The pandemic experience has been a challenge that affected everyone of us, in so many facets. We take this moment to acknowledge both its global, far reaching effects, as well as the very personal impact it has made on our lives.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the obstacles that loom ahead of a home purchase and too often we count ourselves out of the possibility of becoming homeowners one day. Yet in 2016, the Torres Family decided that they were going to try. It wasn’t an easy start. Mayra Torres, mom of three, had to resort to gathering coins from their money jar to afford a babysitter while they attended their first Homebuyer Workshop with VCCDC. They started from the very beginning; learning how to budget and starting the slow process of building up their credit score. Last month, after diligently working for almost 6 years (and many many homeownership coaching sessions later), the Torres Family moved out of the garage they had been living in for 17 years and closed on their very own home purchase.
“A week before we closed our purchase, we went to see the house [for our final inspection] and I remember I went to the yard which has fruit trees and I picked up a lemon and I brought the lemon home. When I cut the lemon, it was so emotional because this was a lemon that is mine, I don’t have to buy it at the store. It is so amazing to have a place that you can say is yours.” – Mayra
Pictured: the Torres Family in their new kitchen
The Torres Family will be sharing their journey at this year’s conference. Don’t let the mountain of obstacles stop you from starting your homeownership journey. The dream really can become your reality.
Tamara Skov, a former health care executive and non-profit manager has joined local estate management firm Quinn Fiduciary Services as an associate fiduciary.
Skov, a California Licensed Professional Fiduciary, has worked extensively in non-profit management and charitable gift planning, balancing the mission of the non-profit with the needs and interests of donors.
For the past four years, the Southeast Ventura County YMCA has been offering its “Find My Genius” enrichment summer program to kids not reading at grade level. It is now conducting a five-week after-school Find My Genius pilot program at five Conejo Valley schools with the goal to expand the free program year-round.
Two hundred Title One, English language learners and foster youth at Acacia, Ladera, Madrona, Maple and Walnut elementary schools began the program on May 2. Young scholars in first through fifth grades spend three hours every school day participating in a curriculum focusing on enrichment activities, physical fitness and social and emotional learning. The children also receive homework support.
“It’s been our dream to offer Find My Genius during the school year,” says Megan Glynn, YMCA’s Chief Development Officer. “This is the first step. Imagine if children had access to assistance for a full year in a fun, nurturing environment? The main roadblock was funding.”
The California Labor Market Information Division (LMID) released its April 2022 report on Friday, showing an extraordinary improvement in the unemployment rate, down all the way from an already unprecedented low of 3.5% in March to 3.0% in April. Though rather than being encouraged by that data, we’re more convinced than ever that the unemployment rate in the COVID recovery era is all but meaningless as an indicator of our regional economic condition.
For the April data, click here. For our commentary on it all, or on why we’ve mostly given up on the unemployment rate as a measure of recovery, please read on.
STARTING YOUR BUSINESS IN LOMPOC
May 26 @ 12:00 pm
Turn your 2022 business goals into a realty! Join the EDC SBDC, the Small Business Development Center serving Santa Barbara County, the City of Lompoc and the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce in this FREE webinar to learn more about starting your business in Lompoc.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Did you know that any employer with at least five California-based employees, at least one of whom is age eighteen, that doesn’t already offer a workplace retirement savings vehicle will be required by state law to do so by June 30, 2022?
Businesses can either begin offering retirement savings through the private market or through CalSavers!
The CalSavers program ensures nearly all Californians have access to a workplace retirement savings program by offering employees a completely voluntary, low cost, portable retirement savings vehicle with professionally managed investments and oversight from a public, transparent board of directors, chaired by the California State Treasurer.
The Ventura College Foundation presented scholarships to 240 students for the 2022-2023 academic year during its 33rd Annual Scholarship Awards ceremony, May 13, at the Ventura College Athletic Center. There were 446 scholarships awarded, including nine new scholarships, totaling $756,908. Last year’s distribution amount was $652,758.
