>> thank you all for being here with us today. and obviously a special thank you for wells fargo for hosting us here at 33 market street. good to be in downtown san francisco. i'm simon, the exective director of san francisco new deal a non profit launched at the start of the pandemic and our work strengthens neighborhoods city wide making it easier for small business owners under resourced small business owner ered to succeed and glad tb out in small business week and celebrating all the small businesses in san francisco. today we'll share many celebratory moments but proud to share one for sf new deal. last week, sf new deal reached

a major milestone. we supported 1200 small businesses in san francisco while deploying $45 million in direct financial support and revenue for businesses. [applause] in all 11 districts, city wide. and this is our team has been able to accomplish this in just four short years so we also celebrated our four year anniversary. we launched vacant vibrant a year ago and we have been inspired by the new energy and momentum it brought downtown. the economic health of downtown and san francisco as a quhole and all our neighborhoods are deeply interconnected and vacant to vibrant we are building a down of diverse and inclusive neighborhood and that will mean housing, that means a university, that will mean entertainment zones, that means arts and culture and everything else laid out in the mayor's road map

to downtown for san francisco future. but the key ingredient to building the new downtown is going to be small business. just like they are the key ingredient to the unique identity to all neighborhoods. ypt to acknowledge the small business, the cultural organizations, the artists and creatives opening the pop ups downtown, bringing the spirit to life. it is incredibly challenging to operate a small business in san francisco and these entrepreneurs are leading the way to create a new vision for downtown and our entire city. the first vacant to vibrant cohort launched last fall. we activated pop ups in 9 store fronts in the financial district and thrilled to share today that seven of signed long-term leases and are staying downtown. but there is more. today we are celebrating the expansion of the program this summer. this morning we publicly

announced the second cohort of vacant to vibrant who pop ups launch in june and we are bringing the program to south of market area. vacant to vibrant has been a collective effort. sf new deal partnered with mayor london breed, her office, the office of economic workforce development to get the idea, simple idea, bring small downtown to fill vacant storefronts. we had to work to actually work through the complexity that and all the challenges of real life and we worked in partnership together with the city to make that a success. but right from the jump, wells fargo was there with us. they stepped in to invest alongside the city and were the presenting sponsor of vacant to vibrant and we welcome additional support for vacant to vibrant from visa, jp morgan chase, wamo, square and others. this is a real public private

partnership and demonstrating what is possible when we all work together. in addition to the mayor and oewd i extend thanks to so many city agencies. they had to all say yes to make vacant to viberupt about. office of small business [indiscernible] department of public health and fire department working together it is showing the possibility of what city can do when we say yes to new ideas. very exciting and so finally, big thank you to anna for putting together the community market together. he is one of our vacant to vibrant graduates from the first cohort and working with us now to bring this wonderful market and also ordered this incredible weather. thank you to the new deal team who works across all programs to support small business in san francisco in every day and of course a giant shout out to kate, she is the program

manager for vacant to vibrant and deserves special recognition because her work has been tireless and non stop. now i introduce the-all the other speakers. we'll hear from darlene [applause] come up when you. wells fargo and also the president of wells fargo foundation and then hear from the honorable mayor london breed. [applause] the mayor of our city. and then mike griso, senior vice president at kill roy realty. two vacant to vibrant activators. recently signed a long-term lease downtown after opening her pop up last fall and also--who is from

creamly. you might have samp led the ice cream who we announced is going to bring her ice cream to downtown pop up later this summer. so, now, please join me in welcoming darlene from wells fargo. [applause] >> hello san francisco! isn't this a beautiful day to be out here celebrating our small business community? thank you so much simon for the warm welcome and introduction. i'm thrilled to be here and wells fargo is honored to continue being the presenting sponsor of vacant to vibrant. we are all here today because we love san francisco. in fact, i came out to the san francisco bay area, hard to believe, 36 years ago for college and i loved it so much i decided to make it my home. san francisco is a vibrant, innovative, resilient city and it is really

essential to our local economy that we support the small business community. that's why wells fargo is committed to this project, helping our diverse small business community thrive, recover and flourish. we especially like to thank mayor breed, sf new deal and the office of economic and workforce development for making this project possible and for having a vision for a better future for downtown san francisco. we hope that what is happening today is really a showcase of the transformation that is possible when the non profit, the public and the private sector come together collectively to help revitalize neighborhoods and support small businesses. it really takes a true partnership to fuel growth and it takes all of us here to help keep that going, to keep it alive and thriving.

