BY JENNA BAGCAL
The Queens Chamber of
Commerce and Councilman
Peter Koo helped Flushing
small businesses to jumpstart
their online presence and help
them get back on their feet on
Tuesday, Aug. 17.
Business owners got the opportunity
to learn about free resources
offered by the Queens
Chamber, including the Open
+ Online program, which helps
businesses create new websites
and helps with search engine
optimization (SEO).
“Small businesses are the
lifeblood of neighborhoods
like Flushing, but they’ve had
an incredibly challenging
year and a half due to the pandemic,”
Grech said. “We were
delighted to join Council member
Peter Koo and the Flushing
BID today to speak with business
owners and let them know
what resources the chamber
has available to them so they
can reach more customers.
Our Open + Online program
can help businesses get back on
their feet and thrive in the postpandemic
economy, and we encourage
anyone who wants to
learn more about the program
to reach out to the chamber.”
Queens Chamber of Commerce
President and CEO Tom
Grech and Councilman Koo
were joined by Flushing BID
Executive Director Dian Song
Yu, Queens Chamber staff and
other members of the business
community. The group visited
a number of businesses during
the Aug. 17 walkabout, beginning
at Bland Playground on
the corner of Prince Street and
40th Road and up to the bustling
Main Street and Roosevelt
Street.
The Open + Online program
is offered through the NYC
Small Business Resource Network,
which provides personalized
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.4 COM | AUG. 27 - SEPT. 2, 2021
guidance and assistance to
small businesses through each
borough’s Chamber of Commerce.
“The pandemic changed
shopping patterns for small
business in many ways. There
was a major shift toward online
shopping, so we want to make
sure our businesses know
about the chamber’s capacity
to help build websites for our
community free of charge. Customers
are coming back, and
we want to make sure our businesses
have every available resource
at their disposal so they
too can come back and thrive in
this post-pandemic economy,”
Koo said.
Last summer, a report
showed that Flushing businesses
received the fewest Payroll
Protection Program (PPP)
loans in the city, with just
38.3%, or 913 of the 2,381 qualified
businesses receiving loans.
Over the past year, the community
(From l. to r.) Dian Yu; Jim Dong; Councilman Peter Koo; Queens
Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Grech; Michelle
Watson, tech specialist SBRN/Queens Chamber of Commerce; and
Jessie He, business recovery specialist SBRN/Queens Chamber of
Commerce. Photo courtesy of Queens Chamber of Commerce
has rallied together to
help Flushing small businesses
recover through efforts like the
Asian American Federation
distributing $1,000 grants to 40
businesses and Flushing Shopping
Week organized by the
Flushing BID.
“Online presence is important
for small businesses to
thrive,” Yu said. “Especially
during this pandemic era, a
website can serve as a key communication
channel between
merchants and consumers, allowing
businesses to operate
more efficiently and broaden
their customer base.”
The NYC Small Business
Resource Network, which runs
Open + Online, is powered by
the Peter G Peterson Foundation
and the Partnership for
New York City.
To learn more, visit
nycsmallbusinessresource
network.org.
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260-2583.
Queens Chamber of Commerce
encourages small businesses
to boost their online presence
link
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