Week of December 26, 2022

Cheers to New Beginnings:

West Valley BSC Helps Wine Bar Open New Location 

Zach Negin is the owner of Tabula Rasa, a wine bar located at 5125 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Zach reached out to the West Valley BusinessSource Center (BSC) in the summer of 2021 for assistance with an expansion loan for a second location. After the success of Tabula Rasa’s Hollywood location, Zach had found a spot in the North Hollywood Arts District at 5124 Lankershim Blvd that would be perfect for the sister shop to Tabula Rasa Bar. This location would specialize in natural wine, beer, sake and aperitifs with a wide selection of gourmet cheese and charcuterie. 

After conducting a needs assessment, the Business Coach worked with Zach to develop an action plan to make the new location a reality. This action plan included applying for an SBA expansion loan, developing a use and source of funds for the loan proceeds, and ultimately packaging and submitting the loan to a lender that was deemed to be a good fit for Tabula Rasa’s needs. With this assistance, Zach knew that he had the best chance for approval, and an SBA expansion loan was funded in mid-Autumn 2022.

West Adams WSC Helps Facilitate Construction Careers

The West Adams WorkSource Center helped participant Marisha receive training to pursue a career in the construction industry. Now she has a permanent job as a field engineer on the HUB on Campus LA-Figueroa project. Her story is below. 

After finding a quiet enough place on the construction site, she donned a headset, logged onto the zoom meeting, and prepared for her turn to present. The call was a monthly HomeAid Los Angeles WORKS Committee meeting with invited partners Milender White (MW), their various subcontractors on the HUB LA project, and the West Adams WorkSource Center (WAWSC). Marisha is a Field Engineer with the general contractor Milender White and on Sep 21, 2022, she was tasked with reporting on subcontractor participation pertaining to the major building project HUB Los Angeles of Figueroa Street.

Familiar faces donned the screen as she gave her report. Former mentors and instructors from her days as a job seeker asked questions and took notes. Now, she is a partner and ally advocating economic equality for Los Angeles. Marisha recently finished a three-month internship as a Field Engineer and is now a full-time permanent employee. Part of her assignment has been to establish a positive rapport with the subcontractors, assess their hiring needs, and see if they would be interested in becoming employment partners with the WORKS program. WORKS is a two-week fundamentals of construction training program unique to the WAWSC - an employment program under the leadership of the Economic Workforce and Development Department (EWDD). It is also a program she graduated from a few months prior.