Episode 106: Highlights Part 1 - Small Businesses - Transcript

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George Koster: [00:00:00] Welcome to episode one of our three episode highlight series produced in the depths of the Global pandemic. Each highlight episode focuses on a topic. This episode features guests from the series in our small business sector. When COVID-19 hit, we created this series to spotlight the small businesses, supporting our community, giving them a platform to share their services and struggles during an unprecedented crisis.

George Koster: Five years on with local businesses still facing immense pressure. We're revisiting these powerful stories to honor their resilience and continued fight for survival Today, associate producer Eric Estrada takes you through these unforgettable conversations.

Eric VO: Our first voice is Julie Clowes, district Director of Small Business Administrations for the San Francisco District Office.

George Koster: That's a great segue into one of the reasons I wanted to have you on the show was we had, for lack [00:01:00] of a better term, cares act two right rollout finally on December 27th, and now it includes more funds for nonprofit, small businesses. There's a whole shuttered venue, which means a lot for some of the folks that have been in this show, like Z Space, for example, or music.

George Koster: Cole mentioned, so could you walk the audience through what are some of the programs, and I think everybody's heard about the PPP program, but there is the, and everyone loves acronyms, EIDL, and then an EI, DL Advanced or slash target. Could you walk us through like what are some of the programs right now that are available, and then we'll segue into some of the common issues that you've seen folks struggle with.

Julie Clowes: Sure. Absolutely. There is a myriad of programs out there right now. Some are. Programs you might have been familiar with this past summer and others are new. So I like to break them into two different categories of programs. One being like debt deferment and relief programs, and the other bucket being loans and grants.

Julie Clowes: One of the things that gets very little [00:02:00] attention and all, I think is a tremendous benefit is the SBA Debt relief program. That's actually where SBA is paying principal and interest payments on existing SBA debt holders. So they could be through our seven a program, our 5 0 4, or even our micro lending program.

Julie Clowes: So from. When the CARES Act was first introduced in March, the program I think launched in April of 2020, and we were able to pay six months worth of principle and interest payments for these businesses. So this is better than a deferment, right? This is an actual payment. That program has been reauthorized and refunded with the most recent legislation from December.

Julie Clowes: And so we are reopening that program to pay additional months for existing debt holders. And then there's also going to be a pathway for some new debt holders to enroll, and also some people that fit targeted parameters, smaller businesses, minority owned, et cetera. We'll also have additional options [00:03:00] to have additional payments made for them.

Julie Clowes: On their debt as well. But talking about the loans and the grant programs, obviously a paycheck protection program has received probably the most press, but it is not the only program. And I dare say for some businesses it's not even the best program for them. It's maybe not the best fit, but that one is now available open.

Julie Clowes: Any participating lender can submit applications to SBA. The unique twist this time around is that it's open not only for people to apply for their very first. PPP loan. But if you had already received a PPP loan in 2020 and you meet the new criteria, you can also apply for a second PPP loan. To apply for your second PPP loan, we are going to look at some additional eligibility criteria.

Julie Clowes: We're trying to target the hardest hit businesses, so it, it includes not only being an eligible entity, of which a lot more nonprofits are now eligible as [00:04:00] well, so it's good news. You have to also have 300 or less employees. And you also have to show a reduction in your gross receipts between 2019 and 2020.

Julie Clowes: So the second PPP loan is an option for many businesses, but there is going to be an additional demonstration of the need for those businesses so that again, open with any participating lender is now available to submit applications the IDL program or economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Was the first program out the gate in March of 2020 and continues.

Julie Clowes: It remains open for people to apply for their first time. Fortunately, at this time, there's no ability to apply for a second loan, but any first time applicants can still apply. The difference between this one and the PPP is that it is a working capital loan, so it can be used for pretty much any business expenses where PPP is obviously.

Julie Clowes: Focused on payroll, although you can use it for some [00:05:00] other authorized expenses. The IDL program is really working capital for any of your business expenses, including payroll, and that one is a loan. It does not have a forgiveness component like the PPP program, but it is on very favorable terms. So 3.75% interest for small businesses and 2.75% for nonprofits with an automatic 30 year term.

Julie Clowes: So that is a loan you would apply for directly from SBA on our website. And then we have two new programs that are coming down the pike that are both grants. So the Shuttered Venue Operators grant is starting to get some publicity, and that is something that's not yet open. For anybody to apply, but we do have a lot of information available on our website, the sba.gov, and we'll continue to be putting information out about that.

Julie Clowes: It is a brand new program, so you know, it does take a little bit of implementation before we [00:06:00] launch, but there is enough information on our website. I think you can go in, see if you think you qualify for it. And then how to calculate how much you might be eligible for under this program. So again, you can start getting some information so that if you qualify, you can start to make decisions about whether this program or one of the other programs might be best suited for your needs for your business.

Julie Clowes: The targeted idle Advance is the other one that is similarly named to the Idle Advance. That was available in the summer of 2020 until it ran out of funding. But I do like to point out to people that it really is a different program. So the Economic Aid Act that was passed in December created this. I would say it's maybe a cousin of the Idle Advance program that was available this past summer, so it is a program that is not open for applications just yet, but I do encourage businesses to go and look at the website again, [00:07:00] sba.gov.

Julie Clowes: Start to look at the parameters about how this program is going to come available. When it is, it's going to open in phases, and you will see that this targeted IDL Advance grant is only available for businesses that meet certain criteria, so the low income. Areas and showing the revenue reduction again, between 2019 and 2020 SBA will actually be messaging a lot of our prior IDL advance recipients and or applicants before the funding ran out.

Julie Clowes: So. I do want people to go read the details to see how this program is expected to be unveiled and know that if they had applied for an idle advance in the summer in 2020 and maybe did not get the full $10,000, they should receive a direct message from SBA with further instructions related to the targeted idle advance.