Scholarships ranged from an average of over $2,400 for continuing students to an average of $4,200 for students who are transferring to four-year universities in the Fall. Many students received multiple scholarships.
When the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced the recipients for its highly competitive Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship on May 12, 2022, one Santa Barbara City College student appeared on the list: Cameron Black. Cameron, who majored in both psychology and communications, was also an SBCC Associated Student Government (ASG) officer committed to nurturing equity and inclusion within the SBCC community.
“Today, almost half of all college students begin their academic career at a community college,” said Seppy Basili, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. “We know our community colleges are full of high-achieving students, and we’re committed to playing our part to ensure those students succeed. Congratulations to a cohort of students who have persisted in the midst of such unprecedented disruptions in our lives.”
The Rotary Club of Montecito Foundation has donated $10,500 each to two humanitarian relief organizations that are offering direct medical and shelter supplies and support to the people of Ukraine during this time of war and crisis. ShelterBoxUSA and Direct Relief not only respond to times of great need around the entire world, but the groups have also provided comfort and help to the greater Santa Barbara County.
ShelterBox, founded in 2000, has given shelter and other essentials like blankets, cooking sets, and mosquito nets to more than two million people around the world. It has responded to over 300 disasters across 100 countries. Learn more about the organization at www.shelterboxusa.org.
United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) helped local residents receive over $2,678,237 back in refunds this year.
From February 2nd to April 18th, a team of 40 volunteers worked under United Way management at four locations throughout the County, providing free tax filing services to families and individuals making $67,000 or less annually. Locations included: United Way of Santa Barbara County, Immigrant Hope, the Eastside Library, and the Goleta Valley Community Center.
VENTURA COUNTY SCORE: IMPROVE YOUR GOOGLE RANK: BEING FOUND AND CHOSEN ONLINE
May 17 @ 10:30 am
In this workshop, you will learn how to improve your business’s chance of being found in relevant online searches. SCORE will cover the building blocks of bringing exposure to your Google My Business listing and how to leverage the Google local pack ranking algorithm to show up above your competitors online. You won’t want to miss this webinar!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 13 announced his revised state budget plan, which included a proposal to remove exclusions to the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) for Californians over age 55, regardless of immigration status. While this is an important step toward ensuring the health and wellbeing of older Californians, it misses a vital opportunity to ensure Californians of all ages who have been historically excluded are able to access critical food assistance.
Amid skyrocketing food prices and soaring cost of living, a recent report from the Food4All campaign in partnership with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research revealed that nearly half (45%) of undocumented Californians are currently experiencing food insecurity. Children face even higher rates of food insecurity; 64% of undocumented children – nearly two out of every three – don’t have access to sufficient food.
Help our students blossom by participating in our virtual silent auction! Bidding will be open from today, May 16 at 12PM through Sunday, May 22 at 5PM, where you can choose from an exciting selection of local goods, services and experiences. All proceeds will support Camino Scholars, the education program of People’s Self-Help Housing.
want all your homeownership questions answered but did you know it is also the beginning of a life-changing journey that could impact generations of your family?!
If you’re ready to learn, connect and find a way to financial security, you’re in the right place. Most people come to us feeling like homeownership is impossible, but with over 2,000 families successfully purchasing homes, and countless more engaged on the path, we can confidently be the hope that you need to keeping working toward your dreams. Through resources like our Homeownership Conference, we can help you find “a new way home”.
Now it’s your turn. Don’t miss this chance to find your way home. Check out our website for information and register early.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 13 announced a $48 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of Oxnard, California, to support its Aquifer Storage Recovery Project. With this WIFIA loan, EPA is helping to expand the city’s recycled water supply to help secure a climate-resilient and reliable water service for over 200,000 people.
