May 9, 2023

Dear Ruth,

NEW-WBC celebrates a successful 2023 Fashion Event & Pitch Competition!

On Saturday April 29, 2023, NEW-WBC hosted the 5th Fashion Event and Pitch Competition at the Radisson Hotel Chatsworth. Led by Program Director Ruth Garcia-Corrales, Fashion Manager Maria Rangel and the team at NEW-WBC, under-resourced women and women of color designers and fashion hopefuls were invited to pitch their products and share their stories for a chance to win $500 and other valuable prizes. More than 25 fashion designers heeded the call showcasing their unique, novel, and innovative products. In a packed room of almost 100 people and amidst the liveliness exerted by both contestants and audience, Shannon Kehrer

(Hidey) won the coveted 1st prize award which consisted of $500, courtesy of CEO Tamara Gurney of Mission Valley Bank, and the opportunity to be featured in Heart of Hollywood Magazine, courtesy of publication owner Giovanna Salas. Moreover, the unending claps and cheer for all contestants truly conveyed the high energy in the room, as Vanessa Gavin-Headen (Medele by Dr. Vanessa), Melissa Scott (Modefywear), Stella Park (MISENVER) and Teresa Campbell (1sts Class Lady Boutique) were also recognized and awarded prizes for their creations and ideas. Congratulations to the winners and all who participated! A big thank you goes to our esteemed judges Africa De Broeck (Lazuli Consulting Inc.), Lorainne D’Alessio (D’Alessio Law Group), Ilse Metchek (California Fashion Association) and Donovan Jacobs (TV, Entertainment & Script Consultant) for accepting the challenging role of judging on so many beautiful and original fashion products.

A heartfelt thank you also goes to our inspiring speakers - keynote speaker Johana Hernandez (Glaudi Collection) for sharing her animated story on the colorful power suit, Ann Huebner for enlightening us on the many fashion industry trends, and last but not least, Nita Marquez (OnTheMarq) for sharing her story of adversity turned promise of a second new start.

To further support the dreams of our under-resourced women fashion designers, we welcomed our financial and government partners. Thank you to our Fashion Business Dream panelists, Lisa Stevens (JP Morgan Chase Bank), Daniel Fernandez (TMC Capital Community), Paula Bahamon (Mission Valley Bank) and Ken Crawford (U.S. Small Business Administration) for sharing your financial expertise and resources with our audience.

On the note of dreams, we ended the Fashion Event by recognizing our clients that are Dream Fund recipients. Thank you Asemblyman Jesse Gabriel for presenting the certificates to our elated clients. 

“Without The Women’s Business Center, I never would have known how to navigate getting the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan!” ~Regina Thomas

The Greatest Success Of All Is Educating All Our Young Children For College

Whitney Houston sang these beautiful words penned by Linda Creed, “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way…”

Regina Thomas, a proud native Californian, had a student in a special needs class ask her a profound question, “How can I go to an Ivy League college like you, Ms. Thomas?” That student’s question changed her life.  Conscious and Complete (CAC) formerly, College Admissions Counselors, was born 6 months later with only an $800 investment. The bottom line for Regina is that she wanted to prevent all students, especially the disenfranchised, from falling through the cracks and thus losing all hope of their dream to go to college.

Her experience as a teacher working with high School children taught her that they also need Life Coaches just like adults. Everyone needs a cheerleader in their lives. Our youth could use a Tony Robbins to change their mindsets and see a future full of possibilities. However, many of the school districts she pitched her program of resiliency and mindset change of “no can do to a YES can do”, were reluctant to contract her company choosing to focus primarily on academics. In public schools within many underserved communities, the ratio of students to counselors is 1:200, resulting in an average of 15 minutes of facetime with a counselor. This lack of communication leaves high School students without proper guidance to be prepared with all the needed documentation to apply to college, fill out a job application or do proper research for a future career. It is this void that CAC fills for students.

After 20 years in education, parents have nicknamed her the “Youth Whisperer” due to her innate ability to communicate with teenagers. Regina feels “one of the biggest challenges in the field of youth transformation is helping them believe in themselves despite the influences of social media, adults and even their peers. Get the mind right and everything else falls into place.” 