Julie Clowes: And then similarly, if they applied for the idle advance, but the funding ran out before we were able to make an award to [00:08:00] them. Those individuals and businesses will also be messaged directly. So there's still a lot happening. There's a lot that's available today. You could apply for the idle program, the Idle loan.

Julie Clowes: You could also apply for a PPP loan, whether it's your first one or your second one. The two grant programs though, are not yet open for applications.

Eric VO: Next on the program is Tim Russell. Program director and Sharon Miller, chief Executive Officer of the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center,

George Koster: coming up on 10 months now plus of being in this lovely meltdown situation.

George Koster: And I would consider the meltdown to be both a financial meltdown as well as a health and safety meltdown. And so many of these entrepreneurs are sole proprietors, for example. What are some of the needs that you're seeing out there for the small, some of them micro enterprises, some mid-scale businesses, and I'm gonna turn back to you, Tim, to answer this question and then go to Sharon.

George Koster: But what are you seeing are some of the biggest needs? Is it financing? Is it mentorship?

Tim Russell: I, I think at the [00:09:00] onset of the pandemic, I had a conversation with Sharon and I said, Hey, Sharon, they need funding. They need money. Like right now, they are losing their properties. They are losing their sales. We did a survey, I believe Sharon had just talked about a little bit deeper, where we realized from the entrepreneurs and the small businesses themselves that they had lost so much in revenue.

Tim Russell: They did not have. The necessary tools in place to be able to pivot themselves the way they felt like they needed to. So we felt like the needs were funding at the top, technology close second, if not A one A, and then just that technical assistance. I think a lot of the entrepreneurs just needed. That constant reminder and encouragement that you can make it.

Tim Russell: You can make it, you can make it. So we became not only small business support staff for them, but we almost became therapists, business therapists, to let 'em know you can make it. Okay. Just [00:10:00] breathe. Just breathe. 'cause you're gonna make it. And you know what? It worked. And small businesses were able to show resiliency because of realizing that they were stronger than they thought.

George Koster: Sharon, same question and I would love to find out from you some of the output from your survey of small businesses.

Sharon Miller: Sure. You know, we knew quickly that everyone was in crisis and you know, way back in March, no one thought we would be here at this time. I remember having conversations and thinking like, oh, we're gonna be back at work in May.

Sharon Miller: May, when is now the question. So we decided to conduct a survey to find out what was going on with our clients and really hoping that maybe someone would give us an idea that we hadn't bought up. But what we found was, you know, unfortunately not surprising that people did not have financial reserves.

Sharon Miller: It's not unusual for a small business to put one foot in front of the next and not necessarily have enough money put [00:11:00] away for a crisis. We found, as Tim said, they needed cash. You know, they still had bills. They were deeply committed to their employees and wanted to support them, and they couldn't necessarily figure out what they needed initially to say, I have a service business.

Sharon Miller: I do puppet shows. That's what I do. People come and see my puppet shows and then they come and they make puppets 'cause they see how fun they are. Well, you know, how can we help you to pivot that idea and say, you know, let's see if we can figure out puppet making kits, you know, online puppet shows, but you often need to talk that through to someone because you've had your vision for your business.

Sharon Miller: Very clearly structured. We also found that the digital divide is huge, that 40% of our clients were using cell phones for all of their technology needs. So that just doesn't work. If you [00:12:00] need to create a website and you need to do e-commerce and people need to find you, your cell phone is just not enough.

Sharon Miller: We even found that in our classes, you, you can't do a spreadsheet on your cell phone so that there was such a disadvantage that people had and they didn't know where to start. So what we did is we looked at ways we could fill those gaps. We were able to get Chromebooks for people who didn't have computers.

Sharon Miller: We were able to help people by building websites for them, teaching social media, teaching them how to do online sales, how to do e-commerce. So those were just big gaping needs that we were able to see and fill.

Eric VO: Next is Pierre Cordial, director of Advising and Education of SF Made. Can

George Koster: you share a story with how SF Made is helped incubate someone like Michelle and NGOs to bring them to market, and part of that would be what do you feel like has been the largest impact?

George Koster: Of SF [00:13:00] made on small manufacturers makers, our local economy. The whole multiplier of someone like Michelle's work is all of the people she hires as well, and I think people lose

Pierre Coeurdeuil: track of that. So there are two things. How we've helped companies like Manager Joe's in the past and during COVID. They're pretty different things.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: Before COVID, the biggest impact was probably when we can help with direct hires, with especially people with barriers to employment, like formerly homeless or formerly incarcerated, or when we can. Make sure that a manufacturer can grow in the city. Like our biggest successes story of the past two years is Chop Manufacturer Trust chocolates, who found a larger production space that they could still afford in the same neighborhood that tripled the size of their space, which we're super happy that this could happen, and we keep.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: Keep them in the city, or when I mentioned advising projects, when we can actually help a manufacturer with huge efficiency gains, like decrease in lead times and increase in volumes. These are the success stories that we [00:14:00] used to really care for the most, and the biggest overall impact, both before and during the pandemic is that.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: It's about creating a network of manufacturers, like giving a voice to the manufacturing sector, to the city, our funders, everyone, hopefully the public, and then really helping manufacturers know and talk to each other and often partner with each other, which we're always super happy to see. During COVID, the main thing is we were a source of information, like filtering the information applicable.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: Was the programs applicable, the help applicable to manufacturers, large and small. There were so many local and government programs for everyone, every business that we were, the voice of manufacturers. I mean, hopefully that's what we want it to be, and also helping you protect your employees. And your business by finding Capital.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: A good example is we help N Joes get a PPP loan took to the city to help create the health and safety rules, so manufacturers in general could reopen [00:15:00] quickly and safely. In addition to our staff specializing in some areas like our Director of Workforce, Claire Michaels. Knew all the details about the F-F-C-R-A, all the workforce programs and also the local ones.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: Many, many programs that could help manufacturers. And I was the person keeping track of all the loan and grant programs in particular, all the many changes around the PPP paycheck protection program loan that basically transformed into a grant if you met all the criteria. In addition to that, we've always been working with employment and tax lawyers, with bankers, with lots of professionals that are ready to help pro bono and that we called on often during the the pandemic.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: We're trying to be a voice for manufacturers and bringing all the advice that they might need at all times, especially during a pandemic. One thing that I wanted to mention, just because it's what's needed right now, we have been able to help, especially accessing capital reopening and right now trying to sell more direct and online.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: But [00:16:00] right now, even though. Most manufacturers seem to be able to survive through the pandemic, most need capital, and now it's becoming urgent. And so they need another governance stimulus package or some kind of capital to survive, especially the winter. You have to consider that many, many manufacturers will make 50 to 70% of their annual revenue in the last two or three months of the year.

