Volume 06 | May 2020
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS & INVESTOR UPDATES
Economic Development During and After a Pandemic
An Op-Ed by CEO Dave White

Back in February our local unemployment rate in Stanislaus County was at a historic low for that time of year- only 6.6 percent. By the end of March it had jumped to 8.8 percent. It is estimated that the April unemployment rate could be 15 percent or higher. Amazing how a nasty little bug can change our lives.

Now we are faced with one of the biggest crises this country has ever encountered. How will we respond? How long will it take for the economy to bounce back? How will we change the way we do business? Continue Reading.
Stan Buy Me Helps Public Understand How to Support Small Business

After essential local businesses learned the ropes of operating during the COVID-19 outbreak, it quickly became apparent that their biggest hurdle was educating the general public about how to best support them. In response Opportunity Stanislaus created the Stan Buy Me program, a multi-prong digital campaign that focuses on standing by and promoting the local businesses in their time of need. Stan Buy Me has several elements including a website at www.supportstanislaus.com, social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, creation of commercials about the program, and a balloon program where balloons were placed in front of open essential businesses throughout the county. The program was funded by Stanislaus County and the cities of Hughson, Newman, Patterson and Oakdale. To see the outcomes click here.

SBA to Fund Economic Injury Disaster Loans for Agricultural Businesses

U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza announced today that agricultural businesses are now eligible for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs. SBA’s EIDL portal will reopen today as a result of funding authorized by Congress through the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act. The legislation, signed into law by the President one week ago, provided additional funding for farmers and ranchers and certain other agricultural businesses affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
 
The SBA will begin accepting new EIDL applications on a limited basis only, in order to provide unprecedented relief to U.S. agricultural businesses . For agricultural businesses that submitted an EIDL loan application through the streamlined application portal prior to the legislative change, SBA will move forward and process these applications without the need for re-applying. All other EIDL loan applications that were submitted before the portal stopped accepting new applications on April 15 will be processed on a first-in, first-out basis. For more information click here.

VOLT Institute is proud to offer two online programs starting soon:

Career Accelerator Program Online 
Volt's Institute's Popular Efficiency and Critical Thinking training is now online. This 6 session workshop begins May 18th and will cover topics such as Continuous Improvement, Employee Engagement, Lean 101, Problem Solving, and more! To register click here!

Supervisor Development Academy 
VOLT Institute in partnership with AgSafe presents Cohort #4 of The Supervisor Development Academy. Beginning May 19th, The Supervisor Development Academy will give supervisors a foundation to develop skills essential to furthering their success and that of your business.
This 6 session program: addresses leadership, communication, conflict resolution, planning, and team building • Emphasis on building peer-to-peer relationships • Each session lasts 2 hours and includes activities to practice new job skills • Total participant time commitment is between 30-36 hours. If you attend all of the sessions, this class will be free to participate. To register click here.

Investor Spotlight on Availability Professional Staffing

COVID-19 created more questions than answers for local business but Availability Professional Staffing's Chris Peterson stepped up to provide answers in two interview segments on ABC10 news. The segments focused on hiring trends amid the outbreak and how to make career plans during the unprecedented pandemic. To view the videos click here.
On April 16 Opportunity Stanislaus hosted the first ever local webinar catering to local Hispanic businesses. The webinar focused on PPP and EIDL programs and resulted in an influx of Hispanic clients into OS and Valley Sierra SBDC programs. The group evolved into an outreach task force to create unprecedented collaboration with the Hispanic businesses in Stanislaus County. To view a recording of the webinar click here.
Opportunity Stanislaus is proud to welcome its newest investor Bertelson Precast.

We would also like to highlight Wells Fargo, BBVA Compass Bank and U.S. Bank for their dedicated funding support to our COVID-19 response.

And as always but more than ever during these difficult times we appreciate the support of ALL our investors.
Valley Sierra SBDC Helps Local Businesses Navigate COVID-19, Get Funding
Since the onset of COVID-19 the Valley Sierra SBDC has been hard at work. They created www.cabizrelief.org to provide information on all aspects of operations from funding options to human resources guidance. To date during the crisis they have provided 516 business owners in Stanislaus & Tuolumne Counties with nearly 800 hours of no-cost consulting and helped businesses access $3,288,057 in funding. Beginning on May 26 the SBDC will host “BACK TO BUSINESS” workshops which focus on returning to business during Covid-19. In the meantime for your convenience a guide with tips for restarting is available here.
Introducing the Best Places to Work: Central Valley 2020 Winners
On March 18 Opportunity Stanislaus announced the winners of the 2020 Best Places to Work: Central Valley designation. Best Places to Work is a survey and awards program dedicated to identifying and recognizing the area's best employers and providing organizations with valuable employee feedback.

Registration for the 2021 program will start in August of 2020. For more information click here.