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QUESTION
What support is available for smaller Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) with staffing challenges?
0:35:35
·
108 sec
The NYC Department of Small Business Services provides one-on-one support to smaller Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) experiencing staffing challenges, focusing on financial operations and contractual processes.
- The department acknowledges the critical information BIDs supply regarding commercial quarters.
- A finance and operation team offers personalized assistance, especially with contractual and invoice challenges.
- Efforts include educating BIDs on funding processes and assisting with correct form completion for reimbursements.
- The goal is to minimize processing times for payments and alleviate tensions related to city funding procurement.
Oswald Feliz
0:35:35
Now I could see a lot of challenges especially for the smaller bids when it comes to staffing, not being able to have the capacity or the staff to timely complete the different processes.
0:35:45
Just wondering what type of help are available for is available for these smaller beds who don't have a big staff to be able to, you know,
Calvin T. Brown
0:35:53
That's a great question.
0:35:56
I can't emphasize enough how we really do care for our small bids.
0:36:01
We realized the utility and information that they provide to us about what's happening in their commercial quarters.
0:36:08
So when they're experiencing any contractual invoice and challenges, my division does have a team, a finance and operation team that provides one on one support to any organization as a finding the process difficult.
0:36:24
Many of our small bids, we realized that they weren't used they wouldn't used to getting funding in this way outside of discretionary.
0:36:32
So we had to know, educate them on that process.
0:36:34
So we do provide a lot of support to make sure that we can minimize any of the tension that they may be experiencing with procuring money from the city.
Oswald Feliz
0:36:44
And what are examples of that and practice?
0:36:47
What are examples of ways that you've helped those smaller smaller businesses or bids in the past?
Calvin T. Brown
0:36:53
So if they may have, you know, filled out.
0:36:57
We I don't wanna get into the weeds, but, like, there's a document for getting reimbursed.
0:37:04
We'll have someone from our contract management team who would be on the phone with them and walk them through the correct way of filling out those forms just to make sure that by time, we get it, that we can minimize the time, so that we can, you know, internally in SBS send it to the other division that will process those payments.
Oswald Feliz
0:37:21
Alright.
0:37:22
Thank you for the information.