Council Member Julie Menin introduced a bill to establish an Office of Small Business Digitalization that would help many more small businesses in the city get online. This initiative follows CUF’s March 2022 event, “What NYC Can Do to Help More Minority-Owned Businesses Sell Online & Compete in an Age of E-Commerce” and our December 2021 report No Small Relief, which included concrete recommendations for city leaders to help small businesses use technology tools to adapt their business to the digital world. 

Our report No Small Relief found that too many minority and immigrant business owners had no online presence at all, weren’t taking advantage of marketing opportunities, and didn’t have a dependable, high-speed Internet connection. In that report, we call for one-to-one technical assistance, along with a dedicated investment for the implementation and optimization of digital tools, for these business owners to thrive and stay competitive in the digital age. 

CUF has published several reports and held multiple forums focused on ensuring a strong and equitable economic recovery for the city’s immigrant- and minority-owned small businesses, including What NYC’s Immigrant and Minority-owned Businesses Need Now and “6 Ideas to Boost Minority and Immigrant-Owned Businesses in Crisis.”