Pierre Coeurdeuil: And right now no one knows what's gonna happen 'cause there are no. Direct events. There's very little corporate buying for the holidays, but no one really knows what to produce in preparation for the holidays and what to expect.

Eric VO: Joining us now are Amanda Fried, chief of Policy and Communications Treasurer for the City and County of San Francisco, and Adam Fowler, founding partner of CVL Economics.

George Koster: Thank you Tracy and Amanda turning to you. And I'm gonna have both you and Adam provide us, uh, if you will, kind of the, the data behind the COVID-19 impact on our small business community, both in San Francisco and on the region. So I know some of it's looking backwards [00:17:00] because as we were talking before we came on, we're still trying to gather information and for the most recent quarter.

Amanda Fried: Yeah, so from our data, so typically we collect, all businesses have to register with us. Their business registration certificate. They pay a tax for that every year, and so that's usually a source of data that economists and others really sort of rely on to understand how many businesses are open or closed in San Francisco at any given time.

Amanda Fried: To give some context, there's usually about a hundred thousand businesses registered with us, and in a typical year, if you look in 2019, about 13,000 businesses close in the past year. So since COVID started, since March 17th, 2020, we've only actually seen about 6,000 businesses come in and tell us they're closed.

Amanda Fried: Now we know that is. Not reality. There are many, many more businesses that have closed and honestly, we're the last on their list. And we understand that there's, you know, so much going on right now. So our [00:18:00] data is a little bit limited. We typically collect it because we send a tax bill and then the business says, no, we're not an operation anymore.

Amanda Fried: And that's how we know we just had our first deadline. Almost a year. So April 30th, we had our business registration and annual business tax deadline, and those were both deferred from 2020. So, you know, we anticipate that as we sort of go and say, Hey, you didn't file, you didn't file that. We'll see that number start to tick up and that that.

Amanda Fried: A pretty gross underestimate. And so we try to caveat with everybody that usually uses our data that this isn't what you should rely on to share information about what's going on with businesses right now. That said, the board and the mayor passed some small business relief where businesses. You know who were under 25 million in gross receipts in San Francisco and who were mandated to close for any portion of the COVID crisis could have a lot of their taxes waived for the year.

Amanda Fried: We've [00:19:00] had about 12,000 businesses come through that process and tell us. That they qualify and so their bills were brought to zero. And again, we expect that number will increase that. Businesses were sort of aware, oh, I think I got this, so they might not have filed on time. And that's fine. We really, you know, we encourage businesses to come in sooner rather than later.

Amanda Fried: The last thing you want is, is sort of a annoying, pesky, delinquent collection notices, but I do wanna stress that if businesses qualify for this relief, even though they've missed the deadline. They should still come in, they will still qualify. We will still bring their bill down to zero. So, you know, that's still available to businesses and we are working with folks and Tracy mentioned shared spaces.

Amanda Fried: We're working very closely with that team as they look at sort of the future of that program to make sure that, you know, we're able to give small businesses a 50% fee waiver for future and, and think about how we bill and collect that. The least annoying possible. You know, I think we all wish that [00:20:00] we could not charge for most things that we do, but if we do have to charge, we're looking forward to, you know, taking what we learned.

Amanda Fried: Through the pandemic about sort of how do we identify a small business and sort of proactively bring their bill down, rightsize it, and then sort of build it in with other things that they're used to paying. So a lot of businesses pay an annual license fee with a bunch of departments, so we're adding shared spaces to that.

Amanda Fried: So it's not like another bill that you get at some time that you weren't expecting. But that's pretty much what we know at this point. I'll pass it on to Adam.

George Koster: There we go. And Adam, give us the more Macro nine county kind of view. And then I, I think also it would be helpful for listeners just, you know, statewide, because Beacon is doing a great job on a statewide basis as far as giving us data.

Adam J. Fowler: Absolutely. I think there's one thing that really stood out in Amanda's comments that I would echo in a number of different economic indicators and the fact that there are probably businesses that are closed and that we simply don't know about. So back in [00:21:00] really April of 20 20, 1 of the first things that we noticed in the National Monthly Employment unemployment, uh, releases was that an overwhelming majority of folks.

Adam J. Fowler: We're saying they were temporarily furloughed and that number has remained exceedingly high throughout the pandemic. A lot of good economists, including members of our team, have dove into the micro data, and we're convinced that a lot of folks. Continually are in a state of suspended animation, right? So early on, I, I remember clearly the presentations I was doing in January and February of 2020.

Adam J. Fowler: I was talking about job openings exceeding those folks looking for employment, you know, a, a talent crunch. We, I think, been in the third year of seeing some wage increases across the board, meaning talent was for the first time in a while, driving up. Kind of wage demands. And so [00:22:00] in terms of the macro indicators coming into the pandemic, we were in a good position.

Adam J. Fowler: Our forecast was, uh, moderate growth for the year. And so if you were to freeze the economy at that point in time, across a lot of, again, macro metrics. The economy was in good shape. The novel nature of this kind of external shock really ties into this conversation. And I think frustrations, economists, small business owners, myself as a staff member and a small business, have felt the idea that this was an airborne virus, a novel virus.

