Title
Authorizing the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development to hold public hearings on the process of starting a microbusiness or pop-up shop in Philadelphia, and on how the City can streamline that process so more microbusinesses grow into small businesses.
Body
WHEREAS, Every small business in Philadelphia starts somewhere, and for many it starts at a folding table at a craft fair. A weekend booth at a holiday market. A food cart on a corner. For many Philadelphians, that is the only way in; and
WHEREAS, A microbusiness is generally understood to mean a business with fewer than ten employees and modest annual revenue, often operating without a permanent storefront.
WHEREAS, Council has heard directly from microbusiness owners that the path from a folding table to a storefront is harder than it should be, and that the cost of trying often piles up before a single dollar comes in. A vendor signing up for a curated market in Philadelphia frequently pays both an application fee and a separate entry or booth fee, on top of whatever City paperwork they still owe; and
WHEREAS, There are curated markets in Philadelphia that handle the process well, and while further improvements can be made, Council should learn from them. Christmas Village at Dilworth Park and LOVE Park, supported by the Department of Commerce's own Christmas Village Market Grant, the Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market, and seasonal art crawls across the City all show what a clear, predictable, and vendor-friendly path looks like; and
WHEREAS, A microbusiness that survives that first year is often the small business of the next decade, and the City has both an economic and an equity interest in shortening the distance between the two; and
WHEREAS, Before Council writes new legislation, we should hear from the agencies that administer the current process, the market organizers who have made it work, and the business owners who deal with all of it; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development is authorized to hold public hearings on the licensing, permitting, and market-access process for microbusinesses and pop-up shops in Philadelphia, and on what the City can do to make that process simpler, more affordable, and more navigable for the smallest entrepreneurs.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Committee invite testimony from the Department of Commerce, the Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement, the other City departments involved in small business licensing, the organizers of curated markets operating in the City, small business support organizations, and microbusiness and pop-up owners themselves.
End