Grassroots Philanthropy

During the many years I worked at Turner Broadcasting System, I witnessed Ted do some pretty impressive things -  perhaps none more admirable than his munificent $1 billion donation to the United Nations.

In my own, much smaller way, I contribute to causes I like and receive much satisfaction from it.  The other day at an Urban Solutions Advisory Board luncheon I became aware of  Kiva Zip another enterprise I will now support and invite you to learn more about.

Since leaving the Big Corporate world a number of years ago I have had the opportunity to meet  many fine small business entrepreneurs, some whose business are so small, so new, that the prospect of obtaining a traditional small business loan is dim and can be demoralizing.

Enter Kiva Zip! This is a project through which borrowers and obtain zero interest loans (up to $10,000) directly via the internet. Register as a lender and for as little as $25 you can help a small business of your choosing. According to the Kiva Zip website, to date 71,537 individual lenders have loaned over $11.6 million to 11,547 small businesses (with an 88.7% repayment rate). Impressive.  

I've made my first Kiva Zip small business loan to a Polk Street florist trying to raise $10,000 to improve the store environment and purchase a new computer system. I figure helping her benefits me as well by having another pleasant storefront as part of my urban landscape. Check out this link and you can see other lending opportunities - hopefully one or more that you'd like to support.

Thanks for reading!

p.s. As is my custom, I leave you with with a song which I've always tried to select with some relationship to my post - even if it is only obliquely so - as it surely is in this case. The Grass Roots, a 60's band. The song wasn't very high on my play list and I was going to continue to search but when I saw that the introduction was by the wonderful Jimmy Durante I just had to use it.

It's a Proposition J thang!

With the 2015 election less than a month away it's time to start reviewing ballot measures. One that is conceptually appealing is  Prop J/The Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund which would provide financial grants to qualified legacy businesses and the property owners who lease space to them.

Skyrocketing rents in the City have not just affected the residential market you know - small local businesses have been impacted as well. Some cases in point:

• After more than a half-century North Beach's venerable Capp's Corner closed its doors last April as landlord and tenant could not agree on the rent renewal rate;
• the news is that 3rd Street's Dave's bar is going to close because the rent expected on a renewal is too high;
• the Mission's Elbo Room which originally opened in 1935 will probably follow suit (okay, maybe not the best example because the plans are to demolish the building and replace it with multi-unit residential above but it is related to skyrocketing real estate).

So what would qualify a business  to be considered "legacy"?

•  one that has operated in San Francisco for 30 or more years, and either was founded or currently has its headquarters in San Francisco;
•  one that has contributed to the neighborhood’s history or identity
• one that is committed to maintaining the physical features or traditions that define the business

And how much of a financial grant could be received?

•  Legacy Businesses could receive an annual grant of up to $500 per full-time equivalent employee in San Francisco.
• Building owners who lease space in San Francisco buildings to Legacy Businesses for terms of at least 10 years could receive an annual grant of up to $4.50 per square foot of leased space
• The City Controller says that the the average legacy business has 8 employees and occupies 3,400 square feet. Per Prop J, on an annual basis, the business would qualify for $4,000 and the landlord would qualify for $15,300.

And how much might it cost us taxpayers?

• The  City Controller opines that the cost would grow by $2.1 million to $3.7 million annually in the coming fiscal year ultimately reaching a cost of between $51 million and $94 million annually if all qualifying legacy businesses are enrolled in approximately 25 years.
• Some back-of-the-cocktail-napkin analysis: 
• The City's fiscal budget in 2015/16 is approximately $8.9 billion -  using the Controller's high end number ($3.7 million) we are talking four hundredths of one percent of the total budget
• And in 25 years? Guesstimating increases in the fiscal budget based on growth rates over the last five years and again using the Controller's high end number ($94 million) we are talking less than one half of one percent of the total budget.

Seems a small price to pay to help out those local businesses who through years of toil, weathering good times and bad, have contributed to the rich history of our City.

Makin' it in San Francisco

 

Yesterday I lunched with Abbie from SFMade an organization whose mission is to build and support a vibrant and sustainable manufacturing sector in San Francisco. It's important not only to me but to the City, on whose behalf I take the liberty of speaking, that our local economy has greater diversity - and so with over 500 member companies SFMade is doing a fantastic job.

After lunch we walked back to SFMade's headquarters which is located in TechShop's building on Howard Street. I had heard of TechShop before but never been to their place so it was a real treat to see a huge DIY workshop filled with everything that anyone would need to design and manufacture their products (in addition, if you have a great idea but don't know how to design/manufacture, they will teach you).

It's a membership organization and I don't exactly recall what the fee structure is other than remembering that it is incredibly affordable! They have other locations in the States  so if you aren't near San Francisco there might be one near you.  If you want to know more about TechShop click here.

Been quite a while since I've posted on my blog and feeling a bit rusty so I'm going to leave it at this. As usual I like to end my blogs with a music clip that is thematically related and it's been a real challenge on this one. Just can't think of any songs about "manufacturing" - this is as close as I got.  Like I said, I'm feeling a bit rusty.

Mind the Cap!

Over 25 years ago San Francisco voters passed Proposition M,  the purpose of which was to control the growth of large scale office buildings by placing a cap on how much could be developed each year - and thwart what some viewed then (and still do now) as the Manhattanization of the City. 
Basically, every year 875,000 square feet is allotted for the development of large scale office buildings.  To the extent less than this “cap”  is developed the unused amount carries forward. During the last recession the stockpile of square footage available for large scale office use grew to 5.1 million square feet. That was circa 2012 – two years later the stockpile has shrunk to about 2 million square feet. Currently,  per the Planning Department pipeline there are projects which cumulatively total nearly 7.5 million square feet.

