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Get to Know Brooke Solomon
In this newsletter:
- Letter from Our CEO
- Introducing Shop Oakland Now
- Credit Tip
- Small Business Week(s) are coming!
- Thank You to our Funders
- Advising Corner: Succession Planning for my Family Business
- Meet our Clients: Freedom Makers
- Resource for your Business: Oakland Grown
- Get to Know Debra Peace
- Upcoming Events for Your Small Business
- Get Connected to Resources
- Welcome Our Newest Clients
- Welcome Our Newest Team Members
Friends,
Main Street Launch is proud to work with innovative small business owners who are creating jobs for themselves and others, investing in our communities, and providing essential goods and services to our neighborhoods.
We continue to expand our work with the three communities we serve (Oakland, San Francisco, and military families) beyond small business lending. This economic development focus has led us to exciting new projects. In this newsletter we share:
- An introduction to Shop Oakland Now, an online directory of Oakland small businesses,
- Some tips to help you improve your credit score,
- An advising column by Robert Lattimore about succession planning and how to extract wealth from your business,
- Profiles of several of our partner organizations who can help you expand your online presence and grow your customer base,
- Events and resources to support your small business development, and
- Stories about our clients and staff.
Thank you for your support of our clients and our work. We look forward to partnering together to serve entrepreneurs.
Jacob Singer
President & CEO
Introducing Shop Oakland Now
Main Street Launch is proud to introduce Shop Oakland Now, an online directory of Oakland small businesses. The site is still in development, and we invite you to use it, share it, and send us your feedback.
Our goal is to ensure that all operating Oakland small businesses have an online presence to help new customers find their business. Each listing includes basic business information (their address, hours of operation, etc), photos, and a description of what’s great about that business. This directory is a celebration of Oakland small businesses and what makes Oakland an amazing place to live and work.
If you work with Oakland small businesses who are not yet listed, we’ve created an online form for business owners to submit their listing information to help us get their business up faster. Please feel free to pass this form along to anyone who might be interested.
Our goal is to have every operating Oakland small business listed by the end of Summer 2018. We’re collaborating with the City of Oakland, Oakland Grown, and the Oakland Chamber on a consumer-facing campaign as a part of Oakland Small Business Week.
We’re thrilled to share Shop Oakland Now with you. Contact us anytime for more information or with questions about how we can collaborate to best serve Oakland small businesses.
Small Business Weeks are Coming!
It’s nearly time for small business week(s). These events are an opportunity to meet other business owners and resource providers who can help your business grow.
This year, Oakland Grown is coordinating Oakland Small Business Week (April 29-May 5), and Main Street Launch is proud to be the presenting sponsor. Click here to learn more about small business week. Registration starts April 2!
In San Francisco, Strauss Events is producing SF Small Business Week (May 14-19), and Main Street Launch is on the planning committee. Click here to learn more about small business week and check back for the schedule of events.
Thank You to our Funders
Main Street is excited to have received its second Community Economic Development (CED) program grant from HHS’s Office of Community Services. This $780,800 grant is being used to fund low interest, fixed rate loans to restaurants in Downtown Oakland that are creating full time jobs.
Advising Corner: What Happens to My Family Business When I Am Done?
Robert Lattimore is Main Street Launch’s Senior Vice President. He offers this tip to help your small business development.
The majority of family members (88%) assume that the business will stay in the family when the owners retire, but succession statistics undermine this belief.- Only 30% of family-owned businesses survive into the second generation.
- Only 12% are still viable into the third generation.
- Only 3% continue to operate into the fourth generation and beyond.
When businesses do get passed to the next generation, it’s often a struggle to decide how to fairly divide up the business.
Click here to read the full post.
Meet Our Clients: Freedom Makers
Freedom Makers provdies virtual assistant services to small business owners, with the services performed by military spouses. Freedom Makers is providing exceptional service to two audiences: business owners who need help managing their bookkeeping, marketing, and client communications (and more!) and military spouses who lack work opportunities that are as mobile as they are.
