San Francisco, CA – Mayor Breed announced today the City’s latest investments in supporting small businesses and filling vacancies Downtown. These new programs, part of the City’s larger economic revitalization efforts, will help entrepreneurs launch new businesses and support existing business, while expanding on initiatives to fill storefronts.
To date, Mayor Breed will have directed over $115 million through more than 6,800 grants and loan awards to local small businesses since the pandemic, providing critical support to businesses in merchant corridors across San Francisco, while also cutting red tape and fees and providing direct support at the City’s one-stop-shop Permit Center.
Mayor Breed’s current budget includes $15 million in small business investments that will support the following initiatives:
- Expansion of Vacant to Vibrant Pop-Ups to support a two-year expansion of the successful program to Powell Street as well as additional storefronts Downtown.
- New Downtown SF Vibrancy Loan Fund to assist small businesses with filling vacant storefronts Downtown.
- New Open Downtown Grant to small businesses that are seeking to move into Downtown.
- Expansion of Vandalism and Fire Relief assisting small businesses with unexpected expenses caused by vandalism or fire.
- Expansion of SF Shines for physical improvements and design services with the goal of attracting more customers, enhancing their operations, and ensuring compliance with City requirements.
The Mayor’s small business investments complemented and expanded local, state, and federal initiatives and prioritized communities that face the greatest barriers to accessing capital.
"San Francisco has made tremendous progress both in our economic recovery and delivering important changes that are making it easier to open and run a business in our City," said Mayor London Breed. "For so long, the answer has been a resounding 'no' and instead of bringing forward creative solutions that help our business community like we are now doing, more red tape was created. As we work to become a City of 'yes,' San Francisco must keep our small businesses at the core of every idea, conversation, and change we make. I am proud of the more than $115 million in investments we have given to small businesses – the excitement and vibrancy returning to corridors in neighborhoods across San Francisco is a direct result of my commitment that we will continue to build upon."
Latest Investments:
Expansion of Vacant to Vibrant Pop-Ups
Mayor Breed’s budget expands the Vacant to Vibrant program, which launched in 2023, to help small businesses, artists, entrepreneurs, and cultural organizations connect to property owners to create pop-up activations and community spaces to help revitalize Downtown. The program has activated 17 storefronts in the Financial District, SoMa and the East Cut neighborhoods. Seven of these businesses have already signed long-term leases, with more expected in the months ahead.
This year’s budget allocates $3 million to support a two-year expansion of Vacant to Vibrant to Powell Street as well as additional storefronts across Downtown this fiscal year. The Powell Street programming aims to activate this key visitor corridor while helping to attract additional long-term tenancies. Additional vacancies along the corridor will be activated through storefront beautification efforts. Approximately 25 new Vacant to Vibrant storefronts will begin to open on Powell Street and across Downtown on a rolling basis starting in early 2025.
Applications to participate in future programming are now open on SF New Deal’s website.
“San Francisco small businesses continue to be the backbone of our City’s resilience and recovery. We’ve seen firsthand the incredible impact small businesses can have on revitalizing our neighborhoods through the early success of Vacant to Vibrant,” said SF New Deal Executive Director Simon Bertrang. “This expansion will help breathe new life into Union Square and across Downtown by creating opportunities for small businesses and community organizations to thrive. These small businesses aren’t just filling storefronts—they’re shaping the future of Downtown, renewing its identity, and restoring the energy and spirit that makes San Francisco a world-class city.”
New Downtown SF Vibrancy Loan Fund
In partnership with Main Street Launch and private funders, the Mayor and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) have launched a new $3.6 million loan and grant program to assist small businesses with filling vacant storefronts Downtown. These loans will provide capital to those who experience barriers to accessing traditional banking services. Loan amounts will be up to $100,000 with a 4% interest rate for qualifying businesses. In addition, those who qualify for the loan will also receive a grant of $25,000 from the City to support their launch.
“We are excited to be partnering with the City on this important program,” said Rohan Kalbag, CEO, Main Street Launch. “The Downtown SF Vibrancy Loan Fund represents the commitment of the City to revitalizing the heart of San Francisco. By offering targeted financial support, we aim to fill vacancies with more businesses that people love, breathing new life into our iconic Downtown. This fund will help small businesses and entrepreneurs thrive and foster a vibrant Downtown that reflects the spirit of San Francisco.”
“We are committed to an equitable economic recovery and this new loan opportunity helps open the door to more entrepreneurs who want to get in on the ground floor of Downtown’s comeback,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, Executive Director, OEWD. “We have already seen how local small businesses are starting to transform the character of Downtown into a more vibrant, colorful neighborhood, and we know they are key to creating a Downtown that attracts businesses, workers, and visitors 24/7.”
