Adafruit @ the NYC Small Business Recovery & Growth event @nyc_sbs @NYCMWBE

Gracie

Invite

Today Adafruit was at Gracie Mansion, at an event that was to recognize and thank the Small Business Community in NYC that came together, and continues to manufacture, create, make, hire, share, and make NYC the amazing place that it is.

Limor inside

Adafruit is a 100% woman owned manufacturing company, a certified Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE), a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), and WOSB. During the COVID-19 outbreak Adafruit Industries is operating as an essential service and manufacturing business: NYC – Executive Order 202.6 making PPE and medical device components. In 2020 Adafruit was appointed to the Small Business Sector Advisory Council by the City of New York to help restart the NYC economy post COVID-19 pandemic.

Today was the first time we got to meet in person many of the businesses we worked with or were part of meetings with for the challenging months during the pandemic, WE GOT TO SEE MELBA and made a new friend, Ramona, from Sell-Mar (METAL DOORS, made in the USA, by a woman-owned company, right here in NYC!).

Jonnel

Jonnel Doris, Commissioner, Department of Small Business Services kicked it off, he’s been doing an amazing job all these months (thank you Jonnel). Jonnel Doris was appointed by the Mayor as the Commissioner for the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and Co-Chair of the Small Business Subcommittee of the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity. He is responsible for running a dynamic City agency focused on equity of opportunity, that leads to economic self-sufficiency and mobility for New York City’s diverse communities. SBS actively connects New Yorkers to good jobs, creates stronger businesses, and builds a thriving economy in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. Formerly, Doris served as the City’s first Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE).

Phil

J. Phillip Thompson, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives gave a great talk about where we were are, where we are, and where we’re going. Thompson was an Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of Double Trouble: Black Mayors, Black Communities and the Struggle for Deep Democracy published in 2006 by Oxford University Press. He has also written and worked extensively on community health planning, race and community development, and the politics of black economic advancement.

Mayor

And then Bill de Blasio, 109th Mayor of New York City came by and outlined how to keep this momentum going for all the progress in NYC as we continue to fight COVID and turbo charge small businesses together. He also mentioned that the census information came in, and NYC … GREW, so we’re coming back bigger, bolder, and better than before.

Report

Adafruit received recognition in the NYC Small Business Recovery & Growth report.

Award

…and this, which goes on the shelf for special things like this for our team.

The reasons Adafruit made it through the last 18 months is our team, our community, our customers, our city, our amazing NYC city, and the collective desire to do good, be good, share, and when we can help, we always will, no matter what it is. The team came together to make life-saving PPE and much needed components/boards during the worst times last year, our customers were patient and supported us, our community kept us going, thank you so much – this was for all of you today, because of all of you.

During the past 21 months, New York City has faced its toughest challenge in a generation. The COVID-19 pandemic and the far-reaching economic fallout it created challenged our City in new ways and exposed the deep inequities that exist in our society. Since March 2020, SBS has delivered more than 337,000 services to New Yorkers in need through the creation and expansion of 51 programs and initiatives. This report is an historic record of not only our rapid response from the beginning, but the sustained efforts of an unparalleled team at SBS who went above and beyond to adapt to our new reality and to ensure our services continued to reach New Yorkers.

Over the course of the pandemic, SBS launched or expanded 51 initiatives and programs to support New Yorkers.

Our work was guided by four key principles: equity, adaptability, innovation, and collaboration.

The NYC Small Business Recovery & Growth report is an historic record of not only our rapid response from the beginning, but the sustained efforts of an unparalleled team at SBS who went above and beyond to adapt to our new reality and to ensure our services continued to reach New Yorkers who needed them the most.

The work of the team at SBS is living proof of just how committed, talented, and invaluable our City workforce is.

SBS could also not do this work without a strong network of partners – the Mayor’s Small Business Sector Advisory Council, small business owners, advocates, industry leaders and associations, community organizations, financial institutions, philanthropists, and foreign consulates. Together we continue to create prosperity across NYC.

The strong foundation we built for recovery is a springboard to the future we all desire and deserve. SBS, and our partners, continue to invest in the jobs, industries, and communities that will drive New York’s economic future and make our city stronger, safer, and more equitable.

Read the report (PDF).

Since it was a long day, we moved ASK an ENGINEER to THURSDAY night (see ya there, 8pm ET. Dec 9, 2021). And for Show and Tell, I stopped by and talked about all this too.


Payphone

On a related note for the phone phreaks out there, we found a payphone in the basement area of Grace Mansion, we were going to call out to see what phone # it was, but it was not connected, so that’s that – I’ll send this photo to 2600 for the payphone back cover.


And for black and white photo fans, I have some photos I took on my personal twitter account that I am using to post photos for now.

Birds

Limor

The birds photo at the park that we walked through afterwards, to get back to the Adafruit factory, and the one of Limor are my faves.


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