Laura Renner, owner of Freedom Makers, shifted her recruiting business that served small businesses into what is now Freedom Makers. “My brother is in the Air Force, and my sister-in-law and I were having a familiar conversation about what she was going to do for work. As a bart and in the military I have many friends who faced the same challenges,” explains Laura.
Click here to read Freedom Makers’ full profile.
Resource for your business: Oakland Grown
Oakland Grown is a nonprofit membership organization that services Oakland’s independent businesses, artists, and makers. They promote buying, investing, and giving locally to build and sustain a more just and vibrant Oakland economy.
Oakland Grown’s members receive significant benefits (click here for their membership kit). Oakland Grown
- Promotes Oakland Grown members
- Provides workshops and events to support your small business
- Provides business advising and access to capital for your business
- Advocates for small businesses at a policy level
- And more!
Click here to learn more about becoming a member.
Oakland Grown also offers benefits to the Oakland community. You can find their concierge service right on their homepage. This service allows you to request information about a business who can provide you exactly what you need for almost any occassion. Looking for a dress for an event? Looking for a great restaurant for your Mother’s Day reservations? Fill out the concierge form and someone will get back to you ASAP. Oakland Grown is making shopping local easy!
Get to Know Debra Peace
Debra Peace, Main Street Launch’s Office Manager, has ten years in nonprofits in a variety of roles including human resources, accounting, and grant management. Click here to learn more about Debra.
“We help neighborhoods keep their culture and transform themselves. Small businesses old and new sustain communities and our services help them do that. To be able to support businesses that have faced challenges but keep going is inspiring to me.”
Click here to read Debra’s full interview.
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
Click here to view more upcoming events to support your business this spring.
We welcome our partners and community to share upcoming events.
We post them on social media and on our website.
Send any upcoming events to katie@mainstreetlaunch.org.
La Cocina Conference
by La Cocina
Date: April 16-18
More info: tiny.cc/LaCocinaConf
Starting & Growing a Successful Consulting Business
by Alameda County SBDC
Date: Mon., Apr. 23, 2018
Time: 1-3pm
More info: tiny.cc/ACSBDCapril
Building Operational Capacity
by Uptima Bootcamp
Date: May 12-August 4
Applications due: April 27
More info: tiny.cc/UptimaCapacity
Fun Run
by Women Veterans Alliance
Date: Sat., May 19, 2018
Time: 8am-2pm
More info: tiny.cc/WVAfunrun
Get Connected to Resources for your Business
The Alameda County SBDC provides free, one-on-one consulting and trainings to more than 2,000 small businesses in the county each year. Areas covered include raising loan and investment capital, marketing, social media, technology, operations, accounting and industries such as food, restaurant and retail. Click here to sign up at no cost to you.
BusinessAdvising.org connects free expert advisors and mentors to entrepreneurs for tailored, hands-on assistance to grow businesses and create new quality jobs in their communities. Click here to sign up at no cost to you.
Townsquared is a social network that connects neighborhood small businesses to each other. This platform fosters collaboration among businesses and offers a place to share resources and information. Click here to join at no cost to you.
Localwise connects local people to jobs at local businesses. As small businesses are ready to make their first hire or grow their team, Localwise offers a local job community focused on building talent in small businesses. Click here to post a job.
Welcome to our Newest Clients
For more information about shopping with our clients, please check out our map.
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Congratulations to our
repeat borrowers:
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Congratulations to our
repeat borrowers:
repeat borrowers:
Welcome Our Newest Team Members
Main Street Launch is thrilled to welcome Diane Lewis, Joshua Marquez, and Yaowen Shi back to our team. Diane is focused on outreach and business development support in Oakland’s District 7. Joshua rejoins Veteran Launch as Program Manager, supporting our statewide initiatives working with military family-owned businesses. Yaowen is focused on outreach and business development support in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Click here to learn more about our team.
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