Helping local businesses survive COVID-19
“The resourcefulness and dedication of the Port Labs team allowed us to reach businesses in need in our community, and get them the support they needed at a critical time.”
As global manufacturers were able to respond to the increased need for PPE for medical and frontline workers, we recognized that community manufacturing of PPE was no longer a need. Understanding the needs of existing businesses, we put our energy into supporting the needs of our local small business community. Others were working to help businesses apply for relief grants, but we didn’t see any coordinated effort to source and distribute expensive supplies that small businesses need, and to educate business owners and workers about how to minimize risk of COVID-19 transmission.
We worked with Oakland Frontline Healers, a grassroots collaboration of more than 30 organizations providing services in the least-resourced communities in our city. Our team represented the needs of small business, and our mission in this collaboration was to provide services to the businesses most in need, and least able to access the things they needed.
In 2020 and 2021, we provided kits of valuable and scarce cleaning supplies, masks, regulatory-compliant signage, and easy-to-understand information for staff and customers. We created a web clearinghouse for Frontline Healers of information related to business operations that sorted through the confusing layers of recommendations and regulations, and presented them all in one place, with links back to authoritative sources. We surveyed these businesses about the impact of COVID-19 on their operations. We provided referrals to other support the businesses needed - to help access grant and loan programs, to negotiate leases, and to think through how to navigate their businesses through this sea change that would clearly change everything for them.
We reached over 125 businesses, distributed tens of thousands of dollars worth of supplies, and provided referrals for more than 75 businesses to get them the additional support they were asking for.