Earlier this week San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee challenged large companies to increase their local purchasing by at least 5%. At the same time he announced the creation of SF Biz Connect to connect small businesses to them.
“SF Biz Connect challenges businesses to look to their neighbors when making purchasing decisions and to buy local,” said Mayor Lee. “San Francisco is home to more than 90,000 registered businesses and counting, and supporting small businesses by shifting spending doesn’t cost a thing, but makes a big difference to a small business’ bottom line. We encourage our residents to shop local year round, and now SF Biz Connect will help businesses shop local, too.”
Large businesses, including Google and the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, have already made a commitment to support SF Biz Connect.
Bookseller response to the campaign, as reported by Bookselling This Week, has been positive. “For the first time, the city is actually acknowledging there are some real benefits in supporting local small businesses, so for us it was really good news,” said Northern California Independent Booksellers Association executive director Hut Landon, who is also cofounder and executive director of the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance.
Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books and cofounder of SFLOMA said that “small businesses in San Francisco have been asked for a lot: mandatory health insurance for employees, mandatory sick leave, mandatory commuter checks.” But, he added, the effects of the SF Biz Connect initiative could help small businesses tackle some of these new challenges.
