Thank you for being here this afternoon.
We're on a roll.
The Mariners won.
The Huskies are hot and no better time to talk about economic development and I'm really pleased to be here at the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund and I was telling Albertus, it sure feels good in here.
I know there's some good work going, it's got a good feng shui, a good rhythm here, a good soul here and so I know great things are happening here.
So we're here to talk about small business development.
I think all of us know in this space of small business how important they are to So it'll be the backbone of our neighborhoods, the backbone of our local economy.
And from day one, working with the city council under their leadership and our administration, small business has sort of been the North Star in terms of what we're trying to bring back in terms of vibrancy.
We want small businesses to be able to employ people from their community, to be able to Optimize every talent that they have and our job as a city is to make it that journey to owning a business easier, faster, more affordable, cutting red tape, lowering their costs, expanding access so every entrepreneur can focus on their passion and not on paperwork or barriers or impediment to their progress.
We've made economic recovery and resiliency a top priority throughout my term, and I think the City Council feels the same way.
You'll hear from Council President Sarah Nelson in a moment.
And in this budget, we announced yesterday I'm proposing increasing OEDs, the Office of Economic Development's resources, by almost 30% in this space.
In the next year, they'll help businesses continue to grow to improve safety for stores and support neighborhoods, and our director, Mark McIntyre, will talk a little bit more about this, but a few examples will be The $5 million in the budget over the next two years in our Back to Business Fund, which includes the storefront repair model with 2.5 in the budget immediately for 2026. $1 million will go for grocery store security, funding through, again, OED to address retail theft and property damage and other crimes and improving safety for workers and customers.
$700,000 to grow small food businesses, supporting support for opening and expanding small businesses, offering healthy and culturally relevant foods with a focus on food, deserts, and neighborhood access.
And you know of the legislation where we are ending restrictive covenants, making sure that this legislation bans non-compete clauses in grocery and pharmacy leases, which will then, of course, allow new businesses to take over existing space and restore food access.
Um...
We have a $4 million fund and what we described as place-based neighborhood investments.
Of course, again, that's crime prevention through environmental design.
That's bringing activation through our interdepartmental teams.
This is a $4 million fund to boost public safety, economic growth, and renewal in areas.
To give a few examples, Lake City, Little Saigon, areas where we think we've modeled a successful downtime pilot and bring those learnings to other areas of the city.
So these budgets are part of a bigger picture.
It's not just about more funding, but it's about complementary reforms as well, what we can sort of control and influence as a city.
These reforms that I'm going to describe, and we'll sign some legislation, is really designed to meet businesses where they are, to understand their impediments, and help them thrive.
So we are transforming Seattle's permitting system to be faster and more predictable, We know small businesses want them so they can expand and operate without unnecessary delays or costs.
So recently we've launched the PACTE team.
PACTE is the acronym for Permitting and Customer Trust Team to unite all of our permitting agencies and standardize the process.
So we're cutting time in half from 240 days to 120 days so store friends don't sit empty.
We don't want them to sit empty.
So we're doing everything to encourage a sooner opening.
Today, we'll take that work a step further with the bill I'm signing today.
It's Council Bill 121047. And again, I want to thank the City Council for this work.
This law will remove outdated, quote unquote, substantial alteration triggers.
Quite candidly, when we really took a comb through it and looked through it, it just made it too expensive or time-consuming to reopen small storefronts.
So we've made Sort of these game-changing tax reforms for small businesses through our proposed Seattle Shield initiative that reduces or eliminates tax bills for 90% of businesses, giving them more certainty to hire, expand, and reinvest locally.
At the end of the day, budgets and reforms only matter if they make a difference for real people.
Earlier, we talked about how we raised the exemption for B&O taxes from a $100,000 threshold to a $2 million threshold, and also having a matching deduction of up to $2 million from midsize businesses.
This is good policy work.
But as I said, at the end of the day is how it affects real people.
And with that, we're real pleased to hear from some speakers, such as Donna Moody, who will sort of be our cleanup batter.
I've got to stay with the baseball metaphors today, Donna.
