearly half
our students.
Having worked with many of these
incoming students and their parents
over the years, I’ve been inspired by
their commitment to get to college and
by their aspirations for completing their
education and pursuing their dreams.
But I’ve also been cognizant of how
daunting it all can be, and the reality
that so many factors can pose obstacles,
impede the progress and even prevent
many of those students from making it
to the first day.
That’s why we don’t take the time between
May and September for granted.
Over the past few years, CUNY has paid
increasingly closer attention to helping
admitted students navigate the transition
and to providing a range of support
so they’re ready, willing and able to begin
classes in September.
This year, as we consider the stillopen
questions of when, how and to
what extent we can safely return to our
campuses, incoming students will have
corresponding questions and concerns.
Will remote or hybrid classes in college,
for instance, be the same as they have
been in high school? So the initiatives
we’ve developed to connect with admitted
students will be more important
than ever.
Last summer, we expanded our innovative
College Bridge for All program
to offer every graduating senior in New
York City public high schools support in
their transition to college. The program,
a collaboration with the Department of
Education and supported by grants from
Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Carroll
and Milton Petrie Foundation, trained and
paid about 200 CUNY students to be “nearpeer”
coaches for graduating seniors. The
CUNY coaches offered help with all kinds
of things: Academic planning, FAFSA
filing, adapting to online classes, accessing
programs like CUNY Start and much
more. We found that the program had a
positive impact on enrollment in a year
when enrollment was down. The expansion
couldn’t have been better timed, and
we’re gearing up for another successful
summer for College Bridge.
This year we’re also launching the
CUNY Recovery Corps, a special summer
youth employment program in partnership
with the city that will hire thousands
of CUNY students, including 2,000
who will be part of what we’re calling the
CUNY Welcome Corps. They’ll lead orientation
activities and social events, some
virtual and some in person, for new students
on every CUNY campus.
It’s all part of our determination to
support this year’s incoming students
and welcome them with an even bigger
embrace.
Even in times of uncertainty, I try to
remember that higher education has the
power and potential to transform lives.
Perhaps that is truer now than ever, as we
emerge from this tumultuous year and a
half as a community, a city and a country.
And that’s why National College Decision
Day this year has even greater significance.
In fact, I see this time as an inflection
point in CUNY’s historical commitment
to advancing access and opportunity
for all New Yorkers. The high school seniors
who are making their decisions this
month, and anticipating their arrival on
CUNY campuses come August, have a lot
to look forward to.
To every student out there making
their decision and every parent and
grandparent, hermana and tía who helped
them get to this point and proudly share
in the excitement of seeing them take the
first steps to a brighter future, congratulations.
This, too, is your accomplishment.
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