SAN FRANCISCO, May 5 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco, in the western U.S. state of California, on Thursday announced that the city is improving services for small businesses at the new Permit Center as part of the Small Business Week.

       The improvements include locating support services from the Office of Small Business in the Permit Center, launching a Small Business Inspections Ambassadors Team to provide proactive outreach service to those going through the permitting process, and strengthening the review and tracking of small business applications, the city said in an announcement.

       "Small businesses and the people behind them are such an important part of our city and our neighborhoods, yet they often fight a battle regularly against complicated regulations and bureaucratic red tape," said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

       "With a team at the Permit Center dedicated to helping small businesses navigate the challenging permitting process, we are not only offering comprehensive support but also real-time solutions that will help San Francisco become the best city to open and operate a small business," he said.

       Small businesses represent 95 percent of the businesses in San Francisco, and collectively employ nearly 1 million people. Since the beginning of the pandemic, San Francisco has invested over 63 million U.S. dollars in grants and loans to support more than 3,000 small businesses, according to the announcement.