vacant to vibrant is a prime example of the invasion and can-do spirit of san franciscans working towards a common goal. by filling vacant store fronts with diverse small businesses, our downtown is being revitalized one small business at a time and that's going to have a ripple effect in our economy. as your partner, i'm thrilled to announce the wells fargo foundation is donating $1 million to expand the successful vacant to vibrant program. [applause] wells fargo funding is go to provide small businesses with access to technical assistance and guidance, access to an ecosystem of resources, as well as capital to help these pop ups become permanent locations. so, thank you for coming today and for celebrating with us and

congratulations to the second cohort of small businesses. [applause] >> okay. here we go. now, thank you for those remarks darlene and for the investment and are commitment and partnership from you and the team. it is privilege to work with wells fargo. i have the privilege introducing the mayor of our city, mayor london breed! [applause] >> thank you simon and thank you to new deal for all the amazing work that they have done and will continue to do to make sure that the downtown community of san francisco is vibrant like all other communities in our city. we are so happy to be here today,x and let me just say to darlene and the wells fargo family, which includes so many of the employees located here today, thank you so much for being a

real partner with san francisco and all that you do. and by the way darlene, one of my first jobs in the real world was at wells fargo bank. i was a teller at the branch on california and fillmore. [applause] so, why are we here? downtown isn't going to be what it was before the pandemic, but you know what? it is going to be something better! not only are we going to bring more people to live down here as resident, but we are really lighting up our night life community. in fact, how many of you were at first thursdays? [applause] well, the rest of you, you missed out, because you probably didn't come to work thursday. p let me tell you, that is what happens when you come to work 5 days a week, you see all the excitement, the activity, the food, the music, the fun, the entertainment making

downtown vibrant is so important to the future of this community of san francisco, because before the pandemic, downtown was 9 to 5 financial district. no offense wells fargo. and now, it needs to and has become a community where people live, work and play, and our vacant to vibrant program is just another opportunity to allow for so many small businesses that would never have the opportunity, nor the investors to open up a pop up to determine whether or not they can be successful in a community like downtown. well you know what? there were 9 in the first cohort and as simon said, 7 of those 9 have signed leases to continue! [applause] that is huge and it also gives me hope for the next cohort to be here and to be a part of the fabric of what makes

san francisco so special. our neighborhoods are thriving. in fact, the city provides the first year free where we wave all city fees for those who are starting new businesses. we are seeing thousands of new businesses pop up in communities. we were not having the same success downtown. vacant to vibrant has changed the game and not only has wells fargo made this investment, but in my upcoming budget, not prepared to announce it today, but there will be even more investments in vacant to vibrant because we want to provide opportunity for those incredible creatives, for those folks who have a new idea and want an opportunity to thrive in san francisco and in downtown. we want to make it possible so we will be investing more. but we also cant do this unless we have property owners who are willing to be real partners and provide space. provide space at another no cost or

reduced cost and there is a lot of technicalities of insurance and everything else in between, so we have wells fargo as a partner and investment, but we also have killroy and mike griso from killroy is here to say a few words about the work that we are doing together to insure that not only is killroy a partner in providing space, but we want all other property owners who have buildings down here with empty vacant store fronts to work with the city to make sure that they are vibrant. we want to continue to do not only pop ups, but long-term businesses. there is ice crime, there is bakeries and coffee and vintage clothes and a radio station, kalw! depending what happens today, they might do a interview with you and make you famous. we are hoping for all that and the above and so, let's welcome

mike griso from killroy realty. [applause] >> thank you. i don't know how i will follow that. that is not fair. thank you mayor breed. thank you sf new deal. thank you wells fargo. what a gorgeous day. thank you everyone for being here. thank you to the media for being here and by the way, media, i want you all to report this is what san francisco downtown is like every day. [applause] perfect weather, huge crowd, live music. it isn't like that every day, but it could be like that every day and vacant to vibrant is helping to make it that like that every day. we are so happy to be participating in vacant to vibrant and like the mayor said, i want to encourage every single property owner downtown to participate. it is a lot of work, but at the end of the day it is worth it. you are activating vacant retail space.

