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Small Business Resources

Resources for San Francisco County:

  • COVID-19 Resource Hub for SF Small Businesses: The Office of Economic and Workforce Development’s (OEWD) website: COVID-19 Resources and Assistance for SF Businesses is the city’s hub during COVID-19 for small business resources, loans, grants, etc. They also have offerings from local, state and federal agencies, such as SBA, Small Business Development Center, and CA Go-Biz. Additionally, OEWD posts local health order updates, such as the Reopening Status and Guidance by Type table.
  • The Office of Small Business (OSB): San Francisco small businesses should refer to OSB for one-on-one business assistance. Their case managers serve as San Francisco’s Small Business Hotline, and provide service by phone, email and video (if requested). They also offer assistance in Spanish and Chinese in-house and provide a language use line for other languages. They closely follow the ever-changing small business health orders, loans, grants, and relief measures. You can refer businesses to OSB by email at sfosb@sfgov.org and phone at (415) 554-6134. Their site can be found here: https://sfosb.org/ABOUT-US
  • OSB e-newsletters: OSB sends weekly e-newsletters with a round-up of announcements for small businesses. An example can be found on their March 11th e-news. Many clients and partners have found these to be helpful over the last year. Businesses can subscribe here: https://sfosb.org/subscribe-small-business-e-news.
  • Other helpful resources:

Resources for San Mateo County:

  • San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA) Business Recovery Resources: SAMCEDA provides information about economic development in San Mateo County, including business recovery, employment, and currently includes information about COVID-19. The Business Recovery section includes information about a wide variety of resources for businesses in San Mateo County, including COVID-19 information for businesses, CARES Act resources, continuity action plans, media intended to aid business owners, and much other miscellaneous information. This site can be found here: https://www.samceda.org/business-continuity-resources
  • SAMCEDA Job Opportunities: This resource lists job opportunities, internships, events, and skillset tools resources currently available in San Mateo County. The most recent postings go at the top for each section listed. This resource also provides information about EDD and provides resources for other helpful information about jobs and careers. SAMCEDA’s job opportunities site can be found here: https://www.samceda.org/Employment-Information
  • SAMCEDA COVID-19 General Resources: SAMCEDA provides COVID-19 information for the response at the federal, state, county, and local levels, with information provided for specific towns and cities in San Mateo County. Additionally, this resources includes information about a variety of services is also provided by SAMCEDA, including healthcare, education, utilities, and transportation. This information can be found here: https://www.samceda.org/covid-19-general-resources
  • SAMCEDA Financial Resources: this includes information for financial relief at the federal, state, and local levels. SAMCEDA also provides information about business grants, loan programs, and rental and mortgage relief. Information about financial relief resources can be found here: https://www.samceda.org/covid-19-financial-relief
  • SAMCEDA: in addition to the information provided above, the SAMCEDA provides daily e-news (sign up here: https://www.samceda.org/san-mateo-county-business-news/newsletter-archive) and a San Mateo County Strong Fund and a San Mateo County Community Fund (information for this can be found here: https://www.samceda.org/smcstrong).
  • You can find the links for all of the resources provided above at https://www.samceda.org/

Resources for CA:

Resources from CalOSBA – The Small Business Grant Program FAQs

  • Where can small businesses and nonprofits get help on how to apply?
  • Where can small businesses and nonprofits get help once they have started an application or are having challenges with completing their application?
    • Applicants should check their emails, including the junk or spam folder. Lendistry sends information by email for applications to login and take additional steps if needed.
    • If applicants have submitted more than one application, this can cause confusion with the emails they receive and their application status. If this is the case, applicants should look for both entries and work with their Partner or the Lendistry call center team to determine which application is the one they wish to proceed with.
    • Applicants can call Lendistry on Mondays – Fridays from 7am – 7pm.
      • The first and last two hours of the day have lower call wait times.
      • Call Center for SBCRG program: (888) 612-4370
      • Call Center for Arts & Cultural Institutions/Round 4 only: (866) 759-5320
    • Applicants can contact their Partner directly. Many offer one on one consulting and webinars to help applicants. These webinars are happening daily and in multiple languages. They can be found here: https://careliefgrant.com/webinars/
  • When will small businesses and nonprofits be notified of the status of their applications and receive their awards, if qualified?
    • Applicants should begin receiving notifications of their award status (Selected, Waitlisted, Not Selected) beginning March 31 for the Arts & Cultural Institutions programs and April 5 for the SBCRG program.
    • Applicants should add Lendistry to their safe senders list in their emails to ensure they receive notification
    • Once Selected, applicants will be subject to additional verification requirements before grant funds will be disbursed. Being Selected does not guarantee an award, as there is further vetting to make sure that all information and documents are accurate and the applicants are eligible to receive the award.
    • Applicants that were Waitlisted in Round 1, 2, or 3 will automatically be put in the pool for Round 5 or 6 funding. Applicants should monitor their emails for an update from Lendistry. Until then, there is no action on the part of the applicants unless they are Selected.
      • Round 4 Arts & Cultural Institutions applications that did not apply during Round 1 and Round 2 are encouraged to apply for Round 5 if eligible.
    • If an applicant is Selected to receive a grant after additional vetting, they will begin receiving agreements and ACH transfers one week after notification through the next 45 days.
    • Applicants are chosen based on the program’s priorities – not on a first-come, first-serve basis. Applicants who are Waitlisted will have two additional opportunities to be Selected during Round 5 & 6.
  • Why are there additional rounds when there are applicants on the Waitlist?
    • The decision to have additional rounds was made with the legislature to provide Lendistry enough time for additional outreach and ensure that hard-to-reach small businesses have the chance to learn about the program and to provide the applicants time to collect and organize their documentation.
  • How will grants be prioritized?
    • Geographic distribution based on COVID-19 health and safety restrictions following California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, county status, and the Regional Stay at Home Order.
    • Industry sectors most impacted by the pandemic, including, but not limited to:
      • Educational Services
      • Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
      • Accommodation and Food Services
      • Apparel Manufacturing
      • Clothing and Clothing Accessory Stores
      • Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores
      • Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
      • Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation
      • Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries
      • Personal and Laundry Services
      • Newspaper, Periodical, Book and Directory Publishers
    • Nonprofit mission services most impacted by the pandemic, including, but not limited it emergency food provisions, emergency housing stability, childcare, and workforce development.
    • Disadvantaged communities based on socioeconomic indicators that may include low to moderate income, poverty rates, unemployment, education attainment, and other disadvantaging factors that limit access to capital and other resources.
    • Grants to nonprofit cultural institutions will be prioritized on documented percentage revenue declines based on a reporting period comparing Q2 and Q3 of 2020 compared to Q2 and Q3 of 2019.