SBS's Bernadette Nation

It was 11 p.m. one Sunday when a water main broke two doors down from the Remy Lounge on Greenwich Street. The fire department was forced to shatter one of the toilets in the restaurant's bathroom to allow the flood water to subside, but the kitchen had already been destroyed. For owner Edwin Batiz, the only thing making the bad situation better was a business card printed with the name and number of one Ms. Bernadette Nation.

Batiz placed a call to Nation, director of the City Business Assistance/Emergency Response unit of the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), and Nation was on the case immediately. "Everyone down here knows that Bernadette is the one to call," Batiz says. "She gets things done, right now." And that's just what Nation and her SBS team, who are on call 24 hours a day to help small businesses citywide deal with emergencies, sets out to do.

Diving in as soon as she got the call, Nation did what she does so often for small businesses in an emergency. She helped ameliorate the effects of the disaster by serving as a liaison to city service agencies, state insurance departments, and utility companies.

In the days that followed, when the street was torn up to repair damage caused by the water main break, she helped get signs posted to let customers know that the businesses on the block were still open. And in Batiz's case, she was even able to help secure a $1,000 grant. Although just a fraction of the estimated $20,000 worth of damage, as Batiz explains, "every little bit helps."

Although many of the programs established to help downtown small businesses in the aftermath of 9/11 have ended, that's far from the case at SBS. In fact, Nation's is just one of several divisions of the agency set up to meet the needs of these businesses. In a series of articles over the next several weeks, LowerManhattan.info will help you get better acquainted with all that the department has to offer. 

Help Dealing with Emergencies -- and Everyday Issues, Too

As Batiz can attest, Nation's team at SBS is the one to call when emergencies arise. But they don't only deal with crises. Another important component of Nation's work is assisting small businesses when they have problems with the delivery of city services or utilities or when they're having trouble with city service agencies themselves.

When Mayor Michael Bloomberg was elected to office two and half years ago, small businesses became a major focal point for city government. The then Department of Business Services (DBS) was dramatically restructured, even taking on a new name. 

Commissioner Robert Walsh was appointed to head the agency in January 2002, just before it was rechristened the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), and given an unequivocal mandate. "Since day one, Mayor Bloomberg has made it clear that small businesses are the chief engine of growth in New York." Walsh says. "It is SBS' business to be responsive to their needs."

As Nation remembers it, one of the first things the mayor and commissioner did was to reach out to the city's small businesses in an effort to better understand exactly what their needs were. Among their discoveries, she says, was that many small businesses found it hard to navigate government. "We're here to help with that," she says.

Take for example the owner of a small Laundromat, accustomed to a $250 monthly water bill, who suddenly gets an erroneous statement saying he or she owes $250,000. "That's a pretty serious issue for a business owner to have," Nation says. "We would act as a liaison to help resolve it." Stepping in to determine who to call and how to get to the bottom of the problem, Nation allows the business owner to attend to the business.

Batiz praises the change: "Before, when we had problems, we didn't know who to contact," he says. "Now, if I have an issue I have someone to call in the city who can give me direction."

Edwin Batiz, owner of Remy Lounge

Nation and her team also help educate business owners about how to stay in compliance with whatever regulations apply to their particular business -- from parking to sanitation to construction.

Often, this means helping them understand just what the city rules and regulations actually are. "I didn't know" is usually the small business owner's first response when found to be in violation of a city regulation, Nation explains. "So let's educate the business owner first before we enforce," she concludes, matter-of-factly.

She's done precisely that more times than she can count in her nine years on the job. For instance, businesses are prohibited from throwing waste into the gutters. But in Lower Manhattan's Chinatown, where many sidewalk vendors sell fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat, not everyone was aware of the regulation. So since 1998, Nation has hosted educational forums in Chinatown to help businesses stay in compliance with the law.

The forums, which include city, state, and federal officials, have been so effective that Nation uses the same method throughout the city.

Nation hosts forums to educate Chinatown businesses

Nation and her team also respond to grievances small business owners have regarding the enforcement of certain city rules. One frequent complaint is that excessive parking enforcement makes it difficult for delivery trucks to unload. In these instances, Nation dispatches a member of her team to visually assess the situation and to substantiate the business owner's complaint.

When she finds a complaint to be valid -- and she says there have been instances of delivery truck drivers walking 200 feet to purchase a parking stamp from the nearest municipal meter, only to find a summons already placed on their windshields upon return -- she steps in to solve the problem. "We set up meetings between business owners, traffic enforcement officers, DOT" to ensure that necessary traffic enforcement procedures don't impede a business's ability to operate effectively, Nation says. In some cases, these meetings have helped establish commercial truck loading zones where before none existed.

"Business owners first look at us with disbelief and suspicion," Nation acknowledges with a laugh. "They're often surprised to learn that there's actually an agency designed to help them understand the rules and regs."

Remy Lounge's Batiz concurs. His dealings with Nation and SBS far precede the water main break of a few months ago; she's helped him with day-to-day matters as often as she's come through for him in emergencies. Batiz remembers a time when he says Con Edison came in and shut off his gas without providing proper notification. "I called her right away, she made a few phone calls, and they fixed it right away…. Bernadette is truly priceless -- no one else would give us that attention."

Remy Lounge is located at 104 Greenwich Street

Quick to underscore the fact that she's not a one-woman show but in fact helped by a team of people, Nation nonetheless accepts the praise. In fact, it's responses like Batiz's that make her love her job. "I really love what I do because I get to help people and I meet interesting people all day long."

Perhaps you'll be the next small business owner Nation and her team get to help?

For more information on SBS's City Business Assistance/Emergency Response unit, please click here, or call 311 or (212) NEW-YORK from outside NYC, and ask for "NYC Business Solutions."