Helping Mom and Pop

Posted by Sheila Redick on February 02, 2006

The Distinctive City is one of the four lenses that informs the work of CEOs for Cities.  What policies can urban leaders enact to lead a city to distinctiveness?  Supporting locally owned businesses is  likely at the top of that list.  And we've found a great example of support in New York, where Mayor Bloomberg just named a "retail czar," Michelle Mooney, who will assist neighborhood organizations in their efforts to attract and retain a diversity of businesses that serve local residents.  Mooney will oversee two already existing programs, improving storefronts and helping neighborhoods create retail identities to attract shoppers.

 Additionally, the city will launch a website that profiles each of New York's neighborhoods and will provide information on the types and number of businesses, which storefronts are for sale and how to contact owners, information on BIDs, and links to city programs that assist small-business owners with loans and other services.

 You can read the whole story in the New York Times by clicking here (login required).