Adam J. Fowler: We didn't know a lot of the science about was actually a, a decent amount of information where policy could have been much more targeted. Hindsight, of course, is 2020, but the nature of the spread early on told us what kinds of sectors were gonna be the first impacted in terms of putting them on ice.

Adam J. Fowler: And from a public policy point of view, targeting and trying to hold our [00:23:00] economy. The parts of it that were, uh, a part of the pandemic, the epidemiological kind of unfolding narrative would've been really pragmatic. The idea that we could have kept folks tethered to their small businesses, tethered to their employers, but temporarily put on ice and resources directed toward them.

Adam J. Fowler: To come back out, to kind of pick back up where we left off would've been really ideal. Politics, policymaking, a lot of other things at the national level kind of got in the way and so people were without a lot of good information as they were reporting out, not only on. Small business pulse surveys put in the field by the US Census, but even in the monthly employment numbers talking about they were temporarily furloughed when in fact, you know, the restaurant owner might not have flagged that, like they were gonna close up for good.

Adam J. Fowler: And so data's been a little bit, uh, wonky in that sense. Another thing I would flag that I think people forget about is this is the first recession that's driven by [00:24:00] services normally during a downturn. Haircuts remain stable. Funerals remain stable service. Local service activities are really quite stable.

Adam J. Fowler: Just the opposite this time because those were taken offline for public health reasons, we've seen a service and a set of industry downturn that are different, uh, than our normal downturns. If you think about economic downturns that are a function of kind of the system itself, so the great recession that was overheating.

Adam J. Fowler: Within the sectors itself. And this was an external shock this time around. And so for the first time since we've collected data, we saw a service sector downturn at the same time. Another interesting thing to think about is in all of our, uh, geographies, both in California and across the us, we're an aging population.

Adam J. Fowler: And healthcare and healthcare services are a big part of our both GDP. And our local state, [00:25:00] GSP Gross State products. So early on in the pandemic, right? What did we do? And we kicked a lot of, you know, dental cleanings, non necessary, uh, surgeries, things like that down the road, we said we need all hands on deck.

Adam J. Fowler: We need these emergency rooms to gear up for people. And so one of the biggest parts of our GDP were thrown into a loop again during normal downturns. Healthcare is. Normally unfazed, like especially in an economy that's aging the way ours is. And so we've had a couple very unique things that have driven the headline numbers.

Adam J. Fowler: So thinking back to Q2 of last year, a 30% annualized drop in GDP, that was a. Misleading in a number of ways in terms of comparing it to previous downturns, because a lot of it was where the activity was taking place. Now, on the flip side of that, are a lot of small businesses that, especially in leisure, hospitality, restaurants, retail trait.

Adam J. Fowler: [00:26:00] That are smaller parts of the GDP picture. So as we're talking about the new, you know, roaring, twenties and coming out of this, both things can be true because of the just size of the economy that is tied up in things like healthcare, things like other activities, but not necessarily the small parts that are entertainment, leisure, hospitality, and restaurants.

Adam J. Fowler: So. Those can still be struggling. At the same time we're, uh, seeing really, uh, gangbusters in terms of macroeconomic activity. The final thing worth flagging, especially, uh, to our downtown corridors, our small businesses, is the rise in the method of spending. So there's been wonderful research from all of the larger banking institutions following debit card purchases after the stimulus.

Adam J. Fowler: Uh, a rollout a couple of different times throughout last year and this year, and what we see is spending, but not spending at smaller mom and pop [00:27:00] retail operations. There was a lot of spending activity that was via the stimulus mechanisms of those checks. But a lot of it went to online big platforms.

Adam J. Fowler: And so where there might've been a, a diversity of consumer spending for folks in our urban metros that shifted into a couple big players and was captured in people's spending behavior. And so a. You've got a couple different things happening at once. And so for our local kind of retail downtown corridors, they've got some challenges.

Adam J. Fowler: We can talk about retail numbers exceeding their forecasted metrics, and we've been seeing that for the last couple months. But then when you dive in, unpack that record breaking number, you see, oh, it's not all as it was before, that spending is being moved into some different plumbing than it was, uh, before the pandemic.

Adam J. Fowler: So. There's still a lot of challenges for kind of our business ecosystem as we thought about it before the pandemic looking like or coming back [00:28:00] or, you know, resetting. I think the length of this, uh, pandemic has really shifted some thinking. I think early on there was an idea that this was a rubber band that would snap right back, and I think the length of this has really changed some business models for the long term.

Eric VO: You're listening to voices of the community. In our first half, we've explored the critical needs for funding, overcoming the technology gap and adapting business models. Our thanks to our incredible guests, Julie Cows, Tim Russell, Sharon Miller, Pierre Cordial, Amanda Free, and Adam Fowler. Thank you for listening to Voices of the Community.

Eric VO: Shows like this depend on your generous support. To help us continue these vital conversations, please visit george koster.com and click the donate button to make your tax deductible contribution. We appreciate your support. Now let's hear from our second half guests. Coming up next are the voices of our digital marketing and business panel [00:29:00] featuring the voices of Tracy Howick, owner of All Good Pizza, Tato and Cafe Alma, Rebecca Bertoli from Rebecca Bertoli Marketing and Pooja Rajani, director of Programs at end to action.

George Koster: Great. I wanna turn back to Kristen and really for all three of our business experts, I know all of you view business as, both as social enterprise, as well as just business. So that whole model or idea for our listening audience and our participants today working with nonprofits in small business, can you walk us through, Kristen, some of the things that you've done, because in our past conversations, one of the unique parts of what you've done, especially at All Good, was it's really a community center versus just a place to get a pizza.

Kristin Houk: So a lot of my associations with different nonprofits, I've been in the nonprofit world in San Francisco. I used to run a organization that helped women start small businesses, primarily in Guatemala and CHI with Mexico, but many of them were food producers or artisans. So. It was connected to the nonprofit world, but a lot of it just really honestly came [00:30:00] from like personal passion.