I'll clean up batter and what we're trying to do.
Marjorie's story is one that every Seattleite should know about her dream, her talent, her commitment to community.
It's certainly more than a restaurant.
It's a community hub, and I always look forward to sharing her story.
And she models the kind of partnership we're trying to develop with small businesses.
So with that, I'm gonna introduce our next speaker.
It'll be Markham McIntyre.
And Markham has a suite of ideas and policies that they've rolled out under our administration.
And I always love to hear what's brewing in his shop.
And Markham, why don't you walk us through some more about these announcements.
Markham McIntyre.
Hi, everybody.
I'm Mark McIntyre, the Director of the Office of Economic Development at the City of Seattle.
And I want to start by just expressing my genuine appreciation and thanks to the mayor.
As he said, he's made small businesses and economic development a priority of his administration.
And as somebody who took this job at the city largely because I care deeply about our small businesses and believe that the city can do more to help support them, I really appreciate that support.
I also want to give a shout out to our council president, Nelson, who has been a champion for small businesses her entire time on council and well before then.
So with the council and the mayor's office working together on small business issues, we're really excited about the progress that we've made.
Our small businesses define our city's character.
They shape our neighborhoods, they power our economy, and they reflect and enhance our culture.
But right now, it's very clear that small businesses are at a tipping point for survival in Seattle for multiple reasons.
There's rising costs, public safety issues, and just the reality that sometimes it's hard to operate a business here in Seattle.
So the city needs to take action to make sure that our small businesses not only survive, but thrive.
So I also want to express my thanks to Donna Moody and everyone who participated in our small business policy group.
The mayor convened us to come up with ways that we could reduce cost pressures on small businesses, improve public safety, and make it easier and more affordable to run a business here in Seattle.
And the Small Business Policy Group got right to work.
We sprinted to come up with a number of recommendations that were very clear and specific, and that's what I'm going to talk a little bit more about today, the progress that we've made on those with the mayor's endorsement and the city council's participation.
I also want to be clear, look, we know there's more to do.
Like, what I'm mentioning today isn't going to solve all small businesses' problems, but this is real meaningful progress, and it shows that the city is listening to our small businesses and delivering results.
So the mayor just mentioned the B&O tax holiday.
This is putting dollars directly back into small businesses' pockets.
For a mom-and-pop retailer, a cafe, or perhaps a small furniture maker with $2 million in gross revenue, they'll see a savings of over $4,000.
That's incredibly important at this point where people are thinking about how can I hire the next worker?
How can I potentially buy that piece of equipment?
How can I make a repair to my shop?
So this proposal is really all about balance, but the fact that 90% of Seattle businesses will see some form of tax relief is remarkable and is going to actually put money back in their pockets.
The mayor also mentioned our back to business program, the $5 million investment that really scales up what started as a storefront repair program, but is now adding ways to proactively make investments in small businesses and neighborhood business districts to make it safer and more welcoming for customers and workers at small businesses.
We'll have repair grants up to $3,000, a new security fund up to $6,000 for lighting and gates, and then flexible neighborhood investments for cleanup and placemaking.
We're really excited about this.
Already we launched this fund in July, relaunched this fund in July, And already, we've had 85 businesses take advantage of it, including retail therapy on Capitol Hill, who was reimbursed for a broken window.
So that allowed them to take off those really ugly plywood coverings that we see on vacant buildings, make the business more attractive to its customers, but also make those workers feel more safe going there.
I also want to give a shout out to Quinn's Pharmacy in Little Saigon.
They were reimbursed for security doors.
Their security gates were broken down and a glass window was smashed.
That's a huge cost to a small business to try to repair that.
It's also just demoralizing when that happens.
So the fact that we as the city can come in and help reimburse them to get a new class door, put up new security gates is incredibly meaningful.
And then the mayor mentioned permitting reform.
When I started in this job, I talked to our staff because permitting is not necessarily the most interesting topic that you can deal with, but it is incredibly crucial to businesses.
