- Hi, I'm Dennis Wilson.

At Delta Dental, we're committed to educating the public, including the small business community, about the importance of oral health and its connection to overall wellbeing.

That's why we're proud to support programming produced by the Caucus Educational Corporation.

- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of Think Tank with Steve Adubato has been provided by Delta Dental of New Jersey.

NJM Insurance Group.

PSE&G.

TD Bank.

Holy Name Medical Center.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

Choose New Jersey.

And by United Airlines.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ, informing and connecting businesses in New Jersey.

And by NJ.Com, keeping communities informed and connected.

[MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC] - Folks, welcome to a compelling program, all about small business.

Catch this title, see if you like it.

Small business makes a big difference.

You don't need me to tell you that.

You know that because we rely on small business all the time and it's no secret that this COVID crisis, as we do this 14 months into the crisis, into this global pandemic, so many small businesses are suffering.

Many of them have closed and to have a meaningful discussion we brought together the A team.

You hear that a lot in cable news but this is actually true here on public television, Michele Siekerka, President and CEO New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

Welcome Michele.

- Thanks, Steve.

Great to be with you again.

- You got it.

Next we have Jim Kirkos, President and CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Kirkos, you're in the house.

- Always good to be with you, Steve, happy to be here.

- Welcome from the Meadowlands.

And also Marjorie Perry.

President, CEO of MZM Construction & Management.

Marjorie, You good?

- I'm good, Steve.

Thank you for having me.

- You got it and finally, and by the way, those are three veterans.

We have someone with us for the first time Rana Shanawani.

- You got it.

Rana Shanawani is Executive Director of a terrific organization called the Women's Center for Entrepreneurship, Rana, since you are new with us, I'm going to start with you.

As we tape this program, as we go into May, 2021 it will be seen a little bit after, how would you describe quote the state of small business in the state of New Jersey?

- I think that the state of small businesses, specifically micro businesses where we focus is definitely in crisis.

We have seen so many businesses close their doors completely, probably permanently and we are doing our best, as the Women's Center.

We're a small business resource partner.

So we are a part of the Small Business Administration field officers you could say.

And so we help them all to do anything we can to keep their businesses open.

So for example, applying for PPP, EIDL grants, pivoting their businesses, anything we can do we are on the front line trying to help them.

And they are definitely in crisis.

- Marjorie, let me ask you this, by the way, Marjorie and Jim are members of our Board of Trustees.

Just want to welcome them on that level and acknowledge that.

Marjorie, let me ask you something.

Your colleague just talks about federal government help PPE, et cetera, et cetera, PPP excuse me.

How would you describe the level of support from the federal and then the state government to small businesses?

Marjorie, and then I'll go all the way around.

- There's two answers to that, first answer if you were ready with banking relationships for PPP you were able to kind of get through the process.

- By the way, disclosure, we did our not-for-profit.

- That's right.

- Not a small business, but we were part of that.

I just wanted to.

- Right, so those banking relationships mattered when this pandemic hit, that's for sure.

No matter what your size was.

This part two is that a lot of your smaller businesses weren't ready for any type of downturn that severe.

So at the end of the day, they were scrambling and in order to pivot, you have to have cash flow coming in.

When they're saying your business right now is not essential.

So that was the tip of this of what happened.

So now you have small businesses who are trying to backtrack and bring revenue on.

Let's say they may have had two or three months of money to even operate before the pandemic.

Now you're hit with you don't even know when you can go back to work.

So that's two part answer to that question.

- Comprehensive and meaningful as always Michele jump in.

- Let me just start by saying that as we sit here today we are more than one third less small business across the state of New Jersey than we were in January of 2020.

Let me repeat that.

We have a third less small businesses here in the state of New Jersey than we did in January of 2020.

That is powerful.

That is impactful.

And that says something and it is those Main Street businesses that are the most crushed and hardest hit.

Steve I like how you opened up.

Let me just say, I say all the time great businesses make great communities.

And especially those Main Street businesses is what creates a community, how they give back, right?

So it isn't just the business directly themselves that is impacted, which is devastating enough.

It is the community that surrounds that business that is impacted as well.

- You know, Jim, in my hometown of Montclair there's so many small businesses, there's a small delicatessen.

And I, again, it's unfair to mention one, but there's a a little Watchung Plaza in town.

There's a delicatessen had been there forever high school kids in Montclair High School.

