Starting at the end of 2020 and throughout most of 2023, Ginkgo helped New York City's Small Business Resource Network (smallbiz.nyc) measure the impact of the program by setting up an integration with the program's Salesforce account. This initiative was started as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to align resources, such as grants, loans, legal advice and technical support, with small businesses in all five boroughs of the city.  Funding for the program enabled each of the five borough-wide Chambers of Commerce to dedicate staff and other resources to assisting businesses directly in their local communities. Using Ginkgo and Salesforce, the program measured engagement with over 40,000 small businesses, 60% of which are located in Low to Medium Income (LMI) areas of the city.

Involvement with this initiative has helped us achieve a better understanding of the needs across all small businesses in the neighborhoods that Ginkgo helps community organizations serve. The brick and mortar retail sector continues to face mounting challenges in the midst of the pandemic and changing consumer behaviors have compounded these challenges. This past year's work with the NYC Small Business Resource Network (SBRN) highlighted some of the most common needs for small businesses. Establishing a single branded service or network designed for small business success helped lower the barrier for resources that the majority of business owners share needs for. By supporting entrepreneurs at all levels of business administration, the Small Business Resource Network elevated the city's economic vitality neighborhood to neighborhood and improved community resilience citywide.  

While the Small Business Resource Network should be seen as a major success for New York City, it can also offer insight into the future of small business services in any city, large and small. At Ginkgo, we see an opportunity for Chambers of Commerce and other community organizations to take a critical look at this new role whereby they focus on partnerships with B2B service providers and increase accessibility to these services by bundling them together as free or discounted resources for their community members. Our experience working closely with the NYC Small Business Resource Network team reinforced our belief that local community-centric ecosystems similar to the SBRN will be a trend in downtowns and commercial corridors going forward.

Looking ahead, Ginkgo will be working directly with the Queens Chamber of Commerce to provide ongoing support for the Small Business Resource Network, as well as other programs that the Queens Chamber manages for their diverse membership of businesses.

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