The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated much of our lives here in Western New York throughout 2020. It is easy to scroll through the news and find a litany of things that perk up the collective seasonal depression, but more prudent, are the stories of our resiliency and love for our communities throughout Greater Western New York.
Buy Black Buffalo
Small businesses across WNY have banded together in many ways to stay open throughout this difficult time. “Buy Black Buffalo”, a new community initiative with the full support of Mayor Byron Brown has hit the ground running. During this holiday season, where most everyone is shopping for gifts and supplies for the holidays, supporting local Black businesses is a perfect way to keep your hard earned, and in my case, stretched-tissue-paper-thin, money within our community.
Instead of tapping the Amazon app on your phone, click here to find what you need and in doing so, support local black-owned businesses to keep our economy running and money earned in Buffalo, in Buffalo. Mayor Brown said
“…I invite residents and visitors to experience some of Buffalo’s best retail, professional services, restaurants and cultural spaces owned by Black entrepreneurs”
Mayor Byron Brown
Times Are Tough
When the pandemic started and then began to take hold of the country, the US Senate signed the CARES act to help bail out unemployed individuals with extra weekly unemployment benefits, and PPP loans to help small businesses with payroll and other expenses. The problem that remained even with these initiatives, was that most small businesses, ones that have ten or fewer employees, were not eligible or did not benefit from these programs. To keep hundreds of small businesses afloat in Western New York alone, more needed to be done.
A Helping Hand From the Gridiron
The financial strain has its grip on nearly everyone, but there are organizations and people in our community that, in their positions, have found it their responsibility to take care of their neighbors and demonstrate what can be done with some generosity and ingenuity.
Josh Norman of the Buffalo Bills has recently donated $25,000 of his own money to provide grants of $2,500 to small businesses in Buffalo called Buffalo Business Blitz.
Norman teamed up with the City of Buffalo to celebrate local small businesses and offer a lifeline to them in a grave time of need. Norman’s Starz24 Foundation centers around youth programs to enrich the lives of children in Buffalo through education and connection with their communities. Norman is calling on philanthropists and business leaders to donate and support local businesses through his organization Buffalo Blitz Starz24.
Believe In What Got You Here
Despite the struggle to survive, there has been a surge in new small businesses amidst the pandemic. According to the US census bureau, there has been “43.3 percent [increase] over the same period in 2019.” However, according to the New York Times, it is uncertain how much these numbers trade off with the closing of businesses, considering,
“the fact that about 28.8 percent of small businesses were closed for good as of mid-November, compared with the start of the year.”
Opportunity Insights, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization based at Harvard University.
The days of borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor are not over. It’s a trite metaphor, but this is exactly the type of community that has allowed businesses to thrive through difficult times in Western New York. Buffalo is a “small town” and word travels fast.
In This Together
The world of business is competitive to the point of being cut-throat, but each business is different from the next. Collaborating the skillsets of multiple businesses raises awareness and improves the overall public function of business. What we do at Bean Media Productions is exactly that. We work with many small to medium sized businesses, but we also ARE ONE.
“We know full well what it takes to make it through a pandemic and we are damn proud of what both our team, and our clients were able to do to come together and endure such a tremendously challenging time.”
Jer Mountain – Director of Marketing, Bean Media Productions, Inc
We produce innovative advertising content and strategy for businesses to tap into new markets, grow their current business, and serve long-standing, and brand new clients through video production, ad design, social media presence. As a Google partner, we have had the opportunity to serve the Western New York community, and aid businesses in their expansions to the national and international markets through advertising.
Every brand or company has different needs right now, but everyone could use a hand.
The reality is some Businesses are closing. The strong will survive. New ideas and new companies will form from the ashes of 2020. If you need a hand with your digital marketing, we are here to help!