Our son goes there, and it was there for us.

And literally a few months into this, I'm walking going in there, masked up, and it boarded up.

Over 50 years.

How, I mean, Michele talked about how devastating it is, but from the, in your area the Meadowlands area, when that happens talk about the impact it has, as Michele said quote, "on the community" and individuals in that community.

- The impact of that Steve is, is really incredible.

If you think about it, I, I don't want to agree with something that Marjorie said.

And unfortunately, businesses were not, especially the smaller businesses and Main Street businesses.

They weren't really prepared for obviously the length of time of this pandemic.

And so some of the people were just absolutely shell shocked and those Main Street businesses, some of which decided that they just didn't have the wherewithal mentally, financially to go through saving themselves in that business.

And they just decided to shut their doors.

And the impact on the community is huge because let's face it.

The individual small businesses are the ones that donate the Tricky Tray, they'd donate food to all the PTA events.

They're the sponsors of the soccer team and the baseball team and a high school band.

And all of those things, most of that is coming from small local businesses.

Our big companies are very supportive of communities in most ways, but it's those small as we know, and those small businesses are really impactful on the community side.

- Rana, let's push this a little bit further on women and minority owned businesses.

If the impact of COVID where we are as we taping right now, again, seen later if it's this devastating and Michele's numbers are right and I've seen the BA, the BIA numbers and others that are put out there.

One-third and it's unfortunately it'll likely grow if it's that bad across the board how much worse and or challenging is it?

Marjorie, I'll come to you from a minority and women owned businesses, Rana?

- So 41% of black owned businesses have been closed permanently.

So absolutely it is a higher percentage and that is because they have less access to all the resources that other business owners have.

And I think Marjorie hit the nail on the head in terms of being prepared, being prepared for the pandemic having those relationships with banks having all your documents in order a lot of that stuff was not available to minority owned businesses.

So yes, it has hit them really hard.

And I also wanted to bring about the concept of micro-entrepreneurs.

So really the solo entrepreneurs- - Micro-entrepreneurs.

- Micro-entrepreneurs so that is, it's a term that is important to put a spotlight on because when you say the word small sometimes that means 50 employees and less than seven, eight figure, figures for that business.

Micro-entrepreneurs typically has 10 employees and less and a lot of them are just solopreneurs.

It's just that army of one.

And so those people are supporting just themselves and their families and that has had an enormous impact as well.

And we try to focus on all of those, the micro-entrepreneurs and solopreneurs women and minority owned businesses.

- Hmm.

And Marjorie, you and I've had so many conversations over the years, both on and off about leadership about management we're students of it.

Right?

- Yes.

- We struggle with it.

We're entrepreneurs.

We run our own operation.

We have great teams behind us, but I've got to ask you as a business person, who's been through a lot.

How have you kept not only the bottom line but your own sanity?

- One of the things that you and I've also talked about that I've always done continuing education.

So I just finished graduating from the Harvard OPM program.

So one of the things that was really key for our business is that we keep retooling through learning.

And a lot of small businesses don't think that way they think, like my cleaners down the street in South Orange just closed.

Shoemakers have closed because that's not, they're thinking of doing that continue education- - To do what they do the way they do it.

- That's right.

- So what do you want me to do pivot Michele Siekerka says recovery is reinvention a shoemaker's going to reinvent?

I mean, a delicatessen is going to reinvent.

Maybe they could, I don't know.

Okay.

Pick up your point, Marjorie.

- So yeah, I've had three cleaners down the street close, cleaners, cleaners closed they're gone.

So I say all that to say is that, and you know, Steve.

You and I did a lot for, full disclosure at NJIT.

I'm always telling smaller businesses continue to do the learning and educating when things are good, put yourself in the class, make sure that you understand finance because here is a opportunity.

If we didn't have operational excellence at our moment of the pandemic, we would not have survived either.

So that is always been my messaging.

I will continue to do that until I retire.

I don't know what day that we'll be.

I'm looking forward to it one day.

- No time soon.

- Okay.

(Marjorie giggles) But at the end of the day, they couldn't pivot.

- That's right.

- And if you can't pivot, for any reason or let's just say, do you have a backup plan?

What is your continuity plan?

- Yeah.

- How many small businesses have a continuity plan?

They don't.

So that is, the lesson from that I'm hoping, I just did a project for Lincoln park the other day on teaching businesses how to have a business continuity plan.

