The East Bay EDA's "Building on Our Assets" report published last October found that nearly 70% of jobs in the East Bay are created by businesses employing less than 100 people.  It also found that: 47% of companies with 1-2 employees and 49% of with 3-25 employees fail during their first five years of operation.  This Initiative is intended to help make small businesses more successful by connecting them to available resources that most are not aware of.

What is the East Bay Small Business Initiative?

An effort to:

• Establish an on-line "clearing-house" of information at about existing small business resources currently available in the East Bay (this website is the foundation for this effort), including a geographical resource map and a business resource listing with program description and contact information.  A small business events/training calendar has been added to the website and additional tools for finding resources to meet your needs are being developed.

• Organize four "Small Business Symposia" in 2012 – one in each East Bay sub-region - to better connect entrepreneurs and small business owners and operators with business resource folks of all kinds (financing, alternative lenders, marketing and management experts, and additional business resources).  

  As entrepreneurs connect to the Initiative (register or attend a Symposium), the Alameda County Small Business Development Center and the Contra Costa Small Business Development Center will contact them to make sure they received the assistance/information needed and refer them to additional programs or resources.  Later, Inner City Advisors will connect with the small businesses to track the connections made by small businesses via this Initiative and benchmark its impact on their ability to secure needed resources, grow and create quality jobs.
  
  For more information, download the East Bay Small Business Initiative info sheet.

  Click here for the 3-pg summary or click here for the complete review of the 2012 Small Business Initiative and Symposiums. 

Who is Involved?

You can be!  The Initiative hopes to engage as many East Bay business owners and resource providers as possible.  The Initiative is being organized by East Bay EDA, Inner City Advisors (ICA), and Wells Fargo Bank, with the assistance of the Contra Costa and Alameda County Small Business Development Centers and the Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa and the Alameda County Workforce Investment Board, Oakland Private Industry Council, City of Richmond Workforce Investment Board and the US Small Business Association.  Come join us! 

A  list of the resource participants can be viewed on the resources page. Find resources available in your city on our new resource map page.

To find out how you can participate and be listed as a Resource Participant, view the Resource Participant Information.

How can I connect?

Small businesses can connect by attending one of the Symposiums, selecting resources from the resources page, find resources available by geographic area by clicking on the map page, or going to the register form and request assistance.

The first regional East Bay Small Business Symposium took place in East Contra Costa County on May 23, 2012 , in Antioch, the second one in Berkeley, July 31st, the third one was held in Danville, on September 18th and the fourth and final 2012 Symposium was held in Union City on November 8th.   For more information on the Symposiums or to register, see the events page.

The Initiative program and events for 2013 are currently being planned and will be announced on this website. 

Check for the East Bay small business events on the website Calendar under "Select Calendar" and then the East Bay Small Business Events category.  To be notified when events are placed on the Calendar, check the "Subscribe:iCal / RSS link under the Calendar Month and Year.  Additional East Bay events and training programs for financing, marketing, use of social media and many other topics are also viewable and searchable on this Calendar.   

If you would like to be emailed information on future Small Business Initiative Symposiums and programs, or if you are a small business with a need that the resources on our list cannot help with, you can use the registration form to provide your contact information and identify your need/request.   

For more information or to participate as a sponsor or resource, please contact EDA staff person, Keith Sutton, (510) 272-3885 or keith@eastbayeda.org.