News

Associate Professor and Director of the J. Max Bond Center For Urban Futures Shawn Rickenbacker and Adjunct Lecturer Héctor Tarrido-Picart’s research project was recently profiled in The RICC, the Research and Innovation at CCNY Ezine.

The Harlem Small Business Initiative is an interdisciplinary research project from CCNY that tries to understand and communicate the factors that are affecting the health and performance of small businesses in the community. As well as understanding the type of tangible environment that would be sustainable for small businesses.

The CCNY collaborative team consists of five members: Principal Investigator, Shawn Rickenbacker, and Héctor Tarrido-Picart from the Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, Michael Grossberg from the Grove School of Engineering, Prabal De from the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, and Susanna Schaller from the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Work Education.

The team partnered with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Institute and JPMorgan & Co. Philanthropy, who awarded them a grant and access to spending data from Chase customers. During the pandemic, JPMorgan Chase & Co. co-created the Small Business Initiative to provide original research to underserved small businesses and policymakers to help each navigate fundamental changes in consumer behavior and ways we occupy the built environment Post Covid. This information will serve as a resource to help guide future decisions and policies aimed at small business evolution and growth while recognizing their role in strengthening local economies.