Census of Local Businesses - Latest Updates
Economic Development Committee Meets on March 10
As announed at last month's meeting, the March meeting of the E.D.C. was focused on services offered by the Business Center at the Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch. After some introductory words from Lisa Maldonado and Brian Saunders, the co-chairs, as well as Adrienne Grande, who was instrumental in setting up this event, the meeting was turned over to two librarians from the Central Branch. They were Ashely Dalle and LaCresha Neal, each having a different role in the Business Centerr.
Ashley Dalle 5.1
Ashley began the presentation by telling a bit about the library and the economic situation in Brooklyn. The library has 59 branches and over 1,000 employess. Brooklyn has about 75,000 businesses and a survey reveals that 86% of them feel vulnerable. So the dimensions of the problem are very large.
Next LaCresha outlined some of the services the library offers. There is Pace University Small Business Development Center which provides all kinds of help for those thinking of forming a business as well as helping those already in business. They have sessions beyond Pace at branches of the library. There is also NELP, the Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Law Project, which offers many kinds of useful legal advice about such matters as taxes, contracts, following regulations and more. LaCresha also mentioned MWB, Minorty and Women Businesses. This program gives support to those trying to overcome the disadvantages women and minorities have in opening and running businesses, helping them with finding financing, signing leases, getting suppliers and many other issues. Then there is Multilingual Business Help which tries to allow those speaking foreign languages to negotiate the English speaking world. They provide help with French but can get translators who work in virtually every other language. Finally, she mentioned Research Assistance. Setting up and running a business means that one has to find out about numerous subjects from marketing and hiring plus a large number of other issues. The library will help with delving into these issues so that merchants can have a better idea of what they are dealing with.
La Cresha Neal 5.2
Next Ashley came back and told about the Power Up Business Plan Competition. To start a business or to plan for the future, one needs a business plan. The library helps to create these plans and then gives prizes to the best ones. Since 2003 some 1,800 businesses have entered the competition and if they win, they get substantial prizes $20,000, $10,000, and $5,000 for the top three winners. The library provides a Start Up Road Map that will take one through numerous data bases providing all kinds of useful information. They gave as an example Mintel. This database will tell you the location of similar businesses, so one can be aware of the competition. It will also tell their locations so that one can look for a good location that is not being served. It will in addition provide lists of consumers who have shown an interest in the services that one is providing, so one can develop a mailing list even before one has opened the doors of the business. The competition runs from April to June when one submits one's plan. Even if one does not win, one would come away with an idea of what to expect. The information about consumers is sometimes disturbingly complete. At one point, we saw a list of 31 Bohemian consumers in the 11216 zip code. Information is valuable, and many organizations gather it, and there is a lot of it out there.
Some other services offered are Personal Financial Literacy, dealing with all the issues of investing, getting loans, dealing with one's credit score, planning for retirement and helping one's children. This program also has a host of databases. And then there is Career Service, offering help with resumes, doing a job search, interviews and more, for those trying to build a career.
The presentation revealed an amazing range of resources. To me they seemed a bit overwhelming. I think one would need help in using them efficiently. There is also the issue of time. Starting a business or running one can take up most of one's time. Having days and days to do research through dozens of databases may just not be possible. One would have to plan a careful strategy to figure what is feasible and what is actually helpful.
Another issue that arose at this meeting was that this session was supposed to provide help for merchants on Nostrand Avenue that would move them forward in terms of partcipation and organization. At the beginning of the meeting I recognized many people from the committee and other organizations that are interested. There were thirteen people at the start and perhaps as many as 21 at the end. I recognized 7 people from the committee. Tiara Robertson was there from Bridge Street with another person. Sherese Parris was there from NNAMA with someone else. My friend Mina Agarabi showed up; she does have a business but not on Nostrand Avenue. Someone was there wishing to know about how to do a start up. So that comes to 13 people. I did recognize Tara Kashyap there, she has a busines on Nostrand called Lulabodies that provides pilates work as well as exercise and stretching techniques. There may have been seven others whom I did not recognize and who did not identify themselves by questions or other communication. I am not sure if there was an on-line component. However, if the idea was to use this meeting as a organizing meeting for Nostrand Avenue, I would say there is much more work to be done. I found in a survey I did that there are 192 business on Nostrand Avenue; my knowledge is of course limited, but I only recongized one of them at the meeting.
