Dear Business Representatives,
Milpitas Small Business Spotlight Program
On August 21, 2020, the Office of Economic Development launched the Milpitas Small Business Spotlight Program to help and support our diverse businesses through a “Shop Local” campaign. The program is designed to assist small businesses with promotions and marketing. When local businesses thrive, communities thrive!
The program will provide marketing and promotional support to fifteen small businesses with a 90-second professional video. The Spotlight will be featured on the
City’s YouTube Channel, as well as the City’s
website, City’s Office of Economic Development
website, and social media channels like
Facebook,
Nextdoor, and other promotional opportunities. Businesses will also receive a copy of the video for their own personal use.
In order to be eligible for the Spotlight program, businesses nominated must foster pride in the Milpitas business community, have a positive local impact, and must meet the following requirements:
• Milpitas-based retail, restaurants, and service sector businesses with physical storefronts that are publicly accessible without any charge, smoke free environment and provide direct sales or services to the general public;
• Demonstrate good standing with the City of Milpitas (i.e., valid active business license, no active code violations or code enforcement actions, no active police investigation matters or repeat calls for service (defined as more than 2 in a one-month period), and no outstanding taxes owed) and good active standing with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office; and
• Have fewer than 50 employees.
Nominations for the Spotlight program opened on August 21st at 5:00 p.m. and must be submitted by September 21st at 5:00 p.m. Program details and the nomination form can be found on the
Spotlight program page.
The City will hold a lottery for the random selection of fifteen (15) eligible businesses on September 25th at 10 a.m. After the businesses are confirmed to be eligible by the City, they must sign a waiver release form in order to begin the video production process.
Discover Milpitas
Discover Milpitas is a Milpitas Chamber of Commerce “Shop Local” consumer program designed to generate local spending and visitation to Milpitas businesses. The website acts as a visual directory to promote local businesses. Restaurants can feature their menu directly from their listing, retailers can place “deals” for services and products available to the consumer and nonprofits can promote their events to the community on this site. This benefit is available for free until December 31, 2020 to all Milpitas businesses. For more information check out the link:
https://www.discovermilpitas.com/.
Business Emergency Preparedness
Milpitas has been threatened by fires from the SCU Lighting Complex, a group of wildfires that started last week. While Milpitas is not under an evacuation warning currently, weather conditions could change, so we recommend all businesses take steps to prepare Ready.gov offers many resources for disaster preparation, including
how to prepare before, during, and after a wildfire. If you want to develop a business emergency action plan, including a plan on how to evacuate, OSHA has
guidelines here.
Make sure you receive emergency alerts from the City of Milpitas and Santa Clara County by registering for
AlertSCC here. Once you're signed up, your cell phone will receive urgent alerts as they happen. The more people in your business who are registered for AlertSCC, the faster you'll be able to respond in an emergency.
The City is closely monitoring the situation and doing all we can to protect our Milpitas community. We thank you for your support and are inspired by your resilience and strength during these extremely challenging times.
Facebook - Small Business Grants for Black-Owned Businesses
Facebook has pledged to give $100 million to the Black community in the United States. The program includes funding and ad credits to support Black-owned small businesses. Facebook is hosting an online Webinar for interested parties to learn more on Monday, August 24, 2020 from 10:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
As always, if you need business assistance during COVID-19, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Economic Development team by sending a message anytime to
[email protected]. The Office of Economic Development is here to support and assist the local business community!
In community spirit,
Alex
Alex Andrade
Economic Development Director
Phone: (408) 586-3046
455 E. Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas CA 95035