What happens if, so even if they never use it, it's in the closet, you can pull it out and you can move forward.

So that's how we kept going.

- Yeah.

You are one of the things I say about leadership and our, particularly on our Lessons and Leadership show I do with our colleague, Mary Gamba is that the greatest leaders are lifelong learners.

And in that spirit, Michele Siekerka you have said, "Recovery is reinvention."

The question is, what exactly does reinvention mean?

Marjorie just laid it out as best she could, constant learning.

But what does it mean for this average small business person who's like, you want me to go to Harvard?

You want me to go to, you want me to, I can't afford it.

I can't do it.

I don't have the grants, I don't have loan, just let me do what I do.

Well, that's not, I hate to say this but it may not be good enough.

Michele?

- Yeah.

So look, this isn't a one size fits all.

Right?

- That's right.

When we say recovery is reinvention, it means you really have to look at your products and services and how you deliver it.

Number one, are your products and services relevant anymore.

Okay.

First challenge, might not be.

And if that's the case, okay.

Pivot, time to find a new product and service tweak your tweak, your manufacturing, if you will at its core, okay?

Because you need to create that new opportunity.

And that might mean, which is the biggest challenge here.

We need to up-skill.

And re-skill, that doesn't mean having necessarily to go to Harvard.

DOL does have a lot of opportunities- - Department of Labor.

- and programs, Department of Labor.

Yes.

And we are advocating tirelessly.

Jim knows, right?

We're working together with New Jersey Business Coalition and others to say, let's take that rescue money.

That's coming to New Jersey.

And let's put it into workforce development because we have many, many people who need to be re-skilled, up-skilled and retooled.

- Well said, I'm going to come, Rana, I'm going to come back to you and take a break.

And Jim, and I'll come back to you when we come back and I'll tell you why.

Let me just say this, this broadcast itself.

And I've said this before, but it's it's really appropriate we say this now.

Now we're a non-profit but we're a very entrepreneurial non-profit as our trustees know.

We would normally be at NJ PBS in the studio.

We would normally be at WNET in New York, at Lincoln center.

That's what normal is.

We are here because of a terrific team behind the scenes trying to figure out how we get it, right?

The sound, the look, the this, the that, that's pivoting, that's reinventing.

And none of it's easy.

And there's a lot of heartache and mistakes that get made but I don't see the other option is I'm tapping out.

That's really not an option for most of us.

So I'm sorry.

I'm off my soapbox.

We'll go to a break.

I promise I'll come back to you, Steve Adubato, small business.

Yeah, it does, makes a big difference.

We'll be right back.

To watch more Think Tank with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

Welcome back.

Talking about small business with a terrific panel, Jim Kirkos.

I'm going to come right back to you.

Jumped in, cause I know you have a point.

-The businesses that have the most trouble there, you know there's learning situations.

This is a case study in what in what Marjorie talked about in terms of business continuity, businesses need to be able to plan.

They need to have these relationships already pre-established, much of the work that we did as an organization early on in the process was showing small businesses how they needed to apply for the, for their PPP and walk them through the process.

I'm blown away by how many businesses were so inadequately prepared as successful as they were as business people that were inadequately prepared for the disaster.

They'd never thought about these types of situations.

So therefore, so therefore they weren't they weren't ready for this.

- But Jim, let me push back.

Rana, let me ask you this.

How does a business, I mean, look, we're, we've been successful.

We're struggling.

We're trying to figure it out.

We're in the game.

But to say that we were prepared for a global pandemic respectfully, Jim I can't say as a leader of our not-for-profit production company, I was prepared.

I started scrambling saying, what are our options?

But what does it actually mean?

Being prepared means having a banking relationship being prepared means knowing what grants and loans are out there but a lot of them were created after the pandemic.

But what else from your perspective Rana, does this being prepared mean, for small business?

- So going back to the point of micro businesses it means things like making sure that your paperwork is in order that your payroll was in order and simplest things as having making sure your business bank account isn't co-mingled with your personal bank account.

That was something that we ran into multiple times.

- Wait now, what?

- I don't understand.

Yes.

Yes, we have many - Explain that again.

We have many, many clients that had their business revenues mingled with their personal bank account.

So they didn't have a separate bank account where they could keep track of things.

- Wow.

- Then when it went, when it came time to submit paperwork for all the different options that were out there they were absolutely unprepared.