“Communities across the west—including in Oxnard, California—are facing sustained water challenges as a result of climate change and the worst megadrought in a millennium. This challenge calls for using multiple tools, including recycling our water to get more use from every drop,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “EPA is proud to provide this $48 million loan to help Oxnard expand water reuse. We are working to bring the benefits of water infrastructure investment to communities from coast to coast with $50 billion in through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
VENTURA COUNTY SCORE: HOW TO RECORD IN QUICKBOOKS ONLINE FROM THIRD PARTY COMPANIES
May 10 @ 10:30 am
This live, interactive webinar session is designed to help you understand the features, functions and benefits of QuickBooks Online for small business owners as well as assist you in implementing accounting best practices to manage your business finance. This webinar will concentrate on steps to properly record payroll transactions that are administered by third party companies like ADP and Paychex. Juliana Ramirez from JR Bookkeeping will live answer your questions related to the subject matter including live demonstrations.
The Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF) awarded $192,556 to the Ventura College Foundation to help support the Ventura College’s Veterinary Technology Program. The two-year vet program is a partnership between the Ohana Pet Hospital and the college that began in 2021 and takes place adjacent to Ventura College’s East Campus in Santa Paula.
The VCCF conducted an Animal Welfare Needs Assessment for Ventura County. This assessment showed, among other things, the need for more veterinarian professionals including qualified vet technicians in Ventura County.
Hospice of Santa Barbara (HSB) and Mi Vida, Mi Voz (MVMV) have launched a new advance care planning initiative for both English and Spanish speakers in Santa Barbara County. Advance Care Planning is a way for people of all ages to prepare for their end of life medical wishes. An Advance Directive assists individuals in making decisions about the types of healthcare they wish to receive in the case they become very sick or injured and are not able to speak for themselves. Additionally, it allows them to select a person to make healthcare decisions in the case they are unable to make them themselves. Everyone, 18 years or older should have a completed document regardless of health condition.
Trade consuls from around the world, high-ranking Department of Commerce officials, local elected officials, business leaders, and maritime industry experts gathered at the Port of Hueneme to present an important program with a special focus on environment, green technology, and the economy as it relates to the marine realm.
The 10th annual World Trade Week event, “Green Tech and Blue Economy,” was held at the Port of Hueneme on May 3, 2022 and welcomed over 100 people from around the globe with an interest and involvement in international trade.
With Amazon’s new Oxnard fulfillment center officially open for business, the City of Oxnard highlights how its partnership with Amazon ensured local residents got hired.
In October 2020, when Amazon announced it was building a new fulfillment center that would create more than 1,500 new, full-time jobs with industry-leading pay and benefits, the City began to work with Amazon to notify and prepare Oxnard residents for these much needed jobs. Through this collaboration over the past year, about 60% of Amazon’s new hires at the fulfillment center are from the City of Oxnard.
David Kim, a local realtor and former president of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors, offered a “boots on the ground” assessment of the region’s residential real estate market during the 2022 South County Economic Summit on Wednesday, May 4, at the Granada Theater.
Kim, who works for the Santa Barbara area’s largest independent real estate company Village Properties, was one of five guest speakers at the annual summit, organized by the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Economic Forecast Project. The Department of Economics at UCSB established the project in 1981 to provide the community with information on economic, demographic, and regional business trends in the Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo County areas.
The six-county Uplift Central Coast Coalition—led by the Economic Development Collaborative, REACH and Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP)—is excited to announce its continued partnership to develop an application and secure our region’s share of California’s new $600 million Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF).
The six county region as defined by the state for the CERF program and funding includes Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito.
The purpose of CERF is to support new plans and strategies to diversify local economies and develop sustainable industries that create high-quality, broadly accessible jobs for all Californians.
VENTURA COUNTY SCORE: FRANCHISE OWNERSHIP 101
May 04 @ 10:30 am
Starting a business through a franchise is often the shortest path to profitability, and some of them require as little as $60K to start and can operate out of a home office. But where do you start? Join SCORE to learn franchising basics, including the array of categories, investment levels, and ownership options available, and how to go about defining your vision to make sure you’re selecting the RIGHT fit for YOU!
