TESTIMONY
Testimony by Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, Deputy Director of The Street Vendor Project on Small Business Empowerment Program
2:07:22
·
3 min
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, representing The Street Vendor Project, requests the City Council to sustain and expand their small business empowerment program for street vendors. She emphasizes the growing demand for street vendor education and services, especially in light of the pandemic and increasing asylum seekers.
- The Street Vendor Project has over 2900 members
- Their services help vendors improve financial literacy and integrate into the formal economy
- The program enables vendors to open bank accounts, access credit, pay taxes, and grow their businesses
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez
2:07:22
Hi.
2:07:22
Good afternoon.
2:07:23
My name is Karina Kaufman Gutierrez, and I'm the deputy director at the vendor project, a membership based organization of over 2900 Street vendors.
2:07:31
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
2:07:34
We respectfully request from city council to sustain and expand our small business empowerment program for street vendors.
2:07:41
The demand for street vendor education and services continues to grow as the population transformed during the pandemic and continues to increase as many asylum seakers are beginning to bend as well.
2:07:52
It's critical that there be an investment in education and training for these emerging small business owners to help them know their rights and their responsibilities which SVP is primed to do.
2:08:01
We are the one stop shop for street vendors that will provide you with legal representation when you receive a ticket.
2:08:06
Help you navigate the complex street bending laws in seven languages, and offer training to build your skills to grow your street bending business.
2:08:14
Despite being a small team of 3 full time organizers, 2 part time, and one lawyer on staff in just the 1st 8 months of this fiscal year, We have supported 414 vendors with individual consultations on topics ranging from sales tax filings to filing loan applications.
2:08:31
Of these in the past year, 57% of our small business consultations were in Spanish, 20% in Mandarin, 14% in English, 5 in Arabic, and 3 in Bangalore, 59% of our consultations were with female identifying street vendors.
2:08:46
We also hold monthly work shops at our membership meetings with a regular attendance of 50 to 75 individuals, and tonight's, for example, is on registering for e payment systems.
2:08:55
We also conduct regular street outreach to vendors to connect them with services often with the fellow SVP member alongside us to continue building trust.
2:09:03
When so many have faced scams in the street vending world.
2:09:06
Each of these engagements is with the purpose of helping a small business owner to grow and become part of the formalized economy.
2:09:13
And respectfully, you know, street SVP really fulfills a critical role.
2:09:18
There is no city agency that meaning meaningfully serve street vendors.
2:09:22
Respectfully in September 2023.
2:09:25
Just a little bit.
2:09:27
SBS reported that they did not have staff dedicated to street vending.
2:09:31
Does not conduct in person educational outreach to vendors and did not have data on how many street vendors have accessed any of their services.
2:09:38
And unfortunately, the information shared today respectfully was incorrect about a study being funded this fiscal year.
2:09:44
It will not be funded as was told to the SBAC.
2:09:49
This is a stark difference when compared with the investment in enforcement.
2:09:52
DS and Y as of the FY 24 adopted budget currently has $2,900,000 budgeted for the Office of Street Under Enforcement, which is set to increase to $4,700,000 by FY 27.
2:10:05
Streven like we are very eager to increase services to street vendors, but we really need city council support to increase our capacity.
2:10:12
And by empowering vendors to improve their financial literacy our services help them integrate into the formalized economy, allowing them to open bank accounts, access credit, regularly pay and file taxes, and grow their businesses.
2:10:25
Thank you so much for for your consideration of this proposal and in supporting the street vendors who make New York City beautiful and diverse.
2:10:32
Thank you.