Creative Promotional Efforts to Support Sandy-impacted Businesses in NYC

Over 13,000 businesses in New York City were impacted by Superstorm Sandy in late October 2013. “Many have heroically picked up the pieces and have reopened”. Below are two initiatives by economic development organization in NYC to highlight these rebuilding efforts and encourage New Yorkers and tourists to support impacted businesses which are a vital part of the city’s recovery effort.
  • New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) in cooperation with other city partners has helped to assist local businesses with financial assistance, temporary work space, business counseling, and other services. Recently, they launched a project to interview small business owners across Lower Manhattan, Coney Island, Far Rockaway and Red Hook to share their stories in “getting back to business”. These stories are awe-inspiring - full of grit and determination by business owners to re-open or begin the process of reopening. Watch this audio slide show and pass along these inspiring stories to others.
  • The City of New York’s Department of Small Businesses Services has also kicked off Support NYC Small Business, a new promotional campaign to encourage shopping in New York City neighborhoods hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. Partnering with Yelp, they’ve launched an interactive website and promotional ads to drive shoppers to local businesses. Click here to visit the interactive map. Yelp will feature links to help drive NYC users to the Support NYC Small Business interactive map and lists of businesses that have been impacted by Sandy by neighborhood. To learn more, visit the Yelp Build Back! webpage at this link.
If you know of other examples of similar promotional efforts, please send them to [email protected].