For more than 60 years, the president of the United States has recognized the National Small Business Week (NSBW) as May 1 – 7, 2022. NSBW recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Join us in celebrating National Small Business Week and participate in the following events throughout the week! These events are free (provided by the Fresno SBDC Network) and will cover different information that will help you START, GROW and EXPAND your small business.
Para leer este boletín en español, haga clic aquí
CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) will begin working to develop a new Native American and Indigenous Studies academic program thanks to a $250,000 check presented to the University by Congresswoman Julia Brownley recently.
The presentation ceremony took place Thursday, April 21 in the President’s Courtyard where about 20 campus and community members gathered to hear remarks from Brownley, President Richard Yao, Ph.D., Provost Mitch Avila, Ph.D., and Chumash elder Raudel Bañuelos, who holds an honorary Doctor of Letters from CSUCI.
Bañuelos began the ceremony with a traditional Chumash blessing, filling the courtyard with the smell of sage as he fanned the fragrant herb with an eagle feather and honored the east, west, north and south, all living beings, and the Chumash ancestors.
Trade consuls from around the world, high-ranking Department of Commerce officials, local elected officials, business leaders and maritime industry experts will gather to present an important program with a special focus on environment, green technology and economics related to the marine realm.
U.S. COMMERCIAL SERVICE: FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL: CELEBRATING DIVERSITY: SHOWCASING THE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS OF ARAB AND MIDDLE EASTERN-OWNED AND LED BUSINESSES
April 27 @ 11:00 am
In celebration of National Arab American Heritage Month, join the U.S. Commercial Service for the third session of their “From Local to Global: Celebrating Diversity” event series, as we feature a dynamic panel of Arab and Middle Eastern American founders and leaders from Southern California based companies, who will share how they have successfully grown their businesses internationally. Learn about the opportunities to seek out, as well as the challenges to avoid as you launch or expand your international business. Receive information and resources that will help you chart your path to global sales and expansion success.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
April may have been a “taxing” month for all of us, but the bright side of that is realizing the investment of those resources can produce good things, that are most important and critical to meeting our communities’ common concerns and needs. Such is the case for the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. It’s a tried and true system that, although not perfect nor simple, has continuously produced high quality permanently affordable housing to lower-income earning households all across the nation, including here on the Central Coast. Originating from the 1986 Reagan Tax Reform Act, it has had substantive bipartisan support since then, through numerous pendulum power swinging election cycles and shifts. Success has in part been attributed to the public-private partnership nature of the program, that provides affordable housing financing. It starts with a tax credit allocation made available to each state each year, based on their population at a per capita rate. For 2022 that rate is set at an allocation of $2.35 per person.
Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (Housing Trust Fund VC) announces two, $1 million lines of credit (LOC), one each from Community West Bank and Mission Bank. The funds will be used as part of Housing Trust Fund VC’s Everyone Deserves a Home revolving loan fund, a community impact note that provides flexible, below- market interest rate loans for the development of affordable housing in Ventura County. Three upcoming developments that will receive funding are a new pre-development loan for Fillmore Terrace being developed by Peoples’ Self-Help Housing Corporation (PSHHC), a GAP loan for Mesa Ojai being purchased by Mesa, and a construction loan to the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (HACSB) for Westview II.
SANTA BARBARA SCORE: WHY YOUR WEBSITE SHOULD BE A TOP MARKETING PRIORITY
April 20 @ 10:00 am
It’s important that businesses make their website a priority and the foundation of their digital marketing in order to achieve optimal success. With only having a few seconds to engage website visitors, your visuals and content need to be spot on. Join SCORE to learn the latest website best practices and techniques for making your website a more effective sales tool.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Santa Barbara City College is pleased to announce that registration for summer 2022 is now open to everyone in the community. Whether looking to earn a certificate, an associate degree or transfer to a four-year university — or enroll in the School of Extended Learning for life-enhancement classes, career-skills training, a high school diploma or GED — SBCC is ready to help you achieve your goals.
