BUFFALO, N.Y. — The City of Buffalo is working to assist minority-owned businesses increase their online presence to benefit from online shopping.
On Tuesday, Byron Brown announced the creation of Hyperlink Buffalo powered by AT&T. The new initiative is the result of a partnership between the city, AT&T, and The Exchange at Beverly Gray.
"During the height of COVID-19, many brick-and-mortar businesses pivoted to online sales while others were forced to shut down. Even as brick-and-mortar stores have reopened post-vaccine, there remains an increased number of consumers buying products and services online," Brown said.
"Unfortunately, there are some small businesses that did not have the resources to establish new revenue streams from e-commerce. Hyperlink Buffalo powered by AT&T aims to ensure that every business in every part of this community has equal access to online streams of income."
The program asks advertising and local ad agencies to provide pro-bono service to minority-owned small businesses for social media promotion, digital advertising, website design or redesign, e-commerce development, and Search Engine Optimization.
AT&T has contributed $15,000 to assist with the program and help with the costs of running an online marketplace.
The City of Buffalo has developed a survey to have businesses evaluate the needs in the current marketplace. Businesses who take the survey have the opportunity to be partnered with a local ad agency to improve their online presence.
Businesses interested in taking the survey can do so on the Hyperlink Buffalo website.
"AT&T is honored to collaborate on this program as it aligns with our company's longstanding commitment to working with and assisting black-owned and other diverse businesses to achieve economic success and our dedication to digital equity," Benjamin Roberts, Director, Public Affairs at AT&T said.
"As a company connecting people and businesses for more than 140 years, we are thrilled to help many amazing locally owned businesses in the Queen City enhance their digital presence, connectivity and e-commerce capabilities to unlock their full sales potentials. I applaud Mayor Brown, the City of Buffalo, and The Exchange at the Beverly Gray Center for their vision and hard work in establishing Hyperlink Buffalo powered by AT&T."
As of Tuesday, 11 ad agencies have signed up to volunteer services for the program including:
- FIFTEEN
- Crowley Webb
- Mr. Smith Agency
- covington Associates Consulting
- theBREWROOM
- Hourglass Media, LLC
- Telesco Creative Group
- aaron-clift.com
- White Bicycle
- Ingenious, Inc.
- Invigilo LLC