New Open Downtown Grant
Starting in early 2025, $1.3 million will be made available to small businesses seeking to move into Downtown. Businesses that fill and open within an existing vacant storefront will be able to apply for a $25,000 grant to support their launch.
- Last year, the Storefront Opportunity Grant program disbursed $2.1 million in grants that supported new and expanding businesses in filling 71 small business storefronts across the City.
Expansion of SF Shines
Mayor Breed included $5.9 million in the City’s current budget for the SF Shines storefront improvement program, which supports new and existing small businesses with up to $10,000 or up to $20,000 in funds for physical improvements and design services with the goal of attracting more customers, enhancing operations, and ensuring compliance with City requirements. This investment will continue to push forward the Mayor’s strategy to bolster economic revitalization in corridors throughout San Francisco by supporting existing and new small businesses.
“The last few years have challenged and tested San Francisco’s small business community like never before,” said Katy Tang, Executive Director of the Office of Small Business. “SF Shines can be critical for businesses at any stage, from those just starting to those facing challenges, to those expanding to new locations and markets. San Francisco’s investment in small business is a reflection of how critical they are to our communities.”
Expansion of Vandalism and Fire Relief
Mayor Breed’s budget includes $1.2 million to continue assisting small businesses with unexpected expenses caused by vandalism and fire. The Vandalism Relief Grant provides up to $2,000 grants for small business storefront damages.
- Last year, the City disbursed $819,000 and 535 awards to businesses in the form of relief funding.
With this year's expanded funding, OEWD will allow businesses to apply for the vandalism relief grant up to three times per year. Applications for relief may include past incidents as long as they occurred in the 2024 calendar year.
The Fire Disaster Relief Grant awards up to $10,000 for businesses that are significantly damaged by a fire for which they were not at fault. Grant funds can help businesses replace inventory and equipment, relocation or repair costs, employee salaries, and other expenses.
“The fire collapsed ceilings and flooded our sewing equipment, tools, and fabrics,” said Michael Sanchez, owner of Venezia Upholstery and Drapery, which was one of several businesses impacted by a major fire in West Portal. “The support from the City helped us move only four doors down, begin to rebuild, and continue serving our customers and community.”
For more information, including an upcoming informational webinar regarding the City’s small business grant programs, or to subscribe to our newsletter for updates, please visit the Office of Small Business webpage: sf.gov/SmallBusinessGrants
SF Recovery Plan
The Mayor’s recovery plan includes initiatives that streamline processes and improve systems to support existing and new businesses opening across San Francisco. Key accomplishments include:
Tax Reform: Approved by voters in the November 2024 election, Proposition M reforms and simplifies the business tax structure in San Francisco by:
- Shifting away from calculation of taxes based on relative payroll toward gross receipts
- Exempting more than 2,500 small businesses from the tax
- Lowering taxes for hotels, arts, entertainment, and recreation
- Reducing volatility by ensuring taxes are not overconcentrated
- Reducing disincentives for bringing workers back or locating in San Francisco
- Simplifying the overall tax structure to be more predictable
Reducing Fees
- The First Year Free program waives first-year permit, license, and business registration fees for new and expanding businesses. Since the program began in 2021, approximately 8,472 businesses have enrolled and over $4.2 million in fees have been waived.
- In 2024, Mayor Breed introduced legislation to waive impact fees associated with commercial projects that are changing from a Production, Distribution and Repair (PDR) use to another non-residential use to remove barriers to filling vacant spaces.
- Mayor Breed introduced legislation that would eliminate annual license fees, providing $10 million annually in relief to San Francisco businesses. The legislation is contingent on the passage of the Proposition M ballot measure.
Cutting Red Tape
- The passage of Prop H in 2020 and the Small Business Recovery Act in 2021 removed notification requirements and allowed for most projects to be processed “over the counter,” allowing applicants to receive their permit immediately or within two business days. Nearly, 5,600 commercial projects have been able to get their permits over the counter.
- Mayor Breed sponsored additional legislation that made over 100 changes to the Planning Code to ease business restrictions to allow more businesses uses on the ground floor, incorporate new liquor licenses for music venues, and prioritize processing for nighttime entertainment, bars and restaurants, among other key reforms.
- Mayor Breed further simplified the permitting process by removing the requirement for businesses to submit architectural drawings for projects that involve no new construction and only a transition of one business type to another. This legislation will save businesses an average of $10,000 and months of work.
Easing Permitting Costs and Time
- New Permit Center – Opened by Mayor Breed in 2021, the Permit Center consolidates the various permitting agencies in one place to more efficiently serve applicants.
- Simplified event permits - Mayor Breed signed legislation that creates a new annual permit for special event food vendors, known as Temporary Food Facilities, which allows them to apply for a single permit to cover multiple events throughout the year.
###