May is Small Business Month, a celebration of the entrepreneurs, workers, and neighborhood organizations that help make ours the greatest city in the world. Whether it’s the corner bodega, the local nail salon, or the street vendor selling coffee, our small businesses create jobs, contribute to each neighborhood’s local identity, and carry forward the spirit of resilience and renewal that defines New York.

At the Department of Small Business Services, we are committed to helping small businesses and neighborhoods thrive. That means ensuring that every entrepreneur — regardless of background or access to capital — has a fair shot at success. It means building a city where opportunity exists for all, and where government levels uneven playing fields instead of creating unnecessary obstacles.

Under Mayor Mamdani’s leadership, we are taking concrete actions that make it easier to start and operate a business. When small business owners can open, grow, and put down roots, our neighborhoods are stronger for it.

For too long, navigating city government has been the full-time job small business owners never applied for but were forced to accept. Any small business owner who hasn’t given up and hired a compliance team can tell you horror stories of being ping-ponged across agencies just to secure required permits, or how exhausting it feels to keep up with the rapid change of regulations just to avoid costly violations.

That’s why the mayor is investing $4 million to expand the New York City Business Express Service Team, or NYC BEST. NYC BEST offers hands-on, case management-style support to help small businesses navigate government. It’s a simple idea with a meaningful impact: you shouldn’t have to hire a compliance team just to run your business; government should work alongside you, not slow you down.

In the first 100 days of the Mamdani administration, NYC BEST helped more than 2,000 businesses save nearly $6 million in potential fines and cut through costly red tape.

We’re not stopping at NYC BEST. Through the mayor’s Executive Order 11, we are taking a comprehensive look at how city rules impact small businesses. The goal is to create a regulatory environment that balances the need to protect health and safety with supporting entrepreneurship. That means improving transparency, ensuring consistency, and reducing unnecessary burdens that make it hard for small businesses to succeed.

We also relaunched the NYC Future Fund, a first-in-the-city loan fund that offers low interest financing and flexible repayment terms for small businesses that experience seasonal changes in revenue, helping them to sustain and grow during slow periods. Too often, traditional financing leaves behind entrepreneurs like these without established banking relationships or generational wealth.

That matters, especially as many business owners navigate rising costs and economic uncertainty. We hear those concerns, and they inform our work every day to support the ingenuity of New Yorkers who continue to start businesses, adapt, and grow in one of the most competitive markets in the world. Our job is to make sure that path is open and accessible.

Our third NYC Small Business Month Expo on May 28 delivers on that goal, where we connect entrepreneurs directly with government, industry experts, and other resource providers, all under one roof. Registration is open now.

Our small businesses employ New Yorkers of all stripes and in every corner of every neighborhood in New York City. When they have a fair shot, everyone does.

Minaya is commissioner of the city Department of Small Business Services.