In May, the U.S. celebrates National Small Business Week, an annual event dedicated to entrepreneurship and small businesses, organized by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), a government agency that provides support and resources to small businesses across the country. Large cities like San Francisco and New York have geared up for exciting events and initiatives to highlight the importance of small businesses. Today, we show how these cities have celebrated the 2023 edition of National Small Business Week, and why supporting small businesses is more important than ever.

The event, which is usually celebrated during the first week of the month, was established to recognize the important role that small businesses play in the country's economy and to provide an opportunity for small business owners and entrepreneurs to connect with each other, showcase their products and services, and gain recognition for their hard work and contributions to the economy.

According to the SBA and JP Morgan Chase, small businesses account for more than 99% of all businesses in the U.S., amounting to over 33.2 million small businesses, and they employ nearly half of all workers in the private sector. While San Francisco has over 100,000 small businesses that comprise over 95% of the total businesses in the area, New York City has over 250,000 small businesses operating, accounting for 98% of all businesses in the city. Find out the plans of these big cities to celebrate 2023 National Small Business Week.

During the second week of the month, San Francisco will host the following events:

📍 Cómo seleccionar un plan de jubilación para su pequeña empresa, a virtual event to help small businesses with retirement plans, the types of plans available, the tax benefits and consequences of each, and the federal laws that govern these types of plans.

📍 The Real Estate World 2.0., a virtual event to learn about 10 small businesses to start in real estate. 

📍 How to Find Funding Opportunities for Your Small Business, an event to discover funding opportunities available to small business owners. 

📍 Access to Capital: Borrowers’ Journey-Empowering Small Businesses to Grow, a free event, available to both in-person and virtual attendees, to learn about the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, and to discover new pathways of accessing capital and growing one’s business. 

📍 City Hall Small Business Pop-Up Shop, an opportunity to buy from over 40 of the city's vendors, makers, and artists.

📍 Choosing the Right Entity for Your Business, a workshop designed to give people an overview of the legal structures available to start a business and the legal and tax consequences of each. 

📍 Una Sola Red Social, a workshop focused on how to build and maintain an effective online presence through a single social network. 

📍 Latino Entrepreneurs Celebration, an event to celebrate the resilience of the Latino business community where local Latino business owners share the successes and obstacles they have overcome in order to inspire others.

📍 SF Filipino American Chamber of Commerce Networking Mixer, an event that will introduce local and global business assistance resources for international commerce.  

📍 Breakfast at Tallio’s, an in-person event for entrepreneurs and small business owners to meet and mingle with each other, and to share interests and dreams for the future of San Francisco’s small businesses. 

📍 Intersection of Latine-Owned and Woman-Owned Business, a fireside chat with Michelle Londoño and Tamara Ruiz, two small business owners, who will share their experiences from a combined 48+ years of service.

📍 Starting a Business in San Francisco, a virtual event to learn how to grow a business using email marketing and how the San Francisco Office of Small Business helps aspiring and existing small business owners and entrepreneurs grow and thrive.

📍 University of San Francisco New Roots / New Routes Conference, the biennial conference is held at San Francisco City College, for an afternoon of conversation, information sharing, and networking. 

📍 Become a San Francisco Green Business, a free event to learn how to get connected to incentives, free technical assistance, expert audits, rebates, and educational resources, to save money and attract more customers, and to showcase greening practices to other businesses and customers.

📍 Small Business Boogie at The Ferry Building, an event in which the San Francisco Office of Small Business will highlight many small businesses in The Ferry Building, descend en masse upon each one for around 20-25 minutes, shop, and then move on to the next one.

📍 University of San Francisco Gellert Family Business Annual Award Reception, an event where the Gellert Family Business Center will award two San Francisco-based family-owned firms for exemplifying the best of San Francisco’s family businesses.

📍 3 Women-Owned Businesses Networking Breakfast, a business networking breakfast for all, featuring three women-owned local businesses.

📍 Financiación para pequeñas empresas, a workshop that will explain the application process for SBA-backed loans, as well as discuss loan programs for start-ups and existing businesses.

📍 Business Planning Strategies for Entrepreneurs, a virtual event to learn about business planning strategies that are specifically designed for entrepreneurs. 

📍 Introduction to Online Advertising in 2023: 3 Steps: 3 Steps, a virtual event to learn how to use the power of online marketing to reach more customers. 

📍 FoundAble: Professionals in Practice Speakers Series, a professional panel discussion that will include seasoned small business owners with disabilities sharing their successes and challenges in owning and operating a small business. 

📍 Understanding Your Fiduciary Responsibilities under ERISA Workshop, a free workshop for employers and service providers to understand and comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and cover some of the basics of retirement and health plan administration. 

📍 How Small-Scale Marketing Can Drive Big Impact, an online panel discussion featuring three micro-influencers and one business owner to explore the strategies and tactics that small business owners can use to leverage social media to achieve marketing success. 

📍 Legacy Business Mixer: Anchored in San Francisco, a friendly celebration of San Francisco’s over 300 registered Legacy Businesses to meet, socialize, and network. 

Meanwhile, New York already celebrated National Small Business Week, and the following events were hosted in the city during the first week of the month:

📍 First Steps to Starting a Business Webinar, the first part of a course to understand what it means to be a successful entrepreneur in New York City.

📍 Creating a Business Idea That Works, the second part of a course to discover the tools to analyze customers, the industry, and competitors.

📍 Small Business Month Kickoff Celebration at Yankee Stadium, an unusual opportunity to learn how the NYC Department of Small Business Services can help small businesses, job seekers, and neighborhoods across the five boroughs.

📍 WE Master Money Workshop: Planning for a Profitable Business, a series of workshops that are designed to help women entrepreneurs gain knowledge about alternative sources of funding for their businesses.

📍 Desarrollar Sus Operaciones de Negocios, a course to help small business owners translate their business concept into an efficient operation that continuously improves and increases their results.

📍 Finanzas Empresariales 1, a course intended for entrepreneurs unfamiliar with the financial management of a business.

📍 Choosing a Business Legal Structure, a course to understand the importance of a business’s structure, and to help small business owners protect their assets.

📍 Creating Content Your Customers Value, a course to help entrepreneurs at any stage define what content will build loyalty with their customers by creating marketing content that is helpful, relevant, and engaging.

📍 Financing for Your Small Business, an event hosted by the NYC Business Solutions Center, that aims to provide insight into and knowledge about available small business financing products, viable small business lenders, financing applications, and post-pandemic financing.

New York City is extending its Small Business Week celebration throughout the month of May, with various events and initiatives planned. You can access the complete NYC agenda by clicking on this link. We highly recommend attending the following events: M/WBE Contracting Symposium, a gathering aimed at providing Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) certified firms with valuable knowledge and resources to enhance their chances of securing government contracts; and NYC Financing – Accessing Capital For Your Small Business, an opportunity to hear from leaders in the field and learn about the financial resources available for businesses.

At Glass, we recognize the importance of small businesses and the significant impact they have on local economies. That’s why, for several years, we have been advocating for these establishments to be recognized and valued by citizens, the community, and governments. For us, every week is Small Business Week, and we’re constantly seeking new ways to support and elevate these businesses. By developing Glass Commerce, an e-commerce marketplace that enables compliant transactions between verified small vendors and government buyers, we enable an easy and direct connection between small business owners and local, state, and federal governments.

Get to know more about Glass Commerce and find out more ways to help small businesses at www.commerce.glass!

 

This blog was written by Gisela Montes, GovTech Community Lead at Glass.