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OEWD outlines equity-focused small-business relief: $152.6M department budget, expanded grants and 0% loans
Summary
OEWD Director Kate Sophos told the Budget & Appropriations Committee that the department's FY2021-22 budget is about $152.6 million, with roughly $48 million for small-business programs; OEWD reported 3,000+ awards, a $2 million city-backed leveraged loan investment yielding over $20 million in 0% loans, and high demand for a $2 million commercial rent repayment pilot.
Kate Sophos, executive director of the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, told the Budget & Appropriations Committee on May 11 that OEWD's recovery work centers on racial and economic equity and that small-business programs will be a priority in the coming budget. "Our vision is about equity," Sophos said, adding that the department has reorganized to strengthen linkages between workforce and small-business programs.
Sophos said the department's approved fiscal-year budget at the time was about $152,600,000 and that the Office of Small Business and Invest in Neighborhoods together account for roughly $48,000,000 of that total. She told supervisors that OEWD relies on 102 community partners to extend services and is operating with about 21% of positions vacant, which she said has constrained program delivery.
Why it matters: Supervisors framed the hearing around whether pandemic-era relief reached micro and low-revenue businesses and whether OEWD's…
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