Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) is awarding 38 business-recovery grants, totalling $238,500, to small businesses impacted by the Hill/Woolsey fires in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

WEV, a nonprofit based in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, helps small business owners launch, grow and succeed with training, loans and consulting. Thanks to a contribution from Wells Fargo, WEV will award 38 business recovery grants to small businesses that were economically impacted by the November 2018 Hill/Woolsey Fires.

View the list of recipients at www.wevonline.org/2018-business-recovery-grant-recipients/.

Recovery grants were awarded for businesses that lost revenue, contracts, services, equipment, operations or inventory as a result of the fires. Of the 38 businesses’ owners who received the recovery grant, 21 suffered significant or total loss.

A majority of the impacted businesses that received the grant are based in Los Angeles County (82 percent) where the Woolsey Fire caused the majority of destruction. The remaining grant recipient businesses are in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Kimberlee and John Kayton, owners of Apex Building Construction Associates in Los Angeles County lost their home and business in the November 2018 wildfire.

“Losing everything we ever owned in the Woolsey Fire is almost beyond comprehension,” Kimberlee Kayton said. “Women’s Economic Ventures is the first and only organization that reached out to us with assistance to rebuild our business.”

“We believe that the long-term success and resiliency of our communities, and our business, depends on our ability to collaborate across the public and private sectors to help communities better prevent, prepare for, and respond to foreseeable and unforeseeable events — like the Hill and Woolsey fires,” said Ernie Pineda, Central Coast region bank president, Wells Fargo.

“In crafting our relief and recovery action plan for the region, we realized we needed to go beyond short-term aid and develop a long-term resiliency and capacity building strategy to help prevent or minimize future impacts of large-scale disrupters to the local economy,” he said.

“This grant program is not just about recovery but also about building long-term business resilience,” said Nicki Parr, WEV business recovery specialist. “In addition to their grant funds, all grantees will receive training on how to make their businesses stronger for the future, and be more prepared for the unexpected challenges ahead.”

WEV is grateful to the partnership and support from Wells Fargo to help stabilize local businesses, community members and economy.

— Lysa Urban for Women’s Economic Ventures.