Small Business Support
Transition Policy Committee Summary of Findings
Committee Name
Small Business Transition Committee
Committee Members
Wendy Dalwin (Chair), Jess Willis, Jessica Eshleman, Joe Lynch, Lindsay Allen, Andrea Shapiro, Bill Galatas, Zach Baum, Sheila Borges-Foley
Key themes and trends:
Drawing from all committee meetings, three core needs emerged consistently: regulatory processes that are clearer, faster, and more coordinated; stronger support for the public realm in commercial districts (cleanliness, safety, ambiance, and parking); and economic stability for small businesses amid rising rents, vacancies, and post-pandemic recovery pressures. These challenges are experienced citywide but often manifest differently by square or neighborhood.
Across meetings, members repeatedly emphasized that permitting and licensing remain overly complex, fragmented across departments, and difficult to navigate without personal relationships inside City Hall. Construction impacts, parking access, meter functionality, and enforcement practices were described as directly affecting customer behavior and revenue, particularly in squares experiencing recent transportation and streetscape changes. Public safety concerns—especially related to human services, homelessness, and nighttime activity—were raised alongside the need for a more visible and coordinated City presence in commercial districts.
Members also underscored that small businesses, dining, nightlife, arts, and events remain central to Somerville’s identity, quality of life, and economic health. While these sectors are comparatively strong, they are vulnerable to rising costs, uneven foot traffic, insufficient marketing, the stalled commercial real estate market, and require sustained and intentional City partnership to remain viable.
Existing initiatives:
The committee identified a number of initiatives that are demonstrably effective and should be continued or strengthened:
Main Street organizations, which provide long-standing, stakeholder-driven district management, programming, advocacy, and relationship building. Members emphasized the effectiveness of the comprehensive Main Street model (organization, promotion, design, and economic vitality), while noting ongoing funding challenges.
Dining, nightlife, and arts programming, including award-winning restaurants and signature events, which distinguish Somerville regionally and support foot traffic, tourism, and economic activity.
OSPCD office hours, cited consistently as a best practice due to their regularity, accessibility, multi-department participation, and follow-through on business concerns.
Targeted placemaking efforts, such as events, murals, outdoor dining pilots, and district-specific activations, that improve ambiance and customer experience.
District-specific strengths, including walkability and transit access in Union Square, arts and community assets in East Somerville, business-improvement-district style management in Assembly, and emerging opportunities in Ball, Magoun, Gilman, Teele, and Davis Squares.
The Small Enterprise Anti-Displacement Report produced a robust set of actionable priorities, which if advanced, can position Somerville to be a national leader while fortifying its unique, interesting, and culturally relevant business districts.
Gaps:
The most urgent gaps identified by the committee fall into three interrelated areas:
City services: fragmented permitting and licensing processes; unclear points of contact; limited accountability across departments; insufficient responsiveness from 311 and related systems; decreased accessibility for non-native English speakers; and a lack of consistent, business-facing customer service culture.
Public realm: inconsistent cleanliness, lighting, decorations, sidewalk conditions, and street furniture; parking availability and meter functionality issues; construction impacts that displace customers and employees; vacant or underutilized city-owned properties; and uneven safety presence, particularly in the evenings.
Economic tools and support: limited mechanisms to address rising commercial rents, vacancies, displacement, and construction-related revenue loss; poorly communicated changes in fee structures that disproportionately burden small businesses; and insufficient marketing and promotion at the citywide level.
Committee members also noted gaps in communication around immigration enforcement concerns, access to public restrooms, and resources to address human services impacts in commercial districts.
Opportunities:
The committee identified clear opportunities to strengthen existing efforts primarily through improved coordination, staffing, and prioritization rather than the creation of entirely new programs. These include adopting a customer-service-oriented approach to regulation; adding additional district management capacity beyond the two current Main Street programs; investing in low-cost, high-impact public realm improvements such as lighting, maintenance, and decorations; improving marketing and wayfinding; and using structured feedback and data to evaluate programs, parking changes, and event impacts.
Members also identified opportunities to engage small business owners more directly in policy design, including through roundtables, targeted interviews, and clearer channels for escalation and problem solving.
Recommendations for action:
Short term recommendations:
Improve coordination and usability of permitting, licensing, and 311/CitizenServe systems, including clearer points of contact, escalation pathways for businesses, and actively managed reports tracking open applications.
Address immediate public-realm needs in commercial districts, including meter functionality, reasonable enforcement (especially during holidays), lighting, cleanliness, decorations, and prioritized maintenance.
Communicate clearly and early about organizational changes affecting small business support, including the roles of liaisons and directors.
Review parking and construction management practices that directly displace customers or employees, with an emphasis on short-term mitigation rather than extended studies.
Provide city support for federal immigration policies impacting business districts.
Medium term recommendations:
Conduct a comprehensive review of fees, fines, and regulatory costs affecting small businesses, including unintended cost burdens.
Establish and fund a dedicated small business liaison role, distinct from but coordinated with community partnership functions.
Expand year-round programming, marketing, and basic infrastructure improvements in business districts, with attention to square-specific needs.
Improve cross-department accountability and responsiveness for business-facing services.
Reassess the city’s three-year Outdoor Dining Pilot Program that will end in 2026, with a particular emphasis on fee structure.
Pilot a TIF program focused specifically on supporting small, locally owned businesses.
Long term recommendations:
Expand and sustainably fund district management or Main Street-style model programs to serve each commercial areas, drawing on best practices from peer cities.
Develop long-term strategies to address commercial affordability, vacancies, and displacement, building on existing anti-displacement work.
Align parking, mobility, construction, public safety, and human services policies with small business sustainability goals.
Institutionalize a customer-service-oriented culture across City departments that regularly interact with small businesses.
Implement recommendations from the Small Enterprise Anti-Displacement Report, including advancing Inclusionary Commercial Zoning.
