Out & About with Donna
Virtual Japanese Craft Spirits Festival with the Japan Business Association (JBA)
The Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce and the Japan Business Association (JBA) have experienced an extraordinary partnership that has spanned 22 years. Throughout this relationship members of the chamber and JBA have experienced a variety of networking opportunities through events and cross-cultural activities.

Yesterday I was invited by the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles to attend a virtual Japanese Craft Spirits Festival. Each February is Japanese Craft Spirits month. This virtual festival included Shochu and Awamori tastings with special insights from experts, Shochu and Awamori recipes and demonstrations, meet the makers and distributors in breakout rooms and exclusive brewery tours live from Japan. Read more.
News
Chamber Urges for immediate End to Tax Increase Enacted on California Employers
The Torrance Chamber is urging Assembly Budget leadership to immediately end a tax increase enacted on California employers last year and restore the net operating loss (NOL) deduction and business incentive tax credits as part of this year’s budget in coalition letter.

This morning, the California Chamber of Commerce and 75 allied groups sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and Legislative leadership urging action to help small businesses who continue to struggle as a result of the pandemic.Read more.
Chamber Joins Coalition and Sends Letters in Opposition to SB213
The Torrance Chamber has joined a California Chamber of Commerce led coalition in opposition of SB213 which will impose an astronomical financial burden on employers in the healthcare industry that is presently grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and creates a troubling precedent for the workers' compensation system in general by creating a legal presumption that blood-borne infectious disease, tuberculosis, meningitis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, cancer, musculoskeletal injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, or respiratory disease are presumptively workplace injuries for all hospital employees that provide direct care.  

The Torrance Chamber has also sent a letter of opposition to the Honorable Dave Cortese, Chair of the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee. Read article online.
Torrance Chamber Opposes AB84/SB95, Paid Supplemental COVID-19 Sick Leave
The Torrance Chamber has joined the California Chamber of Commerce and many other organizations in opposing AB84 (Ting)/SB95 (Skinner), as these bills would impose a significant cost onto small employers, who the State has already acknowledged are suffering due to this pandemic. View coalition letter in opposition to Assembly Bill 84 and Senate Bill 95.

This paid sick leave mandate would essentially negate any financial relief small employers may receive through proposed grant programs pending in the Budget. Specifically, AB,84/SB95 1) require employers with only one or more employees, to provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year to all employees for COVID-19 related reasons, 2) apply retroactively to January 1, 2021, 3) provide no tax credit or funding to businesses to offset the cost of the leave unlike the Families First Coronavirus Act (FFCRA), 4) drastically expand the reasons for which an employee can take leave. Read article online.
City of Torrance Small Business Grant: Up to $10,000 to to Local Business
The City of Torrance Small Business Grant (SBG) Program is offered to local business that have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic between today, March 1 to March 5th. The City is providing grants of $10,000 to businesses that: Create or retain a job for a low-income or moderate-income person.  Apply Now!

Eligible Businesses are Small Businesses located in the City of Torrance and meet the criteria below:
  • Small Businesses with less than 500 employees that have been impacted by COVID-19
  • Restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, cafés, gastropubs, salons, barbers and other grooming businesses, gyms, day spas, and fitness studios
  • Retail and commercial stores such as local markets, consumer goods, electronics, appliances, health and sporting goods, furniture, clothing and shoes, books, and music stores
  • Active business license in the City or County, as applicable
  • No unresolved City, municipal, or health code violations
  • Business in continuous operation in our City for at least two year
Biden Administration Takes Steps to Promote Equitable Access to SBA Relief
In order to reach the smallest businesses, SBA will offer Paycheck Protection Program loans to businesses with fewer than 20 employees and sole proprietors only from Wednesday, February 24 through Tuesday, March 9, 2021. President Biden has also announced additional program changes to make access to PPP loans more equitable. SBA will:
  • Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants;
  • Eliminate an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal; 
  • Eliminate PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have struggled to make student loan payments by eliminating student loan debt delinquency as a disqualifier to participating in the PPP; and
  • Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.
California Employers Should Not Be the New Social Safety Net
The Super Bowl may be over, but that hasn’t stopped California labor unions and their allies from moving the goal posts. Currently, labor unions are advocating for yet another paid sick leave plan for California workers. They believe the six existing separate leave benefit programs are inadequate to address workplace COVID-19 exposure.

Most tellingly, labor unions and advocates are altogether ignoring what had once been their marquee priority to ensure worker safety during the pandemic: a presumption under the workers’ compensation system that front-line workers who contract COVID-19 did so on the job, and therefore qualify for the extensive suite of workers comp benefits. Read more.
Apply for eBay Up & Running California
The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) has partnered with eBay to announce the launch of the Up & Running California program. This new, 100% free program will offer participating businesses the educational resources, interactive instruction, and seller-to-seller coaching they need to compete on eBay’s marketplace.

Participants will enjoy full access to eBay Seller School, eBay’s interactive online learning platform. Seller School offers both beginner-level and more advanced courses to help all sellers accelerate and scale their eBay business, regardless of their time and experience on the platform. Applications are open until 11:59 p.m. PT on Thursday, March 11, 2021. Apply Now!
Torrance Business Supports Biden's PPP Loan Changes, but With Concerns
President Biden's PPP loan changes directly target aid to smaller and minority-owned businesses. Minal Mondkar, Aura Seating CEO said the changes will help them and businesses with fewer than 20 employees. “We are very grateful to hear that. It kind of gives us a beacon of light that, you know, that there is somebody out there who is thinking about us,” Mondkar said. “It’s music to my ears.”

But there’s still one big concern for Mondkar. She said while she’s grateful for federal aid, she’s not looking forward to the day in about a year when she has to start paying back thousands of dollars in loans, especially if the economy hasn’t bounced back within the year. Mondkar said she hopes the federal government and Congress will supply more grants than loans. Read more.
LA County’s Temporary Eviction Moratorium Extended Until June 30, 2021
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to extend the County’s Temporary Eviction Moratorium through June 30, 2021. The Moratorium, originally introduced in March 2020, places a Countywide ban on evictions for residential and commercial tenants, including mobilehome space renters. Under the County’s Moratorium, tenants may not be evicted for nonpayment of rent or unauthorized pets or occupants – if related to COVID-19, or no-fault reasons, nuisance, or denying entry to a landlord. The updated motion put forth by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl, not only extends protections for renters facing COVID-19 hardships and increases the length of the Moratorium for three months, but it also incorporates additional protections introduced by Assembly Bill 3088 and Senate Bill 91 .

With this update, landlords and mobilehome park owners in violation of the Moratorium will be subject to additional fines and civil penalties, with enhanced penalties for violations against seniors (age 65 and older) and the disabled. The extension also clarifies that tenants or their representatives have the ability to sue over violations of the Moratorium. Read more.
Testimonial Monday
"My favorite [Torrance Chamber] committee is all of them and I’ve served on almost each one or helped out and attended meetings many times. My belief is that you make your own luck and I’ve been extremely lucky. Being involved has enhanced and allowed relationships to build with so many Chamber members over the years.

Staying in touch and taking time to embrace the many opportunities that TACC gives is an unbelievable benefit. I’ve learned new things and honed skills that are invaluable to me and my clients. I will continue to grow as a person & business in many ways thanks to TACC programs. I’m happy to be an active committee member as it pays huge dividends.

Beyond my goal of helping others and myself in 2021, I look forward to seeing everyone at meetings and helping TACC businesses grow more!"

Tim Thompson, Financial Planner
Registered Representative/Investment Advisor
Centaurus Financial 
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