RXR Realty launches volunteer program to help small businesses 

Representatives from RXR Realty, along with members of Glen Cove’s chamber and business groups, participated at a Zoom meeting on April 17 to discuss the rollout of volunteer services that are being offered by RXR. 

Professionals within RXR Realty’s network including employees, tenants, vendors, partners, investors and colleagues have volunteered to offer their knowledge to help small businesses and non-profits recover from the financial burdens of the pandemic. 

Through the website, www.rxrvolunteer.com, business and non-profit owners can find marketing, social media, negotiation, human resources, design and legal professionals, along with professionals from other fields, to help them hit the ground running during or after local and state-mandated shutdowns. 

“We’re just rolling this out,” said Ylisa Kunze, the director of community engagement, Glen Cove for RXR. “I think that the response from the businesses I’ve been working with has been excellent. People think this is something that can really make a difference for our business owners and our non-profits. So now we’re getting the word out to the community.” 

The communities that this program will serve are those that RXR Realty does business within, such as Glen Cove, the North Shore, communities around the Nassau Hub Project at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and New Rochelle, a city in Westchester once considered a hot spot for Covid-19.

“Having access to these areas of expertise can be very useful and helpful,” Kunze said, “and is certainly not something that small businesses and non-profits can go out and spend money on right now.”

Connie Pinilla, the board director of the North Shore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the owner of Pinilla Law Firm PC, said that she appreciated the Spanish speaking volunteers available on RXR’s database. 

Patricia Holman, the executive director of Glen Cove Downtown Business Improvement District, agreed that information in Spanish is vital.

Another service offered by the database, Holman said, is assistance with filing for Small Business Association loans. According to Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, the SBA declared Nassau County a disaster region on March 20 and made low-interest loans available for small businesses impacted by the pandemic. 

“Most of the businesses in our downtown area have less than 10 people working for them,” Holman said. “So, I would think [helping] fill out applications is the priority.” 

Struggles facing small businesses, Pinilla said, is the squeeze of cash flow. Holman is especially worried about service-oriented businesses where human contact cannot be avoided, such as nail salons, massage parlors and fitness centers. 

She’s worried that these businesses will continue to struggle even after the state allows for non-essential businesses to reopen. Right now, some gyms, such as Glen Cove Yoga, are offering remote classes for paying members. Others are doing remote classes but are discounting or are not charging membership fees. 

Holman has been trying to help gyms by sharing their workouts on social media. She hopes that community members will continue to use gyms, along with nail salons and massage parlors, after pandemic related closings are lifted.

As for essential businesses, such as grocery stores and restaurants, owners have had to change. “What I’m proud of is that basically overnight, our restaurants and essential businesses had to learn how to do business differently,” Holman said. “I think a lot of them were very successful in doing so.” 

Holman has been reminding all business owners that Downtown BID is there for them to answer questions, listen and to help find resources. “We want to be here in a small way and a big way,” Holman said.