Kristin Houk: So like I mentioned earlier, I've been a resident of Baby Hunters point for over 20 years, and I just really love this community a lot. I felt like there were a lot of unique organizations that were working to preserve. The diversity and the integrity of the community. And it was important to me when I moved here to be really involved in the neighborhood.

Kristin Houk: And one of the things after being here for a few years that I noticed was there wasn't a lot of like public gathering space in this community. So when I sought out to start this restaurant, I knew that it had to have some component of community place essentially. And that's why I ended up in an abandoned parking lot of all things.

Kristin Houk: But it really did allow me the opportunity to build this really unique spot where other nonprofits in the community and other organizations, I work with schools. We do a lot of support for different schools in the area. I work with other San Francisco based organizations. We've got a big open space where people can gather and it's really been, you know, a mission of that business to offer that space to people and to be a community hub in many ways, not even related to the food.

Kristin Houk: I [00:31:00] work with other restaurants. I'm really active with other restaurants in the neighborhood. For them to sell their food from my location. So again, it's networking and it's really mutual support of other businesses and trying to find ways for people to connect in that way.

George Koster: Thank you. Good example.

Rebecca Bertoldi: Something real quick to that. Sure.

George Koster: Please go ahead.

Rebecca Bertoldi: I think that people forget that. These small businesses, we're the ones that are sponsoring your sports teams, that are helping with school things, fundraisers that are giving back to the community all the time. And those things really do stand out, and it's because we're proud of our community.

Rebecca Bertoldi: But definitely use it to your advantage in your marketing because you are the ones that are making a difference. So make sure you're using it.

George Koster: Thank you. And Puja, turning to you, you and Andrea were a for-profit, and then you guys did a. Proverbial reverse merger. You merged into a nonprofit, so share with us a little bit about that.

George Koster: But also I know you and Andrea have worked for a long time inside the whole southeast community of San Francisco to bring [00:32:00] together business and nonprofits.

Pooja Rajani: Thanks, George. So, yeah, before Into Action or Into Action was founded from the for-Profit Andrew Baker Consulting. It was a lot of the work that Andrew Baker Consulting did was focused around community outreach.

Pooja Rajani: Doing community engagement and community events and placemaking. And so just to increase the impact, again, as you said, we launched the nonprofit into action and a lot of the work that we did involved doing community events, neighborhood marketplaces that focused hyper-local businesses and also showcased entrepreneurs and put together like people, artists, and products together to create a sense of community as well as give a sense of there's something happening in the neighborhood and I think.

Pooja Rajani: The pandemic, if anything, has only showcased how important open spaces and community and people are, and collaboration is so important. And so I think we have continued that work by continuing to do like community events and know events [00:33:00] were shut down for COVID, but I think people are now starting to do more community marketplaces.

Pooja Rajani: During the Pandemic for Baby Bistro, the baby bistro boxes we donated, a lot of the consumers would say, Hey, like. We don't want the box, but they would purchase the box and we would give it to the community member or like a family in need. So we, we also did that part of the pandemic. And then a lot of our programs are centered around.

Pooja Rajani: Connecting businesses with resources and supporting their needs in the neighborhood as well as like with the city and with I think SBDC, just connecting them. So I think we've continued that work. We're trying to provide opportunities for these small businesses to connect with people, to build an audience, grow their business, learn what the community needs and really thrive.

Eric VO: Coming up next is Lori Thomas. Executive director for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. Given the situation, a lot of restaurants have been forced

George Koster: to shut down and trying to struggle to come back. How can people who are [00:34:00] watching or listening to this help their local restaurant in their neighborhood and or restaurants at large in San Francisco?

Laurie Thomas: So a couple of things. So certainly order takeout if you're healthy, and if you can make it, go to the restaurant, pay and pick it up and go home or go to a park or wherever, that's preferable. All the money stays in the hands of the restaurant. You're not paying a commission for the food to get to you.

Laurie Thomas: That's first and foremost. I think a lot of restaurants did GoFundMe campaigns because it was a way where they could get support from the community that supports us, and then all of us, most of us anyway. Paid those funds out to their workers, especially to help folks that maybe couldn't take advantage of the unemployment insurance options in our community.

Laurie Thomas: Unfortunately, we had that concern, so I think that was really a big win. I know that our customers were super supportive and we were able to. Significant checks to all of our employees, so that was one good way to do it. The other way is some folks are doing gift cards, whether they're [00:35:00] donation type things, like a war bond kind of idea where you buy a bond and then it doesn't turn out that that place is around whatever it was a donation.

Laurie Thomas: People are doing that and then. I think going forward when we can do Dine out, I know it's gonna be a little cold in San Francisco, but if everyone can sort of tough it out and go sit on the patio and try to support the local restaurants, that'd be great. And then on a last note, I think being willing to support the restaurants and put your money where your mouth is, is important.

Laurie Thomas: And I think you're gonna see prices go up. We've all lost a lot of money and costs are gone up. You've seen the food cost has already gone up. So just to cover the food cost alone, but to continue to try to operate, I think you are gonna see some price increases.

George Koster: And our power conversation, the association is not a nonprofit.

Laurie Thomas: We are a nonprofit, but we're a trade nonprofit, not a charitable nonprofit,

George Koster: right? So people can't make a donation to the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, for example.

Laurie Thomas: They could, but it would not be deductible right now. So what we're gonna try to focus on is we [00:36:00] realized that we do have a scholarship organization, a 5 0 1 c.

Laurie Thomas: Three, that's a scholarship, but that we can't really pivot. It has to stay in the scholarship realm. So what we're gonna try to do is focus on developing a 5 0 1 C3 for future disasters, if you will. So we have a way to, to do that. You know, I would say the city's done a really good job of establishing the gift to San Francisco Fund, and there's three pillars to that fund.

Laurie Thomas: And the third pillar or arm of that is to support small businesses and workers. And so if folks are still looking to write a check, they can do that. They can go to give to San Francisco and do it that way. That's one thing that's in existence and that's been helpful locally.