And we heard that very clearly from our small business policy group, that permitting equals time and money for a small business.
And so the fact that we control this, the city actually controls this, we have the decision-making power to try to make it easier and cheaper for them to get permits.
So we've made two major changes.
One is the one that the mayor mentioned about establishing the PAC team with a goal of cutting permitting times in half.
That's going to be incredibly meaningful.
And we're already seeing that businesses that use the small business expediting program, they're seeing their review and issue time cut by 57 percent.
So that's months and thousands of dollars in costs that are going back to businesses.
And the second is the piece of legislation that the council recently passed, changing the building code so that businesses are going to be able to fill vacant storefronts faster with fewer costs.
And here's how that's different right now.
So buildings that have spaces under 7,000 square feet are going to be exempt from that substantial alteration or subalt rules that the mayor mentioned.
Those triggered really expensive upgrades and were particularly problematic for buildings that have been vacant for over 24 months.
We have a number of those around Seattle.
We'd like to see those as opportunities rather than challenges.
And this legislation actually unlocks getting businesses into those vacant storefronts faster.
So for a bakery who's renting a 1,200-square-foot space, that's going to be opening months sooner, saving thousands of dollars.
And then for neighborhoods, it's fewer vacant storefronts.
The final thing I want to mention that the Small Business Policy Group was really clear on was the city can't do it alone.
We control a number of things, but other governments also control processes that we need to influence.
So thinking about how we influence the county or the state is equally as important as the actions that we take directly.
And so we've already seen some progress here where last legislative session we were actually able to get the state to pass a bill increasing the cap for businesses that are being displaced by sound transit build out from $50,000 to $200,000.
So again, that's real money for businesses that are going to go through a major change to actually help them figure out where they're going to go next, how they're going to keep their staff working, how they're going to keep their businesses open.
So again, a really meaningful impact with direct advocacy from the city on an issue that affects small businesses.
So these are all wins that show what happens when we have a clear roadmap by our stakeholders, when the city is willing to take action and take risks to actually make change, and then support our small businesses.
So I'll end where I started, which is our small businesses do define our city's character.
They shape our neighborhoods.
They power our economy and reflect and enhance our culture.
So we, the city, must do everything we can to support them.
This package of wins is a start, and we're going to do more.
Thanks very much.
Thank you, Markham.
Next, you'll hear from Council President Sarah Nelson to describe it from a council perspective.
Councilmember Nelson, you have the mic.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, hello, everybody.
Fun fact, I just thought should be mentioned.
I remember when I was a staffer for Councilmember Richard Conlin when he was transportation chair, when the alignment had really brought up concerns, the light rail alignment had brought concerns from small businesses to the forefront.
And I remember when the community development Fund was begun, and it's so amazing to see everything that has been done, so I want to thank the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund.
I left Richard's office in 2013, and my husband and I had started a small business, and I ran for office to bring the fresh perspective of small business to City Hall.
Because the last time that there had been a small business owner on City Council was in 2009. So I took office in 2022. Jan Drago, proud owner of a Haagen-Dazs, was the last small business owner.
And I say this because I want to emphasize that your voices belong in City Hall as well.
So I consider myself your advocate and will keep being so.
So anyway, at my second Economic Development Committee meeting in February 2022, I brought small business to the table.
I convened a roundtable discussion with small business owners and advocates to talk about what was top of mind for them.
Which was crime.
Rising crime and its impacts on their customers, their workers, and their very own livelihoods.
And so I asked them to come to the table and talk about that, but also come up with some solutions or some recommendations that the city could implement right now, immediately, because it was going to take a while for SPD staffing levels to come back up, and that's a whole different speech.
My point is that they did come up with a list, and I have it right here.
This is the original list, lots of actions, and one of them that really resonated to me because it sounded easy to implement was a quote-unquote broken window and damaged storefront fund, and then end quote, and they had this description.
With neighborhood business districts seeing major increases in vandalism, broken storefront windows and doors, as well as late-night smash-and-grab burglaries, the city should pay a role in funding repairs.
