Chinatown: State of Neighborhood Small Businesses Survey

Welcome to Chinatown’s Longevity Fund is the only grant program exclusively for Manhattan Chinatown’s small businesses. The Longevity Fund has distributed $5,000 grants to 45 small businesses between July 2020 - January  to help alleviate mounting overhead costs such as rent, labor, insurance, and utilities. The most at-risk businesses were prioritized, based on cultural and socioeconomic barriers that prevented them from applying for assistance programs, and how much their shuttering would impact the Chinatown community. Data from Longevity Fund grant applications revealed the following insights: 

• 26% of applicants applied via paper application, meaning they received access to the program via door-to-door canvassing. 

• 33% of applicants are not fluent in, or do not speak English 

• 57% of applicants do not have a social media presence 

• 67% of applicants do not have a website 

• 98% of our applicants are Asian, with 50% of applicants employing a 100% Asian staff 

Welcome to Chinatown has also conducted a Small Business Survey in February 2021. Survey respondents are a sample of 35 open Chinatown storefronts. 

• 84% of survey respondents saw business decline by over half before NY on PAUSE

• 71% of survey respondents were unable to pay rent in full in 2020

• 74% of survey respondents cite rent as their most pressing concern

• 77% of survey respondents have reduced staff 

• 83% of survey respondents have reduced business hours

• 44% of survey respondents say it is strongly unlikely, unlikely, or are unsure their business will survive the next 3 months  

• Survey respondents are most interested in the following resources: 

  • 77% - Marketing (social media, advertisements, etc.) 

  • 63% - Website (creating or updating website)

  • 43% - Design (menu, flyers, store signage, marketing materials, etc.) 

ANALYSIS 

1. Economic Fallout of COVID-19 Hit Chinatowns Hardest, Earliest

As has been widely reported, Chinatowns nationally lost business even before mandated closures, starting roughly in January 2020. Racist ideas of a “Chinese virus,” and racist fears that being in Chinatown meant heightened COVID risk, kept people out of Chinatown. Manhattan Chinatown’s experience then was particularly stark. As Patrick Mock of 46 Mott Bakery stated to the South China Morning Post, while Chinatown emptied out, Little Italy, a block across Canal Street, was still packed with customers. Welcome to Chinatown’s Small Business Survey is yet another confirmation of this - 88% of survey respondents saw business decline by over half before New York on PAUSE. Chinatown is among neighborhoods that have been hurting the longest and in most need of government aid to survive. 69% of survey respondents were unable to pay full rent in 2020, 72% of survey respondents cite rent as their most pressing concern, and 44% of small business survey respondents are not sure that their businesses will survive the next three months. 

2. Government Relief Programs: Barriers to Access

Many Chinatown small business owners’ first language is not English. While they may be comfortable speaking English to interact with customers, they may not be confident in their business English language ability. Native English speakers have complained about the complexity of applying for PPP and other government aid; it is no doubt harder for someone who isn’t a native English speaker to navigate applications in English. One third of Longevity Fund grant applicants filled out their application in Chinese. For equal access to government aid, equal language access is important, not only in application forms, but outreach too. 

Governments’ largely digital outreach approach has also put Chinatown at a disadvantage. Chinatown small businesses tend to be mom-and-pop operations. They may have a few staff, but tend not to have the separate departments some publicly traded corporations have used to track and obtain new government aid like PPP. Chinatown small businesses will be slower to hear of new aid programs than others, putting them at a disadvantage with first-come-first-serve programs like PPP. 26% of Longevity Fund applicants submitted a paper application, meaning that they received access to the program via door-to-door canvassing. Direct outreach like that is important to level the playing field. 

3. Asian American Employment in Chinatown

Asian American unemployment in New York City is particularly dire. According to the Asian American Federation, 1 in 10 Asian American workers were employed in the restaurant & food services industry in New York City in a normal year. A fifth of Asian American workers who lived in poverty depended on their food service jobs. Factors like this contribute to the severe economic impact for Asian Americans in New York City, with the jobless rate increasing 22.2% from February to May 2020. This is the largest increase among all major racial groups. 75% of our Small Business Survey respondents have reduced staff so that their business can survive, compared to just 17% of small businesses nationally, according to the US Chamber of Commerce July 2020 Small Business Coronavirus Impact Poll.   

MOVING FROM SHORT-TERM RELIEF TO LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY

Welcome to Chinatown started the Longevity Fund to provide short-term relief to our neighborhood’s small businesses at a time of dire need. But it is also increasingly apparent to us that in order for Chinatown to remain always open in the face of an unlevel playing field, neighborhood small businesses need more than short-term aid. Respondents to our Small Business Survey Program cited marketing, website creation and updates, and design as resources they’d be interested in. As we think about our next phase of The Longevity Fund, Welcome to Chinatown is committed to investing in small business sustainability to ensure Chinatown’s small business owners are empowered to thrive independently. 

We are proud to announce the new direction of The Longevity Fund, shaped by our diligent research gathered through countless conversations and surveying to intimately understand Chinatown’s needs:

• Small Business Directory, currently in pilot: 57% of our Longevity Fund applicants lack social media presence, and 67% do not have a website. Even if the businesses have a website, it is often poorly maintained with language being a factor, given that ⅓ of our Longevity Fund applicants do not speak English. By releasing a digital directory for the community, a free resource for small businesses and users alike, we’re hoping for individuals to (re)discover one of New York City’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

• Rolling Grants, April 2021: Small businesses will have the opportunity to apply for monetary grants with an “as per request model” based on statements of need. We strive to open conversations about financial and resource needs that will help a small business recuperate losses and/or drive long term sustainability. 

• Small Business Accelerator, Summer 2021: Community preservation of Manhattan’s Chinatown begins with our small businesses, which have been disproportionately burdened by a lack of access to resources and funding opportunities even prior to COVID. Our accelerator aims to benefit those that need it most and will work with talented individuals and like-minded companies to provide targeted workings including but not limited to finance, marketing, and operations.