Two six-week sessions are offered, starting May 16 and June 27.
United Way of Ventura County has officially launched its new Forward Home Program in partnership with the City of Oxnard, which assists City of Oxnard clients experiencing homelessness in successfully transitioning to stable housing.
UWVC provides a variety of services via the Forward Home Program, including collaborating with case managers as well as assisting clients in gathering and obtaining necessary documents, receiving credit counseling, applying for housing voucher programs, accessing additional community resources, and more.
The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) announced grant award recipients?of the Inclusive Innovation Hub (iHub2) program. This one-time, $250,000 grant will run for 15 months period and will help accelerate regionally focused strategies to spur innovation and diversification across industry sectors and geographies while attracting entrepreneurs from underserved business communities.
WEV is seeking to hire a full-time Bilingual Program Officer to support our Emprendedores Spanish language business training, coaching and micro-grant program. ?This role can be based in the Ventura or Santa Barbara office, with hybrid work opportunities. WEV (pronounced “weave”) is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating an equitable and just society through the economic empowerment of women. We are a purposeful, mission-driven organization with a passionate and engaged staff based in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, whose primary focus is on supporting women-owned businesses and entrepreneurship. For more information and to apply visit: www.wevonline.org/jobs/bilingual-program-officer/
A farmworker strike for the agriculture company Aquistapace Harvesting Inc. took place April 11 in Santa Maria, California with the support of non-profit organizations, Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project and CAUSE.
Workers at Aquistapace Harvesting Inc. are on strike to demand an increase in the payment of strawberry boxes as no increases have been seen in past years. With the increase in gasoline, housing and food. Collective workers are demanding the following in order to sustain themselves:
1. Increase in strawberry boxes to $3.50
2. Paid holidays / double when working
3. Working condition – Do not work during rains / pay double box price on rainy days
VENTURA SCORE: GETTING STARTED WITH QUICKBOOKS ONLINE-HOW TO SET UP QUICKBOOKS FROM SCRATCH
April 12 @ 10:30 am
This live, interactive webinar session is designed to help you understand the features, functions and benefits of QuickBooks Online for small business owners as well as assist you in implementing accounting best practices to manage your business finance. This webinar will concentrate on steps to properly record payroll transactions that are administered by third party companies like ADP and Paychex. Juliana Ramirez from JR Bookkeeping will live answer your questions related to the subject matter including live demonstrations.
The Economic Development Collaborative is partnering with the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, the California Academy for Economic Development, and Edison International to promote the statewide Outsmart Disaster campaign which equips businesses with the tools and resources they need to be prepared for disaster.
Complimentary business resiliency resources and trainings provided by the State of California by California’s Business Consumer Services and Housing Agency with The California Academy for Economic Development and supported by Edison International.
Two $250,000 grants from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing will enable a successful CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) teacher residency partnership program to expand and explore new opportunities.
One of the grants went to the teacher residency program launched in 2019, which provides full tuition for CSUCI teaching credential candidates who are selected as residents, plus a stipend up to $10,000. The program is in partnership with the Oxnard School District (OSD), Oxnard Union High School District (OUHSD); the Rio School District and the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD).
A grateful THANK YOU for supporting the School of Management yesterday on Cares Day!
Our entire community of alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends came together to help us Reach for the Stars and meet both of our giving challenges to unlock an extra $20,000, thanks to Jeffrey ’91 and Lia Brouelette and Herbalife! We received a total of 166 gifts for a total of $62,931 to support our future business leaders of tomorrow.
If you were tied up yesterday and weren’t able to give, there is still time. Choose your passion and consider a contribution to one of our four funds:
Help us Reach for the Stars, today, on Cal Lutheran Cares Day! As an important member of our School of Management (SOM) Community, we’d love your support today so we can continue to provide educational opportunities for the next generation of business leaders.
We are raising funds for four different causes, and you can choose what you are most passionate about. This year, the School of Management’s goal is to double our donors.