So we always say from day one, make sure you have all of that stuff in order, buttoned up and ready to go.

When you are submitting payroll, let's say some people you have a personal business.

They're just taking drawdowns straight from the bank.

They're not actually recording payroll specifically for themselves.

So they go to apply.

They're used, they're trying to use the schedule C. See some of them didn't have their schedule C prepared and things.

So it's things like that.

And I just want to go back to the point of education- - Real quick because we're going to clarify a Harvard thing in a about a second go ahead.

- Sure.

So we give tons and tons of classes for that basic micro entrepreneur all the way up to more advanced entrepreneurship.

And we're a nonprofit, we get big grants we cover all the costs of those classes.

So I just want to put that out there.

And plus we have one-on-one business counselors which can help with all of that stuff.

Marjorie, first of all clarify the Harvard thing they came after you, right?

- Yeah.

Well, I was selected as one of the fastest growing urban businesses in 2018.

And I talked to Michele about that as well.

And they said, why don't you apply for this OPM program and the gift of doing that level of program because there's great entrepreneurs programs.

You have SBDC you have this program that Rana, just talked about.

Michele's organization does a tremendous job with so there's a lot of places you can go.

But one of the gifts from the Harvard was that now you're sitting in a room with billionaires who are talking numbers all the time.

So it really makes you think way outside the box on operational excellence.

So not that we were super prepared but I had at least the information in the back of my mind that I could translate to our team so that when this came up, we could say, okay, take a minute.

What we do, we can write a business continuity plan.

Even if we didn't have one, we at least knew what that meant, a business continuity plan.

And then you can put things like that in place, because one of the things about the programs that I've taken around the state, they don't talk about that much about business continuity plans, - That's right.

- out of all the trainings.

I have never really talked about a business continuity plan.

So that was the Harvard experience two years, I'm with the best businesses around the world.

And so the huge takeaway from that is always being prepared and definitely having a business continuity plan - By the way, Michele, as we come back to you and there are institutions of higher learning in the state of New Jersey, - Hmm.

- No disrespect to the Ivy league.

And they came after Marjorie Perry.

That's wonderful, but we have some great institutions of higher learning that very much focused on small business.

Michele, I need to come back to you, technology and small business.

Talk about it.

- So two pieces, once again, first of all, again we continue to advocate for resources in order for businesses to retool.

This is that reinvention again, right?

How do you, many small businesses, they're lucky that they know how to operate the technological register that they have now which is probably some Apple product right?

Now giving them those delivery mechanisms systems that can help them in real time get more into the logistics and distribution, right?

It's going to help them because not as many people are physically coming into their retail establishment.

So we need to enable them with, with funds and capital to make those investments for the future.

The other side, going back to training is we need to train the workforce on higher level technology skills.

Dr. Joel Bloom from NJIT would tell you right now that we thought that we were going to be in 2024 for the type of skills that we're having to train for in time today, we've run out of time.

We need immediate certificate and certification credential programs to get this workforce ready to step into the next job.

And that job is available right now.

- And well said, by the way, Dr. Bloom is also a trustee of ours (Michele laughs) of our not-for-profit company, - You keep good company Steve.

- We really do and I need to do this.

There are so many businesses, big, small, whatever but I want to focus on small business right now.

For a small business owner or someone thinking about going in and creating their own small business with that entrepreneurial spirit who says something like this, Jim, I just want to wait for it to get back to normal.

- Well, there is no, there is no normal so there's a new normal.

And I want to, I just want to push back on or go back to one of the, one of the statements I made before and what I was trying to tell you, it was, it's a mindset.

The people that failed to do some of the business planning and an understanding were, were mostly, it was a mindset of people that were in business for a really long time that thought that their business just rolled.

And it was okay.

Your new entrepreneurs, they have a new they're innovative, they're disruptors.

They're, there's a new sense of how to go about being in business.

But people that have been in business for 10, 15, 20 years in a bakery, in a hair salon some of these Main Street businesses they've been doing it so long.

They've reached a certain level of success.

They come to work every day, the door opens their customers come in every day and all of a sudden they didn't and they didn't know it.

So they didn't have the mindset to even think about what it takes to do the business continuity planning that Marjorie is talking about and even understand where to turn.

And so, so that's something that we need to, that we really need to think back and address.

It's a, it's definitely a case study for what, what not, what not to happen again in the future.

