City of Long Beach Business Brief
January 28, 2022
Welcome to the Economic Development Department's Business Brief! We are continuing to ensure you are updated on the latest business resources and news.
The City of Long Beach is committed to advancing solutions to civic challenges by engaging the community, staff, and private sector to explore and implement emerging technology and innovative approaches to City service delivery. Our vision for a smarter Long Beach is not one that we can achieve alone, and we encourage collaboration and partnerships to design, test, and implement solutions through the Pitch Long Beach program!

Pitch Long Beach! allows vendors to pitch an idea for a project to the City. The ideas that offer promising solutions to legitimate City needs will be shared with our subject matter experts, evaluated with transparent criteria, and then may be implemented as pilot projects.

Companies and entities of all sizes may pitch an idea. Vendors may pitch an idea at any point in time electronically by completing the Pitch Long Beach! Idea Form. The City will accept proposals on an ongoing basis. Additional information about the City’s financial cycle and budget may be found here.
Long Beach Accelerator Summer 2022 Cohort Now Accepting Applications
The Long Beach Accelerator is thrilled to open the application period for their Summer 2022 Cohort expected to start in June 2022.

The Long Beach Accelerator has graduated 12 cohort companies, 25% of which have received acquisition offers, and collectively raised over $4.5M in capital and earned over $1M in revenue since February 2021.

Startups accepted to the program will receive the resources and runway needed to flourish, including:
  • $75,000 to $100,000+ in capital funding in exchange for 7% equity.
  • Access to prime working space in Downtown Long Beach.
  • A specialized four month program where each month the startups will work on a specific component of the business with expert instructors, mentors and other resources.
  • Digital resource package worth approximately $500,000 and include services such as Amazon Web Services, Airtable, Stripe, Zoom, and many more.

Early Bird Deadline: February 4th, 2022
Application Deadline: February 18th, 2022
Small Business Accelerator
NEXT Long Beach Small Business Accelerator powered by OmniWorks is helping women and BIPOC entrepreneurs grow their business.

The FREE program includes personalized mentorship, mastermind sessions for peer idea exchange and accountability, expert workshops, and online networking events with other entrepreneurs in our community.
 
Building your business is challenging – but you don’t have to do it alone.
 
Click here to register today!
PPE Resources for Small Businesses
The City of Long Beach Health & Human Services launched a City of Long Beach Medical Resource Requests for Businesses website. You can now access it here.

Businesses can also still apply through PPE Unite for PPE supplies which may include face masks, N95 respirators, hand sanitizer, face shields at no cost.

Who Is Eligible:
  • You must operate a small business, non-profit, organization & designated workplace.
  • Your business must be located in an eligible County.
  • You must operate as a sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, C or S-Corp, micro-business or nonprofit.
  • You must attest to use the PPE supplies in your workplace to be compliant and keep your staff and employees safe.
The City, through its contract with “on-call” property management consultants, will conduct work related to the removal, haul away, and disposal of window/storefront coverings (plywood). Work will be paid for by the City and contracted directly with the property management consultants.  The estimated value of each grant is estimated between $100 and $600 (maximum) per location, subject to the size of the storefront. Maximum pieces of plywood to be removed, 30 pieces. 

We will be accepting applications from July 28, 2021, to January 31, 2022. The SRBR program will assist applicants on a first-come-first-served basis for the removal of plywood boards only. Any applicants that may require additional storefront repairs in addition to plywood removal may require additional review and experience longer application processing times.
Contact the City of Long Beach BizCare Hotline for Immediate Assistance:

Phone number: 562-570-4BIZ (4249)
Days: Monday - Friday
Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.

City staff will respond to voicemails made after business hours within 24 hours.