District 7 Councillor Manuel Teshe wants the city to explore ways it can increase assistance for Chelsea entrepreneurs.
At Monday night’s meeting, the council approved a motion made by Teshe asking the city manager to explore options for creating programs that would provide support for entrepreneurs looking to start and grow businesses in Chelsea.
“I introduced this order after having multiple conversations with people, my own neighbors, my own friends, people I graduated from Chelsea High with,” said Teshe. “A lot of them have hopes … we know that coming out of the pandemic, a lot of people ran out of their funds because they used them all up. They no longer have a chance to start something new unless they go into debt, which many have already done.”
Teshe said he believes the city is in a position to help its people by setting up the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
With the motion, Teshe said he would like to see the city manager lay out some options for plans to bring back to the council for it to consider.
“The council would then be able to debate on the specifics of how much is going to be spent and how it is going to be handled,” said Teshe. “The specifics are not yet there, but this would be the first step.”
During the public speaking portion of the meeting, several residents spoke in favor of Teshe’s motion.
Loren Sokol spoke about a restaurant owner in Everett near the Chelsea line who came to America from Vietnam, but struggled to keep his restaurant open. He said a program focused on entrepreneurship in Chelsea might have helped him relocate over the city line and stay in business.
Several other residents also spoke of the challenges of starting a small business and how a program could help them grow and succeed in Chelsea.
In other business, Teshe introduced an order asking the city manager to look into creating a program to help residents pay their water and energy bills. He also introduced a motion asking for the city to look into creating a new section on the city’s website where each councilor has their own page listing orders they have introduced along with any other information they believe would be helpful for their constituents.