So I met with the mayor's office and urged rapid implementation, and voila, six months later, the storefront repair fund was established.
And then when it ran out of funding last year, I restored that funding, and I am so pleased to see It's expansion on a permanent basis and more robust services provided.
And so this is a day of celebration just for the maturity of that effort.
So, the same process happened in, and I do want to thank the Mayor and Director McIntyre, because you had to actually get those checks out to small businesses, so thank you very much.
Same process this past February.
I invited a group of highly respected architects into committee to identify the low-hanging but high-impact ways to fix our broken permitting system.
A pet peeve, to say it nicely, Since taking office because our permitting problems, slow economic growth, slow housing construction, and so many other problems.
But most importantly, they increased the time, cost, and hassle for small businesses, and that's bad for them.
So the two permitting reforms that passed out of council unanimously last week or the week before target two of the primary pain points.
And they mark the first major step in actually fixing our broken permitting system, permitting reform.
And this will go a long way to unlocking the potential of our businesses and speed housing construction.
The benefits go on and on and on.
And I'm glad that we can talk about it.
There are two bills that should be signed.
The one that the mayor mentioned and then the one that conforms to Washington state law in establishing fixed, definite, predictable timelines for permit project review.
60, 120, or 120 days.
The point is, This is predictability.
This is what businesses and developers and people that are just remodeling their houses, they need that predictability so that their financing doesn't go away and they can continue on their plans to make our city better.
So this is what we must do.
To help small businesses thrive, survive, and build generational wealth for themselves and their families and their workers, we must do more.
It is our job to bring the constituencies that are most impacted by city policy to the table and listen to them.
That is our job.
And then I will say often, I like it when they just tell us what to do.
These are experts in their daily grind.
And so I like it when I am told what would work for them.
And that is what we must do more of.
And I think that is a model of good governance.
So, you know, I'll pause and just say this as a small business owner because we're celebrating some good wins, but as a small business owner myself, I do have to say that we have a long way to go as a city.
I know that there is more that we can do.
And so, you know, I continue to be here.
Your costs are going up, and I'm speaking now to the audience of small business owners that are out there.
Costs are going up.
Rent.
You know, labor, supplies, financing, at the same time that the high cost of living in Seattle and the inflationary pressures are taking money out of the pocketbooks of your customers, and that lowers your revenue.
So I see the circle, and I'll note that restaurants and grocery store workers are hardest hit because those are the thinnest margins.
I have a couple stats.
Let's see, 2,300 businesses closed in downtown Seattle alone from 2020 to 2022. And during the same period of time, there was a net loss of 58 businesses citywide.
That's a lot.
Just think about how you feel when your dry cleaner or cafe in your neighborhood closes, right?
That packs a punch and it really changes the community.
We'll multiply that 5,800 times around the city.
That's what I mean when I say that there's more that we can do.
So we must work harder to support our small businesses.
Because displacement just isn't an option.
It really isn't.
We're trying to keep our small businesses here and their workers and the vibrancy of those neighborhoods.
And I want to provide a special shout out to Brighton Communities.
It's a local effort to support more affordable housing, but ultimately to build communities.
So thank you very much, Brighton Communities.
Anyway, we also City officials cannot neglect the policy-driven problems that businesses face.
And I'm talking about retail theft and, you know, violent incidents driven by people in crisis for untreated addiction and mental health disorders.
We must fix that too.
Small businesses are the innovators, the job creators, and the nodes of our communities, and more than that, They're the soul of Seattle.
It's what makes Seattle such a great place to live.
You don't see a whole bunch of chain stores down our city, but no dis on chain stores because that is a first step for lots of small businesses, especially in our immigrant communities, to get a toehold in Seattle.
The point is, We know we have more to do.
I'm going to keep on fighting for you because it is not enough to just get small businesses back to business.
We have to keep you there.
And that is my promise to you going forward.
Thank you very much for everybody's attention.
The President.
Well, an afternoon or morning wouldn't be complete if we didn't hear from at least one Franklin Quaker.
And it's my honor.
