The Economic Development Collaborative (EDC) has been awarded $475,000 in new funding from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and the California Small Business Development Center Network.
The funding is for the enhancement and expansion of EDC’s services and programs promoting business growth and sustainability. The money doubles EDC’s Small Business Development Center’s capacity to serve the business communities of Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties.
EDC will be rolling out new programs to help businesses navigate opportunities in global trade and assist early-stage firms seeking second-stage financing and equity investors.
EDC also will expand its role in helping businesses recover from disasters. It will deliver a training program to strengthen its SBDC advisors’ disaster response capacity and will support disaster outreach and communication for a network of business recovery services across multiple jurisdictions.
EDC will expand its capacity for assisting businesses that need debt financing. As part of its outreach, EDC will focus efforts on women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses, with a concentration in the disaster-declared regions.
“We are excited about this opportunity to double our outreach and service capacity,” said Bruce Stenslie, EDC president/CEO.
“EDC’s Small Business Development Center is positioned to serve as one of the key resources in the region for economic vitality in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, giving businesses, community partners and civic leaders the support and services they need to succeed,” he said.
For more information about EDC programs and services, visit edcollaborative.com or call 805-384-1800.
GO-Biz serves as California’s single point of contact for economic development and job creation efforts. For more, visit www.business.ca.gov.
The SBDC is funded by the Small Business Association and provides professional business assistance at no cost to businesses. Participating businesses are required to follow a well-defined scope of work and report their economic successes.
— Bruce Stenslie for Economic Development Collaborative.