George Koster: What we also talked about was the idea that possibly the federal government might come up with another round of PPP that conceivably business associations could go after for funding.

Laurie Thomas: Yeah, so the feds, we need money from the feds. Everybody write your senators, particularly the [00:37:00] Republican senators, and tell them to vote for what the house just approved last week, which is. Part of the uh, CARES Act, and that was a well-meaning plan that was passed bipartisan what? Like a month ago Now that provided for funds, the first tranche, a lot of us didn't get them, but the second tranche, more small businesses got them.

Laurie Thomas: And. Some of the larger chains pulled back, gave the money back. So those funds had problems for restaurants because in order to get the full forgiv ability of the loan, you had to bring everybody back to the same level of employment within eight weeks. And many of us are still closed, particularly in New York and San Francisco.

Laurie Thomas: Right. And LA is just starting to open. So you couldn't really bring anybody. Back, right? And 75% of that loan had to be spent on bringing people back to that same level. So it wasn't really as usable as a lot of people needed. So what this fix does is extends that period to 24 weeks. It turns the loan into a five year loan versus a two year loan, and it would allow you to spend more of that money on rent, for [00:38:00] example.

Laurie Thomas: But the Senate has to pick that up and approve that, and we'll see what happens.

Eric VO: Now let's hear more from Kristin Howick, owner of All Good Pizza, Tato and Cafe Alma.

George Koster: So how has COVID-19 impacted the production of all your restaurant operations?

Kristin Houk: It's horrible. I mean, prior to COVID-19, you know, my biggest joy is being in the kitchen and cooking, but I also felt like every day it was like hosting a party.

Kristin Houk: And so of course with the shutdown, you know, we lost that sense of community. Really. I think all three of my restaurants really operate as sort of community centers in a way, and I think most restaurants do. Yeah, it's been terrible. You know, we've been really fortunate to be able to pivot to some other act.

Kristin Houk: Activities, but I really miss the community. I really miss being able to host all three of my locations have operated as a host to other small businesses as well. I love doing popups with other entrepreneurs and people who are like just [00:39:00] getting started, or people who have a small business but don't necessarily want a brick and mortar location.

Kristin Houk: That was such a big part of all three of these locations. And COVID-19 of course has shut that down. I feel very fortunate that we're even still in existence. Because I know so many of the restaurateurs and friends that I work with across various organizations that I'm involved with have not been able to survive.

Kristin Houk: So it's really a dire time for restaurants in general. And you know, we have not been free of that,

George Koster: unfortunately. So would you say your idea of being community centric, but of being a little community gathering point, is that one of the biggest impacts you feel like you've had in the Bayview community over the years?

George Koster: Or was it providing jobs?

Kristin Houk: Yeah, I think it's, you know, a little bit of both. And I do hire local, but I think all good pizza you've been there. So, you know, it's a pretty big space. It's 7,000 square feet of outdoor space, which is really unique for San Francisco, and I've really been able to utilize that to provide [00:40:00] a venue essentially for community organizations, community activities, even down to some of the political stuff that's happened.

Kristin Houk: You know, we even had events for London Breed and. All kinds of people. So having that outdoor space has been really incredible, I think, for the community, and it's allowed me to be generous in offering that space as well. We host a farmer's market there, which we've now taken virtual. We've done a ton of art fairs and different events.

Kristin Houk: We've done a lot of pop-ups with other local businesses and vendors and entrepreneurs, and it's really been an incredible space for the Bayview community. So yeah, I think that is definitely the primary impact. But I do hire local, and I do, again, love to utilize local resources. So I think it's also been a showcase for some of the businesses that sort of operate behind the scenes because you know, in Bayview we're pretty isolated.

Kristin Houk: We don't have a legitimate grocery store. We don't have a lot of the services that [00:41:00] many other communities benefit from. So I think sometimes even companies like Molinari Salami, which are so well known, people don't know that they're in the Bayview. So it's nice to be able to highlight. Someone like them and say, Hey, you know, this is made right here for decades and now you're able to eat their pepperoni or their salami or their prosciutto on a pizza.

Kristin Houk: So I guess that's kinda my community impact.

Eric VO: We now turn to Shannon Walter, manager and Jeff Reham, owner of Blue Plate sf.

George Koster: My next question, I'm a jerk it to you, Shannon, 'cause I know you work the front a lot. So how has COVID-19 really impacted the production of. All of your wonderful food and hospitality at Blue Plate.

Shannon Walter: Well, I'd share that question with DT as everyone's on the front lines here. So how has COVID affected our operations? Drastically. It's a completely new business model Jeff mentioned. To go back to a little bit of the fundraising that we've done, a lot of our stuff from 27 folks down to about six and eight of us that are [00:42:00] working, were furloughed or laid off.

Shannon Walter: And so we did a fundraiser for them early on, not having it really dialed in, how to transform what is a dining room and to go restaurant. And at that point in time we were only doing takeout and delivery and that was. mid-March after the shelter in place shutdown happened, and so we had to totally transform what was the normal for us and having the carpet pulled out for anyone in any business that drastically changed it.

Shannon Walter: We had to adapt.

Jeff Trenam: Certainly some food that we used to love to do does not travel well or did not travel well. Some like kinds of raw fish and stuff. And so we made sure that we kept the things that we knew people really liked and that we could nail and that would travel well. And, you know, we had to rethink our to go containers, which we continue to do constantly.

Jeff Trenam: As you know, anytime you put a new dish in a container, you know, you gotta think about the o the delivery people that are picking it up, um, where it might knock around next to in their car, how long it might get there. There's a lot of ways that [00:43:00] there's other companies kind of, and other businesses that assist us, but they're not really us.

Jeff Trenam: So we have to rely on them for their quality control, their hospitality, and whether it's couriers. Or online ordering platforms or any other like tech service. You know, we're partnering with a lot of new people, different kinds of businesses and just, and trying to find the ones that, you know, that fit our personality, our respect for hospitality.