The California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) and Grant Program (CCGP) are available to businesses that want to locate in California or stay and grow in California. Businesses of any industry, size, or location compete for over $180 million available in tax credits by applying in one of the three application periods each year. Applicants will be analyzed based on twelve different factors of evaluation, including number of full-time jobs being created, amount of investment, and strategic importance to the state or region.
VENTURA COUNTY SCORE: OVERVIEW OF WORKING WITH THE COUNTY OF VENTURA AS A VENDOR
March 23 @ 10:30 am
Do you have a product or service that you’d like to sell to government buyers? The Office of Procurement Services of the County of Ventura will deliver a presentation on how to work with the County as a vendor. Topics to be covered include what a prospective vendor needs to know to do business with the County, information about vendor tools, and some background information on County’s Procurement Services department and contacts.
For children who are the first in their family to attend college, pursuing higher education is often a family decision. This can be especially true for farmworking families who may believe they don’t have the background or finances to support their student.
A CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) program designed to show farmworking families a pathway to college has just received a $50,000 boost from Reiter Affiliated Companies’ philanthropic arm.
Are you an artist, arts business or arts nonprofit operating in Ventura County who earned $50,000 or less (primary means of income) in 2019 and were significantly impacted by COVID-19? If so, you are encouraged to apply for a $2,500 business assistance grant. Grants will be awarded until the grant funding has been exhausted, so don’t delay!
The Foundation of VCCU, a philanthropic nonprofit organization established by Ventura County Credit Union (VCCU), has provided $50,000 in grants to 10 local nonprofit organizations. The grant money will support these organizations’ efforts to make a positive difference in the Ventura County community.
The Foundation of VCCU gave $5,000 to each of the 10 nonprofits. The grant recipients included Turning Point Foundation, DRAGG, Brain Injury Center, Casa Pacifica, Women’s Economic Ventures, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Westminster Free Clinic, House Farm Workers, Bike Ventura and Parkinson’s Foundation.
“We are honored to support the incredible work these nonprofits are doing in our local community,” said The Foundation’s board president, Alma Medina. “Their efforts are changing countless lives, and we know that this grant money will help them continue to make a meaningful impact here in Ventura County.”
From the California Green Business Network
Do you want to save money and operate more efficiently? The California Green Business Network is pleased to present a Sustainable Business Challenge for businesses in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties! For a limited time only, businesses are eligible for $500 incentive as long as they complete their certification by June 30, 2022. In addition to the $500, newly certified Green Businesses will receive free digital promotion, directory listing, a certificate and a marketing toolkit upon completion.
Spring semester on campus got off to something of a quiet start, with classes remaining online for the first five weeks. On Feb. 22, however, all that changed as in-person classes and services made a comeback. Tracy Lehr of KEYT-TV came to main campus to interview students, who expressed their pleasure that they could meet their instructors and other students face-to-face again. View the broadcast here.
CMTC: QUALITY 501: ROADMAP TO BECOMING A PREMIUM SUPPLIER
March 15 @ 10:00 am
During this webinar, CMTC Quality Practice Lead Eliot Dratch will discuss the key points that larger customers typically demand from their lower-tier suppliers before advancing their status to “Top” or “Premium” Supplier. This approach is applicable to most industries, including aerospace, consumer products, medical, apparel, food, and more.
The California Labor Market Information Division (LMID) released its January 2022 report earlier today, later than per the usual schedule of the 3rd Friday of the following month, accommodating time for LMID’s annual recalibration of the data.
Not surprisingly, we had an increase in the unemployment rate, from 4.2% in December to 4.7% in January, generally the result of the layoff of holiday season workers that were hired in November and December.
All told, for the total of officially unemployed workers (by which we mean, not counting the several thousand workers that have dropped out of the labor force during the pandemic), we had a jump from 17,000 to 19,300. Of that increase by 2,300, it appears they were split about evenly between layoffs in Retail Trade and Leisure & Hospitality.
