Get the news that matters to all Californians. Start every week informed.Owner Lina Mills speaks with customers outside of Creative Ideas Catering in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. The governor’s new proposed budget would cut more than half of the funding of California’s Small Business Technical Assistance Program, which benefits small businesses like Creative Ideas Catering. Photo by Juliana Yamada for CalMatters.
She knew some English, learned more, and worked her way up to catering manager. Now, 36 years later, she owns two businesses in San Francisco. But such aid to small businesses is now in jeopardy across California. The Renaissance center, which receives some state funds through the Small Business Technical Assistance Program, could see a drop in funding because of the state’s. Since 2018, the program has supported centers that help under-resourced small businesses in low-wealth, rural and disaster-affected communities, and those owned by women, people of color and veterans. Now Gov.
More than 90% of California businesses employ fewer than 10 employees, and 7% of the state’s businesses have 20 to 100 employees, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. “I was able to speak directly to accountants, legal, HR,” Delgado said. “I didn’t have to pay for them. I couldn’t afford them.” Those professionals helped him see the importance of creating an “evolving business plan,” he said.
Farther down the state is a different type of example of the impact of that technical assistance. A San Diego restaurant owner, Rodnia Attiq, is counting on the help she received from APEX Accelerators, a small business accelerator that focuses on government contracts, to land a big client: the U.S. Coast Guard, which is seeking a small business to serve food seven days a week at its station in San Diego.