Jeff Trenam: And you're never done adapting to it. You're always changing. And this COVID thing is, it's just restaurant industry on steroids where every week there's a new guidance or a. Different change or a new opportunity for to permit. With Parklets. Mm-hmm. So how

George Koster: can folks help you besides making reservations?

George Koster: You have the garden open now, you've got front outdoor stuff, you've got gift cards. So how can folks listening and watching this support blue plate,

Jeff Trenam: all of those things that you just mentioned? Gift cards are always great. When the pandemic first started, we [00:44:00] sold a lot of 'em. We continue to sell some. We have a great garden in the back, which we take reservations for.

Jeff Trenam: There's only five tables, beautifully spaced plants, and night blooming fragrances. We have a couple of tables in the front street side and we just got a permit to build over. There's a little water recapture device on the sidewalk. We got a permit to build over that, so we're hope to add four to six more tables out in the front there.

Jeff Trenam: And those become solid and we know that people like 'em, we'll begin to take reservations. But I think a lot of times some of the best things that people can do to support is call us up and we're happy to talk on the phone about what we have available. It's great when people order over the phone or via our online ordering app because we don't have the same.

Jeff Trenam: Revenue share as we do with the delivery option is chosen. And also like the whole lot of us here really likes the guests and the hospitality experience and being so closed off from it. Now we are allowed to seat inside and there's three tables that we see up to a maximum of 12 people. Usually it's like [00:45:00] six, maybe at the most.

Jeff Trenam: And for the people that are comfortable with that, we're ready to do it. And the weekends are always a good time.

Eric VO: Speaking with us. Next is Michelle Pueri, owner of Nana Jos Granola. Can you talk

George Koster: a little bit more about that and the other big question is, how has COVID impacted your operation in keeping the staff of people that you have who help make the magic at at Nana Jos?

Michelle Pusateri: So community before profit. I started that back in. I think it was 2015, 2016. It's a website. I've been working on it, but just haven't had a lot of time. But I was noticing that a lot of people were feeling isolated and lost in the service industry. I grew up in the service industry since I was 15. I was front of the house for a very long time.

Michelle Pusateri: Moved from, you know, being a barista back in 1987, which barista wasn't cool. To being, you know, a waitress and then a bartender and just that party life, you know? And I made a decision when I moved to San Francisco to [00:46:00] get sober, and 2015, 2016, there was about four or five. People who committed suicide during that time.

Michelle Pusateri: And I think my mentality on my business on how to treat people and how to look at people and how to really support other people in this industry, it's hard. It's isolating. There's so many places to hide when you're in the service industry. You hide behind a smile behind the bar. Nobody knows what's happening.

Michelle Pusateri: And I think community before profit has kind of morphed into coming more towards Nana Joe's too and being like. During the pandemic, when March 7th hit, I didn't lay off any employee. I didn't furlough any employee. I didn't lay off any employee. A lot of my employees family members weren't working either, so I felt a huge responsibility to hold their jobs, to make sure that they were still getting paid to do whatever I had to do to make sure that they were getting paid.

Michelle Pusateri: So basically, I went from supporting. Family is to supporting, you know, all [00:47:00] 50 people. Like I employ 10 people and most people have at least five people in their family. So it made that community before profit, a little bit more real to me and a little bit more like I have a responsibility when I employ somebody.

Michelle Pusateri: I don't just employ them just for them to get the job done. I employ them to give them the tools they need to succeed, to give them the tools they need to never have to work another entry level job again. And to also. Make sure that their families and everything is supported. And one of the biggest things that came out of this pandemic for us was a sense of trust and a sense of loyalty from my employees, which I never even thought would happen.

Michelle Pusateri: And that happened because I made that commitment right away. Okay. If we do bleed an extra five, $6,000 a month on payroll for them so we can keep everybody's hours so we can keep everybody on payroll so I don't have to lay anybody off, then that's what we have to do. And I said to my staff, if the ship sinks, I go down with you.

Michelle Pusateri: And that [00:48:00] meant that I wasn't just gonna drop everybody off. Which some people, yes, they had to do that. I completely understand that. But we pivoted Pierre and we threw something online saying, Hey, at the end of this pandemic, who do you wanna see standing? Do you wanna see the big corporations or do you wanna see the small ma and pa companies?

Michelle Pusateri: And, and the family owned companies? Standing at the end of this pandemic and it drew in an influx of orders over 400 orders in two days after I posted a video online about, Hey, we need help. This is scary to us and we wanna survive this, and I need your help to help support these families that rely on me and really want me to make a difference in their lives.

Michelle Pusateri: And I, I think that that's. Kind of morphing back into community before profit. Like your bottom line is your bottom line. You have to have that to be able to support your employees, but your bottom line shouldn't be your base decision. During a [00:49:00] pandemic, during a crisis, during, you know, a family catastrophe or something happening within their families, you have to look at your bottom line and make sure that your bottom line includes everybody in your business and who you've employed and around you and your community.

Michelle Pusateri: You don't just build and then like exclude your community in a hiring pool. You have to bring them in.

Eric VO: Lastly, we feature the voice of Andrea Baker. Founder of Into Action.

George Koster: So Andrea, why did you create Bayview Bistro Project and then how can people help the Bayview Bistro project?

Andrea Baker: So when we first started Bayview Bistro, the intention was always to create an opportunity for our black and brown micro businesses through a racial and social equity lens.

Andrea Baker: So we had a vacant space on third Street, and our goal was how could we create an opportunity for three or four [00:50:00] times a week for popups? Caterers, food trucks that again, were primarily from the black and brown community to have an opportunity to be able to vent. And we thought this was a good thing because, and we worked with the social impact.

Andrea Baker: Partnership program that S-F-P-U-C had put in. So this money did not come from S-F-P-U-C, but S-F-P-U-C was very much ahead of their time and created a program where consultants on the project support. Neighborhood projects. And so we got support through that program to support what we call the Bayview Bistro Open Wednesday through ses, essentially.

