The City of Seattle has relaunched their Support Puget Sound Small Business Map which lets you find (and even discover) small businesses around the area you might want to support.
Image courtesy City of Seattle
information from the City of Seattle
Mayor Jenny A. Durkan today announced the City of Seattle’s new #SupportPugetSoundSmallBiz map, which helps residents find small businesses providing takeout or delivery in their neighborhood. The map allows users to search for open small businesses in their neighborhood and navigate directly to a business’ website or third-party delivery service page. After launching the Seattle-specific map in late March, municipalities from across the region reached out to Seattle Information Technology (ITD) and asked to participate. To date, approximately 20 cities and counties are participating in the#SupportPugetSoundSmallBiz map, and each municipality is working with its local economic development organizations to ensure restaurants are added to the map.
The #SupportPugetSoundSmallBiz map has received nearly 250,000 views, and averages about 2,200 visits per day. There are currently 2,600 small businesses in the map spread across King County, Pierce County and Snohomish County. The map began as part of the City’s #SupportSeattleSmallBiz campaign, which asks residents to post pictures and videos from their favorite Seattle restaurants, bars, cafes, and breweries that are doing delivery, to-go, and drive-through with #SupportSeattleSmallBiz and tag @SeattleEconomy.
“In Seattle, we’re doing everything we can locally to support our small businesses during this unprecedented moment in history,” said Mayor Durkan. “We’ve invested millions of dollars directly in our most vulnerable small businesses and are working with our partners across government and in the private sector help many who are struggling. With many of our neighborhood restaurants still open, communities across our region can support small businesses by ordering pickup or delivery during this time. Our community partners and local officials have helped shape our map and make it a reality.”
“Small businesses and their employees are the backbone of Snohomish County’s economy, and we are working hard to provide support during this tough time,” said Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive. “Running a small business has never been easy and now that is true more than ever. For those who can, show your support for our small business owners and their employees by keeping your dollars in our local economy. We will get through this together.”
“I am excited to partner and collaborate with other cities across the region in this innovative way in support of our local restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside work to address our shared public health and safety priorities, actions like these help us preserve the character that businesses bring to our communities during this crisis,” said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards.
To use the map, residents can enter their location or drop a pin and find all the available restaurants near them. Once they select their restaurant, they can place a takeout or delivery order directly through the app or can receive directions to the restaurant. The map also connects users directly to third-party delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Caviar to easily patronize a restaurant. Seattle Information Technology (ITD) built the map, and staff from municipalities across the Puget Sound partnered with community leaders and small business owners to populate the map with businesses. Users can access the map here: Maps.seattle.gov/PugetSound/SupportSmallBiz.
Restaurant, bar, café, and brewery owners can enter their information into a brief survey to see their business appear on the public-facing map within minutes. To help ensure quality and consistent data, ITD has created an internal map and survey that business owners can use to enter their information. If you are a business owner and want to add yourself to the map, please email at supportsmallbiz@seattle.gov for instructions.
The necessary statewide ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ order has caused restaurants to rely solely on delivery and takeout services for revenue, and many of these restaurants rely on third-party platforms to conduct takeout and delivery for them. Each service agreement between restaurants and third-party companies varies, but some include commissions that are 30 percent or more of the purchase price. To help support restaurants, Mayor Durkan recentlyannounced a 15 percent commission cap on third-party delivery services. This will help ensure that delivery and takeout remain viable options and don’t cause increased financial hardship.
Mayor Durkan and the City of Seattle have worked to implement a series of actions that support artists, nonprofits, small businesses, and workers, including:
The City has also created a comprehensive resource page for residents and small businesses impacted by COVID-19. This page will be updated as more information becomes available.
