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Providing legal and municipal policy support to legacy businesses.
Legal Advice and Assistance
Legacy business owners face a changing legal landscape that has grown more complex over their tenure. Since many business owners rent their buildings, they often need advice on lease terms, rent protection issues, or renegotiation. Those who own may need help with title issues or protections against predatory development or buyouts. Because of the complexities involved, legal advice or assistance is not currently offered directly through any legacy business program. Instead, it is referenced and made available to legacy business owners through other small business programs in the host cities.
San Francisco Legacy Business Program
The San Francisco Legacy Business program is run through the city’s Office of Small Business. That office has connections to nonprofit legal partners whom they refer their legacy business owners to for assistance with lease or ownership issues.
Case in point.
Assistance with Municipal Process and Policy
Navigating municipal government processes, policies, and programs can be a difficult task even for those who work there, let alone legacy business owners. Dealing with permitting and licensing can be a formidable and time-consuming task for a legacy business owner. Older neighborhoods and buildings, where legacy businesses often reside, often do not comply with current or evolving zoning standards. Many municipalities are more interested in redevelopment or attracting new businesses than supporting legacy operations, making contacts or assistance difficult to find. If the legacy business is in a historic building or district, the business owner faces additional layers of historic preservation regulations and compliance. Now add the complications of accessibility—digital literacy issues, or language and cultural barriers for BIPOC and immigrant legacy business owners—and many municipal tasks seem overwhelming.
Legacy business owners focused on keeping their businesses open often lack the time or understanding needed to work with their municipalities. This is why several legacy business programs provide dedicated assistance to these owners. Be sure and check with your local municipality to see if there is a municipal outreach program or community engagement process that can be leveraged for legacy business owners. Even better, identify a dedicated contact who can assist or make connections for business owners in your program. These contacts are often provided through a municipal program or, more commonly, through local Economic Development Offices (EDOs) which can be a government office, quasi-government organization, or nonprofit that advise local businesses on municipal processes and procedures. Be sure and establish these local connections and provide a contact for your legacy business owners.
Los Angeles Legacy Business Program
One of the benefits to business owners in the Los Angeles Legacy Business Program is dedicated assistance for navigating the complexities of the city’s bureaucracy. Online resources are also available in several languages. The goal is to promote better owner engagement with the city’s business support system, help businesses through more complex processes, and provide access to the city’s procurement programs. A program like this may already exist for small businesses in your municipality, so look for potential partnerships to help your owners.