Mastercard: How Kevin Kim's Immigrant Story Fuels NYC's Small Businesses

BY BEN FOX RUBIN

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 23, 2024 / Mastercard
Mastercard

In 1975, Kevin Kim's mom and dad picked up their lives and brought their two kids from South Korea to New York, moving into a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Sunnyside, Queens.

Foto: Accesswire

Kevin Kim, left, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, right, at a June event in which they announced that more than 600 small businesses had received funding from the Opportunity Fund since its inception in January. (Photo courtesy of New York City Department of Small Business Services)

Kim, who is commissioner of New York City's Department of Small Business Services, was 5 at the time, his sister was 9, and their parents were working 14- to 16-hour days, seven days a week, trying to build up their artificial flowers business. Kim's maternal grandmother moved in to help out.

Mom would create the flower designs and dad would head over to the garment district, knocking on wholesalers' doors to sell those designs. After seven years of doing that, the family finally made it out of that tiny apartment.

His parents' struggle to make it - especially because they spoke limited English and "had no clue about any government resources," he said - informed a lot about how Kim has engaged immigrant small business communities in New York City. There are over 200,000 small businesses across the city, and about half of them are owned by immigrants.

Kim's own experience as an entrepreneur, even after living in New York City most of his life, was similar - he also didn't know what government resources he could access.

"When I came into this role, the first thing that was so glaring was that - wow, this agency New York City Small Business Services has so many incredible programs already," he said in a recent interview. "And yet, if people don't know about it, it's all for naught."

He set out to make sure people just like his parents would know about SBS, which provides a long list of resources for small businesses, including funding, commercial lease assistance and government contracting opportunities.

He spoke to the Mastercard Newsroom about his work at SBS and the sentiment he's hearing in the streets from small businesses today. Kim also talked about the creation of the city's $85 million NYC Small Business Opportunity Fund - the biggest public-private loan program for small businesses in the city's history - which was created in partnership with Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. He also made sure to plug the upcoming SBS Small Business Month Expo on May 29, which will bring a variety of small business resources under one roof.

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