CalOSBA Announces Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Awardees

Sacramento, CA – The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) has announced grant awards to recipients of the California Small Business Technical Assistance Program (SB TAP, formerly named SB Technical Assistance Expansion Program). The state of California allocated approximately $23 million in grant funding to over 100 Technical Assistance Centers for support of their business consulting and training services for historically underserved business groups, including women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses and businesses in low-wealth, rural, and disaster-impacted communities.

“Support from the CalOSBA Technical Assistance Program has been critical for the growth of the San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center Network,” said Danny Fitzgerald, Regional Director of the San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center Network. “With the funding we have received since 2018, over 12,000 businesses have received one-on-one expert advising, 55% of which are business owners of color, resulting in them receiving over $900,000,000 in capital, creating 5,500 jobs, and obtaining over $400,000,000 in government contracts.”

Since launching in 2018, the Technical Assistance Centers funded by TAP and its partner program, the Capital Infusion Program (CIP), have served over 560,000 small businesses with free and low-cost training in over 30 languages. These efforts have resulted in over $4.5 billion in capital infusion to support California small businesses. Training and consulting provided by these programs have helped start over 5,000 new small businesses and aided in the creation of over 35,000 new jobs.

“While everyone is focused on the pandemic and how to make a positive impact on small businesses and entrepreneurs, ongoing support from programs such as CalOSBA’s TAP provides our Center the opportunity and capacity to continue our efforts to engage, educate and empower small businesses through our technical assistance accelerators and programs,” said Dr. Cassandra Little, President & CEO of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce & Chamber Foundation. “The TAP program is crucial for ensuring that our businesses continue to start, grow and sustain despite any crisis we may encounter.”

TAP allocates funding to eligible Centers through a competitive process. This year’s funding supports Centers across the state, including: all five California Statewide Small Business Development Center networks (SBDC), 16 Women’s Business Centers, Five (5) Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, Rural Development Centers, Chambers of Commerce, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center Network, and small business-serving local nonprofits. The grantees will focus on bridging the opportunity gap and increasing economic mobility for underserved small businesses and entrepreneurs, by offering consulting and training services business owners need to launch a business, increase their revenues, and create jobs.

Small Business Technical Assistance Centers are designated by federal and private funding partners to operate small business technical assistance programs throughout the state. These Centers provide one-on-one, confidential consulting, and training to help small businesses and entrepreneurs start, expand, facilitate investment, and create jobs in California. The TAP provides state grant funding to support ongoing and new consulting and training services provided by designated Centers.

A complete list of the 2022-2023 TAP Awardees can be found here.

About GO-Biz
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development(GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit the GO-Biz website.

About CalOSBA
The Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) helps support economic growth and innovation by working to ensure that California’s small businesses and entrepreneurs have the information, tools and resources they need to plan, launch, manage and grow their businesses successfully and be resilient. The CalOSBA serves to elevate their voices in state government and to advocate on their behalf to help ensure all aspiring and current small business owners and entrepreneurs are provided with the opportunity to access capital, access markets, and connect to the networks and resources they need to succeed. For more information visit the website.

Heather Purcell
Deputy Director of Communications
Email Heather,HERE