City Pgm. Partners With Tech Cos.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot, Media and Entertainment Commissioner Katherine Oliver and Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh launched a new set of free tools designed to help small businesses in New York City use digital technologies and social media to grow their businesses and create jobs.
The new set of resources, offered online and at NYC Business Solutions Centers throughout the five boroughs, is called the Small Business Digital Toolkit. Through a partnership with NYC Digital, the Department of Small Business Services will offer small businesses free training and resources to digitally attract customers, conduct business online and market their products or services through the use of e-commerce technology.
Small businesses will have the opportunity to learn how to leverage social media more effectively with help from Mashable; launch a website through how-to guides featuring contributions from Tumblr and Weebly; and incorporate search engine optimization and advertising techniques with help from Google.
The launch of the Digital Toolkit comes as the update to the “Digital Roadmap: Progress and Innovation” is released. The roadmap is a comprehensive plan outlining NYC’s digital successes and a look ahead to new initiatives to spur the development of the local tech and digital sector.
Bloomberg was also joined by Mashable Senior Vice President Stacy Green, Mark Coatney of Tumblr, William Floyd of Google, Weebly Vice President of Business Development Nick Dellis, and Eileen Auld, regional director of Citi Community Development, State Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Council Member Leroy Comrie at the NYC Business Solutions Center in Jamaica.
“When I started my company, our biggest challenge was finding new customers-that’s always crucial for small businesses,” said Bloomberg. “The digital toolkit will help New York City’s entrepreneurs with the resources they need to engage more consumers online. The web can open up worlds of opportunities for these businesses, but many of them presently lack even their own website, let alone a social media campaign.”
“New York City’s small businesses are some of the most digitally savvy in the world, but there is always more that we can do to equip them for success,” Haot added. “We are thrilled to join SBS in introducing the new Digital Toolkit, and thank our partners at Google, Mash- able, Tumblr and Weebly for their guidance and contributions. The digital curriculum builds on the Administration’s landmark milestones over the past year in realizing our goal of making New York City the premier digital city in the world.”
“At the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, we continue to leverage city resources to help New Yorkers in new and engaging ways,” said Oliver. “The Digital Bootcamp exemplifies how partnerships between city agencies can bring about useful change for residents and businesses alike.”
“NYC Business Solutions has made great strides in helping entrepreneurs and small business owners through business courses, access to capital and more,” said Walsh. “As the digital landscape continues to play a critical role in business, we are now expanding our services to help small businesses use technology to compete and grow.”
“In today’s market place, it is important that today’s businesses have a strong online presence. Tools that will allow New York City small businesses to operate more efficiently and be more competitive to increase their bottom line are welcomed initiatives,” added Smith. “Digital Bootcamp represents an exciting technological innovation capable of yielding an acceptable return on investment.”
“Small businesses are the engines that drive our city’s economy,” said Comrie. “To maintain our place as the leader in the global marketplace, the city must always look to create innovative ways to expand business opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners.”
“Digital Bootcamp will provide small businesses with the training and weapons they need to increase business and market their products in ways that were not even possible a generation ago,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “Using social media and technology to widen their reach will benefit their own businesses and increase jobs and opportunities that benefit the entire city.”
Courses for the Digital Toolkit begin in September and will cover a range of digital topics relevant to small businesses seeking to build their digital presence.
Topics will include the fundamentals of creating a presence online with discussions about websites, digital and mobile payment systems, ecommerce and search engine optimization as well as how to market a business through digital advertising and social media.
The inaugural course will be taught by Haot on Thursday, Sept. 20 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the NYC Business Solutions Center, at 168-25 Jamaica Ave., second floor, in Jamaica. Subsequent courses will be taught by NYC Business Solutions instructors at additional center locations. All courses will be available for free at the city’s Small Business Solutions Centers.
Small businesses interested in signing up should visit NYC.gov or call 311.
In addition to the curriculum, NYC Digital and SBS, in partnership with Mashable, have introduced a series of online How-To guides that focus on launching a website, advertising online, and using Facebook, Foursquare, Google+, Tumblr, Twitter.
The Digital Toolkit was sparked in part by a recent survey conducted by SBS at NYC Business Solutions Centers to gauge interest on the part of small businesses in parts of the potential curriculum. The survey found that small businesses are most interested in website development and social media and that the demand for integrating digital technology in small business is high.
Ongoing surveys will be conducted to evaluate small businesses’ future needs as well as to help measure the success of the program.
In addition to the new tools and resources launched through the Digital Bootcamp, SBS, Citi Community Development and five local nonprofit community organizations have joined together to form a new coalition called the New York City Small Business Technology Coalition, which will help expand technology use by reaching out to underserved entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Citi is providing a total of $225,000, including $125,000 to launch the Coalition and $100,000 to continue Citi’s capacity building support for SBS’s NYC Business Solutions Centers. Citi is also donating refurbished computers to each of the five participating nonprofits to enable them to deliver on the Coalition’s goals.
The Coalition’s first project will be to expand SBS’s existing training in popular accounting software, with which entrepreneurs can streamline their administrative practices, save money on consulting costs and provide the basis for strategic decisionmaking and capital acquisition.
The five participating nonprofits- East Harlem Business Capital Corporation, the Local Development Corporation of East New York, the Queens Economic Development Corporation, the West Brighton Community Local Development Corporation and the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation- will host satellite offerings of the courses at their facilities.
Details and registration information will be posted soon at www.citicommunitydevelopment.com.
