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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Linda Baran, President and CEO of Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
1:50:57
ยท
3 min
Linda Baran, President and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, testified about the chamber's initiatives to support small businesses in Staten Island. She highlighted programs such as the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, Leading Ladies Collective, and Chamber on the Go, emphasizing the need for city funding to sustain and expand their work.
- Requested restoration of funding for the Small Business Resource Network, which has reached over 10,400 businesses in Staten Island
- Asked for $100,000 in support from the speaker to launch a new program connecting new and immigrant ethnic businesses to community services
- Mentioned ongoing efforts to establish a Business Improvement District (BID) on Bay Street
Linda Baran
1:50:57
Thank you, chair Felice and members of the committee on small business and members of New York City Council for the opportunity to testify today.
1:51:04
My name is Linda Barron.
1:51:05
I serve as the president and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.
1:51:08
Since 1895, the chamber has been dedicated to supporting and advocating for small businesses in our community.
1:51:15
As the largest business organization in the borough, we serve approximately 700 businesses that are members that represent about 20,000 employees with 90% of our members operating businesses with 10 or fewer employees.
1:51:27
And while we our membership organization, our organization represents the interest and serves more than 14,000 businesses of all sizes and sectors borough wide.
1:51:35
Small businesses are the backbone of our borough's economy and the chamber is committed to providing them with tools, resources and advocacy they need to succeed.
1:51:43
We achieved this through our on ground merchant assistance, economic development programs and policy advocacy to ensure small businesses have a voice in city government.
1:51:51
Today I want to highlight several of our key initiatives that continue to make a meaningful impact on Staten Island's small business community and emphasize the need for city funding to sustain and expand our work.
1:52:01
One of our flagship programs is our young entrepreneurs academy.
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It's the only program citywide that the chambers are doing which is a transformative sixteen week after school program that empowers high school students to become real entrepreneurs by developing business ideas, conducting market research and pitching to investors.
1:52:18
Since launching in 02/1528 students have graduated from the program equipping them with skills and experience that will benefit them throughout their careers.
1:52:28
Investing in our future business leaders is an investment in our borough's long term economic vitality.
1:52:33
Last year, the chamber launched the Leading Ladies Collective, the first of its kind on Staten Island designed to support and empower female business owners.
1:52:40
The inaugural cohort brought together 13 business owners for an eight month program focused on financial literacy, legal support, marketing, networking and MWBE certification.
1:52:50
This initiative is critical step towards strengthening women entrepreneurs in Staten Island, ensuring that they have access to the resources and mentorship necessary for success.
1:52:59
With city council support, our chamber on the go program provides direct proactive assistance.
1:53:04
I'm not going to go into detail because my time, I know, is up.
1:53:07
But we do the Chamber on the Go.
1:53:09
We've been doing that for about eight years now on Staten Island and we are part of the Small Business Resource Network, which was mentioned before.
1:53:16
On Staten Island, we've reached over 10,400 businesses since the obsession of that since the inception of that program.
1:53:24
1,200 of them are women and minority owned businesses.
1:53:27
I'd like to ask that that funding be restored.
1:53:31
As mentioned before, that that is actually part of the New York City economic development part of money and it passes through SBDC.
1:53:38
We think it's crucial the five borough chambers are on the ground.
1:53:41
It provides us the opportunity to have extensive staff being out visiting with businesses that they, you know, that are in our boroughs so we have that local connection.
1:53:49
And lastly, one of the things that the Sentinel Chamber of Commerce has asked the speakers for support on is to launch a new program to connect new and immigrant ethnic businesses to community services.
1:54:01
We requested a hundred thousand dollars from the speaker for that.
1:54:05
Just really, the chambers of commerce do a lot of great work in all five boroughs and we are we're always looking for funding to support the actual work that we do and it's really important this day and age with the business and climate that exists.
1:54:21
And lastly, we are in the process of hopefully getting our bid, the Bay Street card a bid.
1:54:26
We've been working on that for a number of years now, trying to get that to the finish line.