Andrea Baker: And so we started that again to give opportunity to our smaller businesses that did not have a brick and mortar art space. We also hope. Through making that opportunity available. One, we could provide great [00:51:00] technical assistance and help. Some of our businesses still needed some help in formalizing their businesses, and we also wanted to be able to introduce them to the larger city economy.

Andrea Baker: So most of our vendors have become city suppliers, which allows them to get in the queue and hopefully. Orders, catering orders and other orders through the city. So that really was what pushed us, and that was behind putting together the Bayview Bistro. Your second question was, how can people support?

George Koster: Yes. How could people support? So back to Pujas point, you kind of commoditized and, you know, put the food, uh, or dinner in a box, uh, ideas. So. Can people order online? Can they call direct or do they go, since you're a nonprofit now, can people donate?

Andrea Baker: We want them to do all of those things, so thank you for that.

Andrea Baker: 'cause we say order maybe bi robots [00:52:00] for you, your friends, your family. Order of Bayview Bistro box and give it as a gift. We are coming out with a Thanksgiving and holiday box, and over the last six weeks, we now have a Friday night date box. Order a date, night box and give yourself a break or order it for somebody that you love.

Andrea Baker: Donate to our program. Tag your friends and tell everybody you know about us, and I do mean everybody you know about us. Call us to order for catering. We've been working with all of our vendors and they have now created individually packaged meals because we are in COVID-19. So. We're not doing buffets anymore, not at this point.

Andrea Baker: One day, maybe again, but you can order catered meals from us and we encourage you to do that. So all of those things will help our Baby Bistro program and always, always tag and support our [00:53:00] vendors.

George Koster: So I think two uh, final questions. One, Andrew, you've been at this a long time, along with Puja working on the Baby Corridor, obviously with the Mayor's Office of Workforce and Economic Development.

George Koster: So over your decade plus of doing this work, what would you say has been your biggest impact on small businesses and art organizations, especially along the whole Bayview District 10 corridor?

Andrea Baker: Well, you know, I feel George, like one of the biggest impacts we've made actually over the last 10 years for me is bringing residents, as you pointed out, and thank you for dating me, it's been more than a decade of working in the Bayview and when we started, I feel like one of the greatest things that we did, and certainly I didn't do it along with others as I was getting our residents to come out.

Andrea Baker: And discover our small businesses, our artisan makers, our [00:54:00] artists, and our musicians. So way back when, you know, with BPOH, we started things like Bayview Connect, which were monthly gatherings that where we would host Bayview business and we would have music and an artist and that sort of stuff. So I really do feel that led from Bayview Connect, we went to.

Andrea Baker: Community chooses with Radio Africa. I think you might even remember that. And that was an initiative that was focused on how do we bring residents out for a $10 fabulous meal. I still believe it's the best deal yet in San Francisco. And we were able to do that. And then we continued encouraging developers and city agencies, Hey, when you come into this community, you need a order from.

Andrea Baker: These great food and beverage businesses, you need to support our businesses so that they too can thrive. And then I think five, almost six years ago, we ended up doing the Bayview on [00:55:00] Court event. And Bayview on Court is intended to shine a bright light on all of our Bayview artisans or beverage makers or artists and musicians.

Andrea Baker: I really feel that for me. That is something that I've been really proud of. I think, you know, kind of started that effort of getting our neighbors and residents. To look around and see that they had these great treasures in the neighborhood and since then they've like been supporting them perfectly. We love that.

Eric VO: Our second half featured Kristin Howick, Rebecca Bertoli, Puja. Rajani. Lori Thomas, Shannon Walter, Jeff Tranum. Michelle Pari. Andrea Baker shared powerful insights on creating community hubs, leveraging grassroots marketing, building collaborative networks, engaging loyal customers, and prioritizing community impact over profit essential strategies for small business survival and transformation.[00:56:00]

Eric VO: Want to learn more about today's guests and their incredible organizations? Visit voices of the community.com and click on the COVID-19 and San Francisco nonprofit series button. There you'll find details about their programs, services, volunteer opportunities, and how to support their cause with a donation.

Eric VO: While you're on voices of the community.com, we invite you to dive deeper into the 103 episodes of the series. Each conversation offers unique insights into how nonprofit leaders navigated challenges and continued serving our community during critical times. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop on upcoming shows, series, and live events.

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Eric VO: Before

George Koster: [00:57:00] we sign off, a sincere thank you for spending time with us. This program is the first of three highlight shows drawn from our COVID-19 coverage. A body of work that began when Bay Vac Media invited us under Paula Arne's leadership to co-produce SF nonprofit Spotlight. Those 10 television episodes led us to chronicle the wider ecosystem, nonprofits, small businesses, libraries, artists and public agencies adapting in real time.

George Koster: From April, 2020 through January, 2023, we produced 103 episodes documenting what it looked like to serve, survive, and innovate under pressure and what communities still need from all of us today. Here's how we can keep the momentum going. Start by subscribing to the Voices of the Community podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

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George Koster: Send feedback on today's show, proposed topics, or suggest guests by emailing George at George Koster. Dot com your notes, shape our editorial calendar and introduce us to new problem solvers. We could not make these shows possible without our wonderful team. Associate producer Eric Estrada for co-hosting, plus his audio and video wizardry and designer [00:59:00] Casey Naz of Citron Studios for her visual brilliance.

George Koster: Thanks also to our broadcast partners, K-S-F-P-L-P-F-M 1 0 2 0.5 FM in San Francisco, and K-P-C-A-L-P FM 1 0 3 0.3 FM in Petaluma for highlighting these stories. I'm George Costner in San Francisco. Thank you for listening, supporting, and sharing. We'll meet again in part two, which focuses on food security and basic needs.

George Koster: Until then, take good care and remember, your voice matters.