Conscious and Complete (CAC),  is now dedicated to reaching out to indigenous communities of Uganda, East Africa utilizing her Responsible Charity Model© which helps put money back into the hands of Africans. For more information, visit  https://cacserves.org/    

You can reach Regina Thomas directly via her email @ [email protected] or [email protected]

Ric Sáenz

Financial and General Business Manager 

https://newwbc.setmore.com/ricsaenz (LA Country Counseling Appointment 

[email protected]  

ACCESS TO CAPITAL

The Small Business Lending Support Team

Leads the Small Business Lending Support team in helping clients find access to capital through Loans. Crowdlending and Grants by offering training & coaching through Entrepreneurial Webinars and one on one Counseling.

We highly recommend that you visit our upcoming entrepreneurial webinars on our website that may help you in putting your business in a stronger position to receive a Grant or a Loan using this link and scroll down. https://neworg.ecenterdirect.com/events?reset=1

GRANTS

The Grants below have deadlines so please make sure you read the requirements thoroughly and apply accordingly. If the links do not activate, please copy and paste to your browser.

-- Economic Workforce Development Department 

Monitor the following website for upcoming Grants. This website has provided the most grants of any organization in Los Angeles and maybe a Fourth Round of  $ 5,000 Grants will happen again.  See below….

https://ewddlacity.com/index.php/recovery/comebackla

1.    Small Business Rental Assistance Grant

The Small Business Rental Assistance Grant Program will provide grants of $2,500 up to $15,000 to eligible businesses that need financial assistance to aid in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses must be located within the City of Los Angeles and use the grants to cover any outstanding rent payments incurred on or after March 1, 2020, through April 30, 2023. 

You WILL need to have a BTRC (Business Tax Registration Certificate) which can be done for you by booking an appointment with Selina using this link

https://booking.setmore.com/scheduleappointment/60f019d1-118e-4449-9d5e-3c1c94cb6d70/services/a9cfdb18-ea6e-4098-827b-2e0204f081e1?source=easyshare

https://ewddlacity.com/index.php/recovery/rentassist

2.    LA OPTIMIZED 

The City of Los Angeles Economic Workforce and Development Department (EWDD) in partnership with the Mayor’s Office and Council Districts with Braven Agency as Lead Operator are digitizing Los Angeles small businesses with LA Optimized!

LA Optimized will help small businesses adapt to this rapidly changing shift in consumer behavior and technological advances by assisting Small Businesses optimize their businesses for online sales and marketing by:

https://www.lacityoptimized.org/

3.   LA County Performance Recovery Grant

Is a new grant initiative designed to support the region’s dynamic performing arts sector. Through this initiative, the LA County Department of Arts and Culture will deliver $1.2 million in one-time funding to artists, independent producers, and organizations that have a demonstrated history of developing, producing, and/or presenting work in the performing arts disciplines such as dance, music, theater, and folk and traditional arts. 

https://www.lacountyarts.org/funding/la-county-performing-arts-recovery-grant

4.  VERIZON $ 10,000 GRANT-  Deadline May 12, 2023                              Scroll down to Small Businesses. Big Dreams.

https://www.verizon.com/about/responsibility/digital-inclusion/small-business-training?utm_source=lisc-new-economics-for-women-(new)&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=digital-ready-launch&utm_term=local-champion-los-angeles

5.  Economic Opportunity Grant-  

Phase 2 Deadline,  May 20, 2023

Grants for Microbusinesses (under $50,000 in revenue) - will be available starting in January 2023.