– John DeWind
Merchants on Nostrand Avenue Have a First Meeting
On Wednesday, April 8 a group of Nostrand Avenue merchants met at Another World at 629 Nostrand Avenue to talk about problems on the avenue and what might be done to deal with them. There were five businesses represented at the meeting and a sixth wrote that she would have liked to come but something pressing came up. Kelly Shine of Wayward Hairdresser asked to be informed about what happened and said she would come to a follow up meeting. Besides the five merchants there were three people who acted in support. Emma Steele got the merchants to sign in as they arrived. Okay Ukah acted as secretary, taking careful notes, and Brian Lee contributed his insights as a long-time community resident. The merchants who came were Cowan of Red, White and Blue Tax Services on Park Place, Richard Pak of Merritt Cleaners, Regina Brooks of the UPS store on Bergen Street, Zmadi Koji of Zola Natural Herbs, and also Ruby of Simple Syrup.
The meeting began with the merchants introducing themselves and talking about any concerns they have. Regina Brooks said she was mostly happy. Her business is doing well and she usually gets along well with her customers. One issue is that of package theft. Sometimes customers blame UPS for packages that are stolen. Regina tries to get customers to make arrangements for safe deliveries rather than go to the police. She says the police are often too little, too late and that it is better to have customers figure out how to make sure their packages are not left out in the open. She also added that UPS has a ten-year lease, making long range planning much easier.
UPS Store on Bergen Street 7.1
Cowan of RWB Tax Services also had few complaints. He said his side of Nostrand Avenue is mostly clean and benefits from the presence of a public school further down the block on Park Place. Guards keep an eye on things. He added that the new plastic garbage cans and regular pick-ups have reduced the presence of rats. He pointed out that his business has a month to month rental arrangement that has worked well. There have been no rent increases; however, he is responsible for any repairs.
Richard of Merritt Cleaners said his business had been around since 2014 and that the neighboorhood has improved since then. However, he pointed out that there are problems. Foremost is the large number of empty store fronts, and that more stores seem to be leaving versus the number of new ones that are opening. He also said that for awhile the store was harassed by a group of older children but that this eventually stopped. He thinks some of them grew up and moved on and some may have been arrested for more serious crimes. He also said the police were not helpful. However, he did think having more cameras would act as a deterrent.
Merritt Cleaners on Nostrand Avenue 7.2
Ruby of Simple Syrup is mostly concerned with getting his product better known. He has only owned the store for a few months and wants to get the organic wines he sells to gain large customer base. He is going to set up a table at Book Ball on July 17, and he is wondering how to become a sponsor of June Balloon on June 27. Okay Ukah said he would like to buy some wine for Sanctuary Jam on April 16. Ruby enthusiacally agreed. Ruby feels he has a special product that people will like if they become familiar with it.
Zmadi had to leave early and did not get to contribute.
Everyone agreed with Richard when he said that the life of a business owner if one of overcoming obstacle after obstacle. It demands careful thought and lots of energy. Also everyone agreed to meet again in May and try to get more merchants to come.
– John DeWind
Creating a new Merchant Association on Nostrand Avenue
Saw the owner:
777 Nostrand Deli, Ali
Puff's Jamaican Patties, Dexter
Simple Syrup, Ruby
Crown Hill, Peter Tulloch
Smash n' Grill, Abdul
Sabor Azteca, Alejandro Morales
Merritt Cleaners, Richard
Left materials for the owner:
Lula Bagel. Yossi Cohen
Colina Cuervo, Jorge Salamea
Mas Discount, Abdul Rahman
Cornerstore, Kai
Wayward Hairdresser, Kelly Shine
Nostrand Hardward, Ellen Zhou
Complete Care Pharmacy, Samuel
Blossom's Ktichen, Blossom
Zola's Original Herbs, Zola