The newest of entrepreneurs, Steve are, are keen, right?

And they're sharp and, and people like Marjorie and myself and Rana and Michele are helping members and businesses to be keenly aware of the things that are necessary as they, as they prepare to go into- - In the time that we have left.

This is such an important point.

And a lot of the leadership coaching that I do and and Marjorie knows it.

And Michele and Jim, we've all worked on those things.

I have this expression, as mantra, and trust me I won't get on a soapbox, but it's the status quo is absolutely never, ever an option and people, a lot of people push back on that.

And so what do you mean it's not an option.

I'm really good at what I do.

In fact, I'm the best in the marketplace at what I do.

And that's what I want to do.

I'm going to do it, but I'm going to be the best this, the best that, and I respect and understand that.

But the obvious problem, and COVID only bears it out is what happens if you open up the door to the bakery or the shoemaker or the cleaner or the delicatessen and the world changes, but there's a point here but you can't be Rana, everything to everyone.

So how the heck can you be really good at what you do but accept that the status quo is never an option.

You have to keep innovating, Rana please?

- Very critical information.

And to be able to continue to pivot and change it's important to do thought partnering with other people.

You can come to so many nonprofits all over the state that can help with that, including the Women's Center.

And by the way, we help men as well.

So we have, we have groups where all we do is sit and brainstorm and then connect you with the resource that can help you to execute that change.

So please reach out to all of us, to all of our nonprofits.

All of us are here to help you and to help you thrive and survive during COVID.

- Marjorie status quo, not an option.

Go ahead - Not an option.

And I always say that there is plenty of programs to get trained and retooled on.

You've got Rutgers.

You have NJIT, you have VentureLink.

There's no reason when you start a business, you have SCORE with the SBA.

There's no reason because we tell people we tell people all the time, listen, take these classes but you can't take them to the water and they don't drink it.

So they have to understand that we're in a loop of constant change.

And therefore you have to continue to update your mindset.

- Michele change is not an option.

It's a must.

Go.

- Oh, absolutely.

Great leaders and great organizations are always aspiring to be the next best iteration of themselves.

It's a destination.

It's a journey, not a destination, right?

And so in this dynamic world that we live in.

Look, we are in the quote-unquote, "New normal, now."

If you're not reinventing in this moment in time, no one's walking in two weeks from now flipping a switch and saying, Hey world, guess what?

It's post COVID.

There's no such thing.

This is it, folks.

This is it.

- Jim Kirkos, final word.

I'm telling you.

I'm telling our business members get comfortable being uncomfortable because that's - That's my other word Jim, you stole that.

- So being uncomfortable- - I think I stole it from you.

Go ahead.

- being uncomfortable (Steve laughs lightly) is going to get businesses to be sharp and to be thinking creative and be thinking about what this new normal is all about.

- You know, Jim Kirkos said it so well.

No one likes hearing get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

No one likes hear, hearing the status quo, you love what you're doing is not an option but I will tell you the other one that I, you know innovate or die.

Sorry.

I mean, it's, I didn't make the rules.

I just know what they are.

And we struggle by the way.

Finally, on our end, we struggle all the time.

And the only reason we get through it because we have a great team, pivoting and making mistakes and learning and the same thing on my end.

So to all of you, I want to thank you for adding so much to the conversation about small business.

That makes such a big difference.

Thank you all.

- Thank you.

Thanks you Steve.

Bye, take care now.

- Thanks for having us.

- Thanks Steve.

- Thanks Steve.

Be well everyone.

- Stay right there while I say goodbye Marjorie.

What do you have, another deal to make?

I'm Steve Adubato.

(all laughing) We'll see you next time.

While we watch Marjorie make a deal.

We'll see you next time.

(Steve laughs) - [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Delta Dental of New Jersey.

NJM Insurance Group.

PSE&G.

TD Bank.

Holy Name Medical Center.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

Choose New Jersey.

And by United Airlines.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ, informing and connecting businesses in New Jersey.

And by NJ.Com (Music playing) NJM Insurance Company has been serving New Jersey policy holders for more than 100 years.

But just who are NJM's policy holders?

They're the men and women who teach our children.

The public sector employees who maintain our infrastructure.

The workers who craft our manufactured goods.

And New Jersey's next generation of leaders.

The people who make our state a great place to call home.

NJM, we've got New Jersey covered.