Phase 2: Planned launch for small business and non-profit grants in February 2023.

https://go.smallbizla.org/recovery

https://eog.smallbizla.org

Info:   https://gobiz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new           

https://eog.smallbizla.org/help?hsCtaTracking=1391460e-9381-41bc-bfc6-eeb111b74aea%7C5b2b3b1d-a927-4bd7-83cd-24951a84b8cf

6.    Hello Alice-

This organization partners with major companies that are offering specialized Grants.

https://helloalice.com/funding/ 

7.    Immigrants Rising- See Grant- Deadlines- 1^st Priority Deadline May 18 & 2^nd May 25 Final 

$1.5 million for immigrant entrepreneurs in California through the SEED initiative!

https://immigrantsrising.org/financial-support/seed-grant/

8.    14 Small Business Grants for Women Entrepreneurs

https://www.hiscox.com/blog/15-small-business-grants-women-entrepreneurs 

9. Bank of America® Down Payment Grant Program

The program is designed to drive business growth and generational wealth opportunities for women and minority-owned small to mid-sized businesses.

https://promotions.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/downpaymentgrant

Please email me when you complete the application.

10.  Minority Business Message Board

Discover the power of the Minority Business 365 Message Boards and see how our 300,000 members can benefit you AND your small business!

https://minoritybusiness365.com/



11.  $ 26,000 Employee Retention Tax Credit Refund

Join us Wednesday, May 10th @ 12pm to learn more about Employee Retention Tax Credit Refund which is a payroll tax refund that helps eligible businesses receive up to $26,000 per employee kept on payroll during the pandemic.

As a small to medium-sized business, it’s likely that you were negatively impacted by COVID-19, and you certainly weren’t alone.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PmXrCDLqS9mQMTv3Lov2PA

LOANS

If you need a quick Loan from $ 1,000 to $ 36,000 with no Financial Documentation @ 0% for 12-36 months, you may want to consider applying to the organizations below.

1.    Kiva Los Angeles

Since 2005 KIVA has been helping borrowers crowd-Lend up to $ 15,000 @ 0% with payment terms of 12-36 months depending on the Loan you are awarded.

Sign up for “How to Succeed In Getting a Kiva Loan” Webinar May,10th

@ 3pm

https://neworg.ecenterdirect.com/events/1020991

2.    Jewish Free Loan Association

114 Year Non-profit organization helping all communities with 0% Loans up to $ 36,000 if your FICO credit score is above 580 and can get 2 co-signers that have a FICO credit score above 680. With One Co-signer, you can receive a loan up to $ 7,500.  No need for Financial Statements, Business Plan or Taxes.  1 Virtual interview is all you will need to be prepared for. 

www.jfla.org       

3.  The Black Cooperative Investment Fund (BCIF) information.

Founded in 2016 and launched in January 2017, the Black Cooperative Investment Fund (BCIF) is a a 501(c)3, community-based organization rooted in self-help economics that provides microloans to the Black community through pooled dollars and raises awareness about the importance of economic empowerment, equity, and wealth building for the Black community.

http://www.bcifund.org/

4. The Small Business Loan Guarantee Program

IBank’s Small Business finance Center features a loan guarantee program designed to assist small businesses that experience capital access barriers. The Small Business Loan Guarantee program encourages lenders to provide funds to small businesses to help them grow and prosper.

https://ibank.ca.gov/small-business/loan-guarantees/  

Remember, to always share your Business Successes with me via email should you make any financial improvements to your business like buying any equipment, hiring a new employee, paying for a business consultation, receiving a Loan, Grant or any other Business Capital.

If you live in LA County and want to schedule a Loan/Business appointment, please use this link https://newwbc.setmore.com/ricsaenz                                                                                                      

Thank you! 

Ric Sáenz

Financial and General Business Manager



[email protected]

https://newwbc.setmore.com/ricsaenz

(For Appointment)

Irene Vazquez

Program Manager

[email protected]s 

818-650-1168

Get In Control of Your Sales Process

Date: 5/10/2023

Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (PDT) 

Registration Deadline: 5/10/2023 12:00 PM (PDT)

Fee: No Fee 

Program Format: Online Meeting (Live)

Description: Take control of the sales process. This class is about strengthening the sales cycle, planning sales activities, working on the customer pipeline, preparing for objections you might get from leads and prospects, and defining the company’s service offerings.

Impresion is a crowdfunding platform from New Community Investments.