Four Los Angeles nonprofits to receive funding from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help street vendors.
The New York financial institution will commit $5 million over three years to the Open Air Economy Collaborative, which includes nonprofits Inclusive Action for the City, California Reinvestment Coalition, pro-bono legal clinic Public Counsel and East L.A. Community Corp.
Sarah Bowles, vice president of global philanthropy for Chase, said the ultimate goal is to help street vendors operate more formally in the economy.
“They generate tremendous economic activity in L.A.; however, there were a number of systemic barriers that prevented them from fully participating and fully integrating into the formal economy,” Bowles said.
One obstacle for sellers is that the actual process of obtaining permits is complicated and expensive.
“The number I’ve seen is that they can spend an average of $30,000 on permits and equipment, which is a pretty big start-up cost for a small micro business that’s just starting out,” Bowles said.
An August 2021 report on street food sales by the UCLA School of Law Community Economic Development Clinic and Public Counsel, titled “Unfinished Business,” lists total start-up costs between $10,490.00 and $14,194.00 for unpackaged food sales.
Additionally, many of the applications and forms that vendors must fill out to obtain permits and other licenses are not available in anything other than the most widely used languages, Bowles added.
“They are mainly in English, so there are language barriers as well,” she said. The Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services website lists 12 languages other than English available for download on its street vending brochure page.
Local vendors
According to a September 2019 post by the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign on the LA2050 website, there were about 50,000 street vendors in the city, representing a $504 million industry. See the article : Michael Arnold Examines Whether Airbnb Is a Real Estate Gold Mine.
In November 2018, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance legalizing street vending in the city.
“With legalization, we can expect these numbers (50,000 vendors) to grow as street vending becomes a safer way to make a living – especially for women and black people,” the Street Vendors Campaign said in a statement.
A year before the council’s action, he passed an ordinance decriminalizing street vending amid fears that immigrant vendors could face criminal charges under the then-Trump administration, limiting potential penalties to administrative fines.
Outside the parking lot of 24 Hour Fitness on Empire Avenue in Burbank, Andrew Gallegos can be found selling fruit cups from his Mr. cart six days a week. Fruits 818.
The 29-year-old San Fernando Valley resident said the hardest thing about being a street vendor today is getting access to a dealer, having to get a permit to operate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“The health department won’t give you a permit if you don’t have a commissioner to go to,” Gallegos said. “A commissioner is required before you even apply for a permit.”
The commissary is where the fruit Gallegos sells is cut and where his cart is washed and cleaned.
There are dealerships in the East Valley, but they cater to food trucks. So Gallegos said he was going to one in Northridge, in the west valley. For the crushed ice he needs to chill the fruit, he heads to North Hollywood. Traveling to both places takes time and gas.
