In response to the ripple effect on the New York City economy after the World Trade Center (WTC) tragedy, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has opened two new Disaster Assistance Relief Centers, one in Columbia- owned retail space, to extend assistance to small businesses in Upper Manhattan.

The centers, one at 1187 Amsterdam Avenue and the other at the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone's headquarters at 290 Lenox Avenue, are places where Upper Manhattan businesses can obtain information about applying for loans through the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), receive referrals to banks and gain access to other types of technical assistance.

While Columbia Institutional Real Estate responded by renovating and providing the office space free of charge for as long as it is needed, more than 50 Columbia business students have volunteered to disseminate information on a grass-roots level. For almost two weeks, student volunteers walked the streets of Upper Manhattan, river to river from 96th St. northward, to provide small businesses with information about the new disaster relief services available at the two centers.

"We are pleased to be able to contribute space for this important initiative. In these difficult times it is more important than ever that we support small businesses that have been hurt by the Sept. 11th attack," said Emily Lloyd, executive vice president for administration at Columbia. "We are proud to add this effort to the work of the Columbia Business School student volunteers, who are working with the Borough President's Office."

While the airline industry has received substantial federal aid, and financial companies directly affected by the fall of the WTC have received Federal Disaster funds, small businesses and local entrepreneurs adversely affected by the attacks may not know that assistance, in the form of low-interest loans, is available to them.

In its first week more than 50 small businesses have consulted the new Disaster Recovery Relief Center located on Amsterdam Avenue. One, a local restaurant had to lay off employees to accommodate recent decreases in clients. Another, a dry cleaning service, went from averaging 20 customers a day to six in the weeks following the attacks. Upper Manhattan car services have also seen reductions in clients, as have a number of Upper Manhattan retail operations.

"The sharp decline in tourism caused by the World Trade Center attack has not only hurt businesses in lower Manhattan, but other parts of the borough as well," said Fields. "In many instances, business owners have found that they are unable to pay rent, employee salaries and utility charges. They find themselves sinking deeper into a financial quagmire from which they have difficulty escaping. As a result, it became critically important that we find a way to assist these business owners before they go completely under."

Fields worked in cooperation with Congressman Charles Rangel, the SBA, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, Columbia and the New York State Business Development Center to develop a plan of action that resulted in the establishment of the two SBA centers.

"We thank Columbia University for their assistance with this effort. This is a real partnership with an institution we have worked with in the past and will continue to work with on a number of issues," said Fields. In addition to these efforts, Columbia is working to establish ongoing relationships with small businesses in Upper Manhattan to provide goods and services and has instituted a local purchasing program that encourages Columbia employees to purchase goods, supplies and services from small businesses in the surrounding neighborhoods.