NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Jonnel Doris announced Shop Your City: BE NYC, a targeted campaign to encourage New Yorkers to shop from the city’s Black-owned businesses.
Studies show that Black businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic and are twice as likely to shut down during the pandemic. Black businesses as a whole saw a 41 percent decrease in business activity between February and April of 2020 alone.
Launching during Black History Month, Shop Your City: BE NYC is a targeted campaign that aims to generate attention and support for Black businesses – which constitute 3.5% of all businesses in New York City.
The Shop Your City: BE NYC campaign will:
• Spotlight Black businesses on social media that have continued to operate and serve their communities throughout the pandemic.
• Post online resources to help New Yorkers discover and shop at the City’s Black-owned small businesses.
• Encourage New Yorkers to tag a small Black-owned business they’re supporting, using our Instagram story template.
In addition to the campaign, SBS will host a Black History Month roundtable event on February 25, highlighting past and present examples of resilience, resourcefulness and reimagination within the Black business community and overall lessons for NYC’s economic recovery.
Speakers will include:
Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson,
Commissioner Jonnel Doris (NYC Department of Small Business Services),
Ginger Siegel (Small Business Lead, Mastercard North America),
Les Matthews (EVP, Data & Services, Mastercard),
Funbi Makende (Product Management, Shopify),
Christina Lewis (Social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and investor),
Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne (Co-Founder, WOCStar Fund),
Gary Stewart (Founder & CEO, FounderTribes)
To rsvp for the Black History Month roundtable, click here.
BE NYC, a first-of-its-kind model in a major American city to help address the racial wealth gap, is actively working to address the needs of struggling Black business owners during the pandemic and beyond.
For more information on the Shop Your City: BE NYC campaign visit nyc.gov/benyc.
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