Assemblymember Ron Kim and Rise Now Inc. announced the official launch of their Flushing Small Business Clinic. A free weekly initiative to support local small businesses and entrepreneurs, it will be led by Rise Now and hosted at the Assemblymember’s district office every Tuesday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The program will offer multilingual individualized financial counseling, and also educate aspiring entrepreneurs on how to navigate legal and regulatory hurdles.
Assemblymember Kim stated that Flushing was New York City’s fourth-largest central business district, with the most foot traffic outside of Manhattan. As one of the premier financial hubs of Queens (with an estimated $17 billion in deposits across forty bank branches),its status as a major economic center deserved greater recognition, he said, but a lack of adequate reinvestment in the community, unequal access to opportunities for low-income neighborhoods, and language or cultural barriers have hindered its potential. The small business clinic pilot would be a chance to provide greater resources to local merchants, including immigrant entrepreneurs, and offer more opportunities to underserved, low-income New Yorkers.
Rise Now is a local non-profit that works to educate and provide assistance to underserved communities, support small businesses with appropriate resources and capital, and deliver equitable developmental services to uplift economically distressed communities. Chris Kui, President of Rise Now, and Siu Kwan Chan, its Managing Director of Programs, encouraged the community to take advantage of this opportunity, and suggested small business owners contact Assemblymember Kim’s district office to make an appointment. The main requirements, they said, are that applicants must either be current small business owners in Flushing or those who with concrete plans to open a small business in Flushing. New Yorkers who already received help from Rise Now, including local business owners like Su Ming Li, Heddrick McBride and Wei Chao Zhang, spoke at the announcement about the support they received from the organization.
Assemblyman Ron Kim, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development, said, “I am excited to announce that my office will be starting a small business clinic with Rise Now to help local mom-and-pop owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in Flushing. We share a vision of a more inclusive system with fairer and more equitable access to opportunities, we want to do all that we can to build towards that Future. That is why we are launching this pilot program, and I urge any small business owners who think this program might help them to contact my district office to make an appointment.”
Chris Kui, President of Rise Now Inc., said “My team and I have dedicated our lives to helping underserved communities, and ensuring equitable access to financial and economic opportunities is a core part in the work that we do. We look forward to partnering with Assemblymember Kim’s office to expand the services of Rise Now, and to help even more New Yorkers reach their goals of financial independence.”