To introduce the executive director of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, my friend and a very effective leader, and his passion for small businesses is just incredible, Albertus Brooks, Jr.
I thought I'd get up here and be able not to speak about my high school, but mayor.
Even though you are a Garfield High School graduate, we do appreciate your service and the work you do for the community.
As the mayor, Mayor Hill said, I am the executive director of Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, affectionately known as the fund and as the leader and lifelong Seattleite.
I am Very grateful to be able to welcome to our new space.
Hopefully you guys get an opportunity to check out some of the offices and community spaces we have here, but really, really happy to have you here.
A little history about the fund.
We started in the late 90s when a group of community members formed Save Our Valley.
To ensure that residents and business owners in the Rainer Valley who are going to be impacted by the impending construction and operation of Sound Transit Link Light Rail had access to capital and other financial resources to protect, establish, and grow their businesses.
Thanks to that leadership of individuals who held positions very similar to the ones of the people that are here today.
The fund is now a community-controlled financial institution dedicated to expanding access to economic opportunity for residents and businesses in King County, particularly those historically overlooked in their communities, in other communities.
Working alongside our city officials, this community organization, the fund, has provided more than $100,000 in loans, helped small businesses not just survive but thrive.
Those loans have also supported those business owners who might otherwise be overlooked by traditional for-profit banks.
Our work is guided in the need for business owners who seek access to capital, technical assistance, ranging from legal expertise, education, and more.
As I said, I'd like to thank the mayor for your continued advocacy for this organization and the work we do.
We deeply appreciate your continued commitment to the organization.
To OED, our longstanding partnership has been one of the things that really has helped us grow and build capacity.
Through this partnership, we've been able to increase our capacity to reduce the processing time of loans to get money to businesses as they need it, increasing it from one to two loans a month to five to seven.
That continued support of our organization does not go unnoticed, and as we continue to build our technical assistance program, I look forward to continuing to work with you guys on that.
Also, as Executive Director, I'd like to also thank Council President Nelson and the Council for their ongoing support of small businesses.
You recognize that these businesses are critical to ensuring that Seattle communities can thrive and not just survive in these continued challenging times.
Your support of programs like the Back to Business Fund do not go unnoticed.
And we also look forward to continuing to work with you as we continue to work in other neighborhoods, not only Rainier Valley, but other neighborhoods affected by transit development and economic development.
Thank you.
Our last speaker will be Donna Moody, who participated in our Business Community Ownership Fund.
As I said earlier, her remarkable story and how she founded Marjorie's is an inspiration for all of us.
Donna, we'd love to hear some words from you.
Good morning.
My name is Donna Moody.
I am both a recipient of the Business Ownership Fund and also a very dedicated and passionate advocate for small business.
I'd like to first thank the city and administration for its interest.
And also advocacy for small businesses.
I know that we've all said we've done something and we need to do more.
I think small business owners in the city are watching many of their colleagues close, many saying that they just really don't know how to make it anymore.
And so I really appreciate the efforts that have been made to keep small businesses open.
I think we can all recognize that they are, in fact, the fabric of a city, and particularly a city like Seattle.
Many people rely on the neighborhood businesses that exist, the business owners that commit themselves to activity in the community, and the idea that they employ many members of our community and basically kind of Give a story.
Share the narrative of the City of Seattle.
I was very fortunate to be one of the pilot recipients of the Business Ownership Fund, which is a collaborative effort, and I'd like to talk a little bit too about the benefits of collaborative efforts.
The City, through the Office of Economic Development, And also Grow America through a fund, their CDFI, that put in money to basically purchase a condo, making rent payments the equivalent of paying down your mortgage.
The city helped immensely with tenant improvements.
That allowed me, with a small investment of my own equity, to basically create a space that I would never have been able to create on my own.
I was able to do finishing touches that I wasn't able to do in the past.
I was able to take a pass on being the painter and the drywall patcher and the so many things because I was able to actually hire People to do that.
And I think the end result, the restaurant that's been created is to me quite remarkable.
And it is a community hub.
Many people gather there.
