Struggle to survive
85% of women & minority biz face failure
Evelyn Echevarria’s onewoman catering company was just hitting its stride when coronavirus struck the city and slammed the economy, imperiling the future of businesses like hers.
“My God, what’s going to happen two months from now?” she told the Daily News. “It’s actually quite frightening. The economy, if it gets worse — where is that going to leave us?”
Echevarria, who lives in East Harlem and rents space at a commercial kitchen in the Bronx, is not alone, according to a new survey from city Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office.
It found 85% of city-certified minority- and womenowned businesses, or M/ WBEs, reporting they cannot survive the next six months. Nearly a third reported being unable to survive 30 days or less. Five hundred such businesses were questioned in the survey.
“Minority- and womenowned businesses are essential to our economy, generate strong local community wealth, are at the core of our city’s cultural identity and they are bearing the brunt of our economic crisis,” Stringer said in a statement.
“These findings are alarming and underscore the structural inequities facing M/ WBEs and the urgent need for immediate action and relief before M/WBEs in our city are decimated,” he added.
The report comes as the coronavirus outbreak continues to exact a heavy toll on many parts of the economy.
In the first three months of the year, New York State’s gross domestic product dropped 8.2%, according to a recent report from the U.S. Commerce Department. In the greater New York City metropolitan area, the unemployment rate reached a shocking 15.3% in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While the city government tries to prioritize contract awards for M/WBEs, the report from Stringer’s office suggested efforts have floundered.
Out of 62 survey respondents who said they competed for COVID-related contracts, only 10 said they actually got one. Another 37 were unable to make contact with the city while seeking a contract.
Echevarria said she hasn’t won a city contract since launching her LLC in 2017.
“As far as getting responses from the people that oversee those bids, I haven’t been really successful,” she said. “I’m told that they’re very busy, so on and so forth.”
Survey respondents called for greater access to city contracts, flexible grants and loans for expenses like personal protective equipment and help with promotion for reopening.
Stringer, who has oversight of city contracts, said he was creating measures requiring the city to prove it is working toward its goals on awarding more contracts to M/WBEs. He also repeated calls for City Hall and each city agency to appoint chief diversity officers to reduce M/WBEs’ barriers to doing business with the city.
“We will redouble our commitment to holding city agencies accountable and continue our efforts to identify and dismantle systemic barriers to participation,” the comptroller stated. “Our economy is strongest when it is equitable and inclusive, and our road to recovery must reflect those values.”