i want to acknowledge our team, brooke and megan who are here who worked really hard on this. i thank all our partners, the mayor, sf new deal, office of economic workforce development, the east cust cbd, the chamber of commerce both here. this is how we are going to bring downtown san francisco back. one retail space at a time. we will get people in. we will get people into their offices and make san francisco great and we are going to continue to build on the progress we made so far, so again, thank you everyone for coming. thank you wells fargo for that great gift and let's keep this going. thanks everybody. [applause] >> and now we will hear from-- [applause] >> thank you so much everyone for coming. thank you very much for mayor london breed and for everybody else

that came before me. i dont know how i will be able to up this, but i will try. i am going to really try. you guys really did create a really nice beautiful path for me to be able to come in and speak about my experience. this was a great experience being part of the vacant to vibrant program. san francisco is a really beautiful city. we have been through a lot during the pandemic, but this isn't the endxer , so we should be able to work together as a community and work together to bring back our downtown. downtown san francisco is a place as i remember when i first move to the country, a place that allowed me to be able to think about the american dream in a different way. so, thank you everybody for being here. thank you everybody for allowing us to keep our businesses open. not shutting it down after long period of having a pandemic. i am at the embarcadero.

i was a business that was able to extend their lease and looking forward to creating beautiful nice environment for people to come and enjoy delicious food and healthy food and keep the downtown vibrant, healthy and beautiful. thank you so much everyone. [applause] >> has a beautiful-4 embarcadero center facing embarcadero plaza. [applause] >> hello everyone. hope you are having a wonderful afternoon. what a great day to be outside. my name is--my wife and i opened a ice creamery which makes indian inspired ice cream in san leandro. when i came to this country, i

fell in love with two men, ben and jerry. as i was hitting books hard and the pints i enjoyed the experience but i missed my home, family friends and the long walks we take in summer to go have street food, particularly my favorite, the indian ice cream. fast forward working downtown here as a engineer, project manager for bike lane on second street and projects, the highlight of the day is the lunch meal i go out with colleagues and friends in the evening to go try food from around the world, gush about it, build relationships and all that, and i'm very excitesed i'm going to be at the other side of the table and be able to provide a similar kind of space and joy for people in san francisco. started in 2018 as a small pop up, a small cart and fast forward

post pandemic, 2022 we started a store front in san leandro. 5 minutes from the oakland zoo and encourage everyone to come there at our new space. we are even though we are famous for layering deserts from my family respies into american classic flavors or tamarin -we make indian street food and we love to do desert takes on street food. --we make it a desert version. the only one in the world i've heard. so, you can find us on our website and our social media tags. i really excited for this opportunity and i want to thank mayor

london breed, sf new deal, office of workforce economic development and wells fargo who are not just talking the talk but backing up with a action plan to make us thrive, not just me but so many entrepreneur small business part of the cohort and the previous one. it is very important to have i think marketing, logistics and financial backup to be able to be successful and i feel we have all that with this opportunity we have with new deal. so, very excited and very grateful. thank you for this opportunity and this opportunity to talk right here. have a great day. [applause] >> thank you so much. so, we reached the end of our program, but before i tell you what is coming next, i do want to spend-send a special shout out to urban alchemy and see louie. louie and i go way back. urban alchemy their ambassadors keep tenderloin, midmarket area safe

and transforming public spaces into spaces that people all people can enjoy. thank you urban alchemy. stay tuned as we gear up to announce the grand opening plans and as well as all the actual locations for the eight activators we announced today. coming in june. in the mean time, follow along for more news and announcement vacant to vibrant. enjoy the market and support the vendors. we will do a giant photo ceremony. as you are snacking on the food, take a glance up to the million check wells fargo will give us. please come up. anyone who wants to come up. please, mayor, join us.

>> [music] in the town inside here i'm young.

he was putting art, music and drinking together upon today have a nonpretentious pretentious spitz that the community can enjoy each other and the time off we get in this world. [music] >> spends energy elevating artists and credit a safe place. a place to have a community. >> it is i great neighborhood the art district because we have the contemp refer museum of sf. yerba buena for the arts all of the operators and businesses here we get together and xhoukt and support each other this is a very cool neighborhood to be a part of. [music] paint on canvas is primary low when we do. this is guilty pleasures an all female artist show.

it is going to be great. fun we have interactive elements. >> we love having this gem. you know people come in and discover it and get to feel at home. this is like home san francisco >> never be afraid it anybodying on our door. [laughter]. if the hours are post and you had want to seat art we are here 9 o'clock to 5 o'clock most days. [music]

channel 78, and they may offer public comment by calling the published public comment phone number. i'd like to welcome the members of the public and staff who are watching us on sf gov tv to eliminate background interference. all panelists and presenters that are presenting via webex are asked to mute themselves when not speaking or are waiting to present. additionally, the sannc