I'm able to offer a community benefit to several groups that have met there.
And it just is an anchor that the city needs more of.
And I really appreciate that the city is willing to make a continued investment in this program.
And I've watched Grow America continue to drum the beat that says, like, we need more of this.
And to get some philanthropic support for it.
And as the city talks about it more and more, we're finding more interested parties that would like to participate.
I'd also like to just take a minute and talk about street activation.
I know that the mayor has mentioned how important it is to revitalize downtown and other neighborhoods.
And the work of the Eco District is definitely supportive of this.
That's something that I'm very passionate about as well.
Coming up with ideas to activate our city to look at things that have been tried and worked and maybe can be replicated.
And the idea that if people are collaborating both from the Department of Transportation, city offices, arts and culture, small businesses and developers to create a better city, we're well on the path to success.
And I think you can see Little pieces of that as we go along and certainly many people interested in doing so much more.
I'm appreciative to OED for supporting that effort as well.
Thank you.
Okay, we're gonna sign the legislation first and there's some questions.
I'll come back to the mic and be more than happy to answer any questions and we have panelists gonna answer questions too.
So let me borrow someone's chair.
I'll put this chair here.
So everyone has a chair, and the good thing about this is you could have been a pin on it.
Do you want some order, Rainier Valley Community?
Mm-hmm.
Anything else from Rainier Valley Community would like to stand up here?
Can we?
Alicia?
Will?
Anybody else?
Okay.
Tim, you got it?
Yes, sir.
All right.
You got a good picture?
There you go.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
I didn't anticipate a lot of questions, but I always want to make sure we're available for questions.
And if not, does anyone have any questions?
Yes.
These sounds like wonderful programs.
I just wanted you to tell a little bit more about how you communicate that these are available and make sure that small businesses are aware that they exist because, you know, small businesses aren't busy running their business and, you know, want them to be able to take advantage of this.
Yeah, Markham, I'll let you have a shot at that.
That is such a critical part.
If we're offering and they don't know, then it's for not.
You're absolutely right.
I mean, that's part of the challenge, right, is making sure that businesses know what the city is offering.
So we work with a number of community partners, neighborhood business districts, our business improvement areas, local chambers of commerce, ethnic chambers of commerce.
We have a ton of trusted community messengers out there, so we work with them to figure out how They need to have the information presented if they need it translated, if they need it digitally, if they need it printed, to make sure that they have that to get out there.
We use our own city channels communication-wise.
And then honestly, the best thing is word of mouth.
Businesses trust other businesses.
So again, we have 85 applicants who have tapped into the Back to Business Fund since July, making sure that they're telling their fellow business owners that they have an opportunity for this is the best type of messaging we can get.
So the more businesses we can get in the door through our various programs, whether it's technical assistance or, as Donna was mentioning, our Business Community Ownership Fund, encouraging them to tell their compatriots is the best thing we can do.
Yeah, so what we'd like to see is we'd like to see the number of individual businesses that need the storefront repair fund going down.
But we would like to see the city's investments in built environment changes to make neighborhood business districts safer and more welcoming go up, because those are lasting changes that, just like Donna was talking about, help with activation and just that feeling at the street level that this is a great place to be and I want to come back here.
So we'd like to see the number of businesses having those issues, the acute issues falling down, and then the city's investment continue to make the built environment better.
And is there a cap on the funds that are available, or is this
Well, so as the council president mentioned, she gave us money for the storefront repair fund, and then the mayor's proposing in his new budget, adding on top of that another $2.5 million next year, and then $2.5 million after that.
So that really expands the program.
So we don't have caps.
It's basically until the funding runs out for those three areas of the program, we will keep moving money out the door.
Yep.
All right.
Thanks, everyone, for being here.
Let's make it a great day.
Thank you.
Good job.
I just want to mention that, please, Mayor Harrell, is the bill on permit timelines signed?
Sorry, we have actually a second bill.
We have two pieces of legislation today.
Sorry, we only put one up there.
Let's do it again.
All right.
Let's do it again.
Yeah, let me have that point.
There we go.