The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down, with small businesses being hit especially hard. This is a pivotal time for SMBs, and the way they respond to the pressure will determine how their business runs for years to come. Many companies are taking this difficult situation and turning it into an opportunity. In our Positive Pivot series, we’re diving deeper into what these innovative businesses have done, and what lies beneath the surface to produce this kind of creativity and resilience.

This week we spoke with Avi Leshes of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to learn about the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s decision to create the Bring Back Brooklyn Fund to support local small businesses.

What is the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce?

For over 100 years, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has spoken to the needs of the Brooklyn business community. We have developed and nurtured an active civic spirit and sought to safeguard and improve living conditions and social welfare for local businesses and residents.

As Brooklyn continues to evolve, the Brooklyn Chamber consistently works to offer top-quality services and new opportunities for its members. It advances the borough through outstanding promotion, support, and advocacy as Brooklyn’s leading economic development.

How did COVID-19 affect your operations?

We are a very hands-on organization. Meaning, we host events, meet with small business owners, and set up meetings either in the neighborhood or in our office between elected officials, stakeholders, and local leaders. That has all come to a standstill. We are not meeting any of the businesses in person via the Chamber on the Go program. We are not hosting any events, and most of our members and general businesses are closed, negatively affecting their financial health and stability. The Chamber had to re-shift its role from hosting in-person events to a digital format instead.

Our partnership and collaboration with thousands of business owners and residents is how our Bring Back Brooklyn Fund came to life. After the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), we heard from a number of Brooklyn businesses who did not get funds. The data especially showed that women- and minority-owned businesses were rejected at a much higher rate than expected. As a community, we banded together to combat this and brought the Bring Back Brooklyn Fund to life. All of the money raised will go toward the thousands of local businesses who need vital support.

How are you communicating these changes with your customers and members?

We worked together as a team to develop a very robust resource page that is consistently updated. We frequently share it with our network of residents and businesses. Each employee is also assigned different sectors. For example, I focus on the real estate and manufacturing sectors. I collect interesting data and information that particularly pertains to these sectors and share it with our members and nonmembers via our app. We are constantly interacting and engaging with business owners, landlords, elected officials, and stakeholders to work together and assist one another.

How do you think the pivot you made in response to COVID-19 will have a long-term impact on your business?

We don’t know when our in-person events and meetings can begin again. For now, we are solely focusing on serving our community and offering as much support as we can, and for now our Bring Back Brooklyn Fund is the best way to do that.