整個(gè)紐約市的小企業(yè)都感受到了“困境”
New York City has many small businesses, but a business expert says city government often hasn’t a clue about their problems.
紐約市有很多小企業(yè),但一位商業(yè)專家表示,市政府往往對(duì)這些小企業(yè)的問題一無(wú)所知。
According to Thomas Grech, executive director of the Queens County Chamber of Commerce, “The city doesn’t get the challenges of small businesses, such as paying a minimum $15-an-hour wage. It just thinks of small businesses as something to tax.”
據(jù)昆士縣商會(huì)執(zhí)行主任托馬斯·格雷奇(ThomasGrech)稱,“該市沒有遇到小企業(yè)的挑戰(zhàn),比如支付最低每小時(shí)15美元的工資。它只是把小企業(yè)看作是要征稅的對(duì)象。”
The problem, Grech added, is that most city officials have never run a business and have no understanding of how it works.
格雷奇補(bǔ)充說(shuō),問題在于,大多數(shù)城市官員從未經(jīng)營(yíng)過(guò)企業(yè),也不了解企業(yè)是如何運(yùn)作的。
“They don’t know what it’s like to meet a payroll and how to pay exorbitant medical costs.” He lamented that small businesses don’t have the lobbying power to organize.
“他們不知道支付工資和支付高昂的醫(yī)療費(fèi)用是什么感覺。”他哀嘆小企業(yè)沒有組織游說(shuō)的權(quán)力。
Dr. Nabil Salib, a doctor who recently established the myDoc Urgent Care Center in Forest Hills, said that “lower taxes and rents” are needed. The city, he added, should also promote low-interest business loans.
最近在Forest Hills建立了myDoc緊急護(hù)理中心的醫(yī)生Nabil Salib博士說(shuō),需要“降低稅收和租金”。他補(bǔ)充說(shuō),該市還應(yīng)促進(jìn)低息商業(yè)貸款。
The casualties keep coming. Metropolitan Pharmacy, a Queens stalwart, is closing its doors for good Monday after 40 years. Its owner, Ira Lisogorsky, blames regulatory and city policies, among other factors. Metropolitan’s demise comes about a year after the death of another popular Queens small business, Ben’s Best, a 73-year-old kosher deli in Rego Park.
受沖擊的小企業(yè)還在不斷增加。皇后區(qū)的中堅(jiān)力量大都會(huì)藥房(Metropolitan Pharmacy)在開業(yè)40年后,將永遠(yuǎn)關(guān)閉。其所有者Ira Lisogorsky將其歸咎于監(jiān)管和城市政策等因素。大都會(huì)百貨的倒閉發(fā)生在皇后區(qū)另一家頗受歡迎的小企業(yè)Ben 's Best倒閉一年后。Ben 's Best是Rego Park一家73歲的猶太熟食店。
Ben Best’s owner Jay Parker said the city’s new traffic plans hurt his business, reducing Queens Boulevard parking spots by 200 and creating more bike lanes but also making it difficult for elderly customers to get to Ben’s.
本•貝斯特的老板杰伊•帕克(Jay Parker)說(shuō),紐約市的新交通計(jì)劃損害了他的生意,現(xiàn)在皇后大道的停車位減少了200個(gè),取而代之的是更多的自行車道,這就使得老年人很難到達(dá)本的停車場(chǎng)。
City officials defended the changes, saying the area had many buses and subways.
市政府官員為這些改變進(jìn)行了辯護(hù),稱該地區(qū)有許多公共汽車和地鐵。
Asked about Metropolitan Pharmacy’s plight, a city official said the city does care about small businesses.
當(dāng)被問及大都會(huì)藥房的困境時(shí),一位市政府官員表示,該市確實(shí)關(guān)心小企業(yè)。
The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) says the city has some 230,000 small businesses, defined as an establishment of 125 employees or less. An SBS spokeswoman said commercial rents and the growth of e-commerce are the biggest reasons small businesses fail.
紐約市小企業(yè)服務(wù)部(SBS)表示,紐約市擁有約23萬(wàn)家小企業(yè),即125名或更少的雇員。SBS的一位發(fā)言人說(shuō),商業(yè)租金和電子商務(wù)的增長(zhǎng)是小企業(yè)倒閉的最大原因。
“We want small businesses to survive,” she said, adding that SBS launched a Web portalspecifically to help small businesses.
她說(shuō):“我們希望小企業(yè)能夠生存下去。”她補(bǔ)充說(shuō),SBS推出了一個(gè)專門幫助小企業(yè)的Web門戶。
Among the services SBS officials offer is a commercial lease program connecting small business owners with free legal services with a dedicated attorney. The free legal services include help negotiating a lease, resolving landlord issues, responding to an eviction notice and negotiating a lease renewal, SBS officials said.
SBS官員提供的服務(wù)中包括一個(gè)商業(yè)租賃項(xiàng)目,該項(xiàng)目為小型企業(yè)所有者提供免費(fèi)法律服務(wù),并由一名專職律師提供服務(wù)。SBS官員表示,這些免費(fèi)的法律服務(wù)包括幫助協(xié)商租約、解決房東問題、回復(fù)驅(qū)逐令以及協(xié)商續(xù)約。
These services are designed “to reduce the burden of bureaucracy and promote equity of access for the city’s over 230,000 small businesses,” said SBS Commissioner Gregg Bishop.
SBS專員GreggBishop表示,這些服務(wù)旨在“減輕官僚主義的負(fù)擔(dān),促進(jìn)該市23萬(wàn)多家小企業(yè)的公平準(zhǔn)入”。
City officials said that among the various help services for small business that can be found through its SBS portal are a network of seven NYC Business Solutions centers across the five boroughs, which offer free business courses in multiple languages.
市政府官員說(shuō),可以通過(guò)SBS門戶網(wǎng)站找到的各種小型企業(yè)幫助服務(wù)中,有一個(gè)由紐約市五個(gè)行政區(qū)的七個(gè)商業(yè)解決方案中心組成的網(wǎng)絡(luò),提供多種語(yǔ)言的免費(fèi)商業(yè)課程。
The centers feature instruction in marketing, social media strategies, e-commerce and Web site fundamentals to help small businesses better market themselves in today’s economy.
該中心提供營(yíng)銷、社交媒體戰(zhàn)略、電子商務(wù)和網(wǎng)站基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)方面的指導(dǎo),幫助小企業(yè)在當(dāng)今經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)下更好地營(yíng)銷自己。