So what does this all mean? It means that soon (a) the Planning Department will have to selectively choose those projects that will proceed (b) as long as demand keeps up office rents will continue to escalate (c) if office rents continue to escalate it will drive some businesses to locate outside the City.  And while demand for office space remains strong in San Francisco, the need for more residential development is strong too. Look, we only have about 49 square miles to play around with in the City.  Right now there are more companies that want to be here and more people who want to live here than can be accommodated.  

I’m always looking for solutions to problems and I might just have it! Did you know that what we now know as San Mateo County, or “the Peninsula” was until 1856 part of San Francisco? The reason for the split was due to the lawlessness, corruption and vigilantism had been escalating here. Well, I’m thinking now those problems have been solved it’s time to consider re-annexing San Mateo County.  By doing this we will have only just about doubled our resident population – but we will have expanded our land by almost ten-fold!  And then everyone will get to say that they live and work in San Francisco! And if the "cap" of which I speak doesn't interest you, never mind it. But you might want to Mind the Gap (band, that is)

If you're going to San Francisco

be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.. and if you are a Formula Retail business (in local parlance, a “chain store”) as defined by the San Francisco Planning Code intent upon opening a new outlet in any of the many Neighborhood Commercial Districts be prepared to: 

 

• wait 9 -12+ months as you wind your way though your way through the CUP (Conditional Use Permit) process after which you will know if you can open your store or not (this of course assumes you have even found a space that suits you - retail vacancies in San Francisco are in the low single digits);
• budget tens of thousands of dollars on local architect services, community outreach providers, expediters and lawyers who will shepherd you through the process;
• have a strategy (and budget) to demonstrate how your company will prove to be a good community member;
• and of course, have a knowledgeable commercial real estate broker who will help you understand what you should do vis-a-vis negotiating your lease agreement and  serve as an "orchestra conductor" of sorts to keep all the parties involved in sync with your time-line and strategy, 

After more than a year of economic impact study, focus groups, community meetings and public hearings, last week in a 5-2 vote the Planning Commission voted to approve a modified Planning Department proposal to amend the Section 703.3 of the San Francisco Planning Code. The next step towards adoption of code changes are a Land Use Committee hearing and a vote by the Board of Supervisors. Changes to the current code are a certainty and likely to be signed into law as early as September.

Expected Changes:

• at present a business is deemed to be Formula Retail if it has "11 or more outlets in the United States". All indications are that this will be re-defined as "19 or more outlets anywhere in the world";
•  the expansion of the definition of Formula Retail business-type categories to include personal/business services (e.g. fitness centers);
• more economic impact studies required for Large-Scale retail (i.e. over 50,000 sf);
• the inclusion of more turf which will become subject to the Formula Retail/CUP process;
• signage/facade regulations/review.

The arguments "for" and "against" more/less restrictions are many - and many on each side have validity in terms of doing the right thing for the City's character, the quality of life for those who live here and the economy. To name a few:  ensuring the uniqueness that has made San Francisco a "world-class" city; protecting local businesses; giving citizens access especially to "daily use" needs at more affordable prices; creating more jobs; keeping retail rents in check; not stifling the introduction of new international concepts into the States where San Francisco is a logical launch-pad.

While the rules are complicated, often ambiguous and certainly vexing I look at it this way - for better or worse San Francisco is a "city-state" - like a Monaco, Macao or Brunei in today's world - or a Venice, Pisa or Genoa in past days.  So if you are thinking of coming to San Francisco - you need to know how to play by its rules - or not play at all. Wearing flowers in your hair is optional. 

 

Sacramento Street is (all-caps) ALIVE !

I took a stroll up my high-street last Saturday morning and was quite gratified to see it bustling with activity as the Sacramento Street merchants were preparing for the annual street fair. It was perfect San Francisco weather, everyone was setting up their outdoor stalls, accompanied by live music (in store; and even a piano from inside a VW bus!).

It was now more than several years ago that I was having  my hair cut at David Oliver's. David was a London-to-San Francisco transplant and as I had spent a good part of my youth in London in the Swinging '70's he and I I always shared fun memories of  London at that time - Kings Road, The Chelsea Drugstore, Granny Takes a Trip, World's End, The Speakeasy.

That particular day, David and I were mulling over the Sacramento Street "state-of-the-economy". Rents were high and business was down. I held the notion that a bit of self-promotion would help. I asked David why there wasn't a merchants association and he told me that a few years prior they made another attempt but it petered out. So we talked about how to revive it and I did a bunch of outreach and pulled together a group of nearly 50 Sacramento Street merchants to give it another try. And we did. And it lasted for a little while - but once again it didn't hold for reasons which don't bear going into now.

Traci, Ross & Huckleberry

Expressin' myself!

It's been ages since I've blogged and it's not for lack of things I'd like to blog about. It's for lack of time. But I'm making the time to blog about one of my favorite local organizations, SFMADE, which is dedicated to the supporting the growth of our local manufacturing sector - though helping manufacturers with business plans, finding production space and advocating on their behalf with our local government and business community. And what local talent we have as was evident at the SFMADE annual "Ramp It Up" event which took place on Wednesday at the San Francisco Design Center Galleria.

There must have been over 500 in attendance which is about the same number of local companies that SFMADE supports including these.

It's been years since we've had a strong manufacturing base in the City (and that is true in many cities nationwide). Times have changed and now our local economy is heavily weighted towards hospitality, tourism, tech, finance and related services - and while that surely helps keeps us chugging along I advocate for a more diversified economy where personal expression has a stronger foothold. And so, for the sake of a diversified economy, for the sake the character that personal expression brings I am big on SFMADE and want to spread the word! So "listen up"