The deadline to apply for Ventura County's $5,000 Business Assistance Grant is 6:00 PM today, Tuesday, April 13. To be eligible, businesses must have annual revenues between $25,000 and $2.5 million. Businesses who previously received Ventura County Business Assistance Grants in the first round are not eligible.

The County has funding for 4,000 grants, but has received fewer than 3,000 applications. That means that, if you qualify, there is funding to ensure your business receives the grant.

Get more info and apply in just minutes at www.VCBusinessGrants.org.

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Have you ever wondered how to utilize Facebook's resources to promote your small business? The California Office of the Small Business Advocate has partnered with Facebook as parts of its "Get Digital CA!" Initiative to bring you "Boost With Facebook." Learn from a select series of Facebook training sessions to help you create a stronger brand presence and reach new customers. Inside the curriculum, you'll learn how to:

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Under current rules (that are subject to change by state health officials), a county must be stable in a tier for three consecutive weeks before being eligible to move to the next tier. Thus, the earliest possible timeline to advance to yellow tier is an announcement on April 27, to be effective on April 28.

In good news, California reports that it has now reached 4 million vaccine doses in its targeted health equity areas, so the requirement for yellow tier is an adjusted rate of less than 2.0 new cases per 100K population (it was previously less than 1.0 cases per 100K population). In bad news, Ventura County case rates are still too high to qualify for yellow tier...though we are still making progress in lowering our case rates. Ventura County must have a sub-2.0 new case rate for two consecutive weeks before moving into the yellow tier. Here are our numbers over the past month:

State health officials will continue publishing weekly statistics every Tuesday afternoon at covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/. You can also search on the website by business type to see if a business type is currently allowed to open or not in our orange tier (need to select Ventura County).

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Tuesday, April 13, 5:00 PM | Register Here

Learn the strategies, tactics, and secrets for building a recognizable brand that turns one-time shoppers into lifelong customers. Learn exactly what a brand is and what it does in the world, along with the keys to building a successful one.

Wednesday, April 14, 10:30 AM | Register Here

With online sales growing more and more, now is the time to learn about the basics of setting up your own Amazon store. Learn how critical it is to have multiple e-commerce channels and why Amazon is one of the keys. Learn how to assess your profitability, how to set up an Amazon store, and what goes into keeping your store competitive.

Monday, April 19, 12:00 PM | Register Here

Review current COVID-19 business resources recently made available through the American Rescue Plan! Learn about new opportunities, how to access them, and where to start with programs like EIDL, PPP, UI benefits, federal grants, and more. This webinar will provide an overview of existing and upcoming resources, with a Q&A portion to answer your specific questions.

Tuesday, April 20, 5:00 PM | Register Here

Make your brand a success by learning the strategies, tactics, and secrets for building a recognizable brand that turns one-time shoppers into lifelong customers. Identify your choir, focus your pitch, and close the deal!

Tuesday, April 27, 5:00 PM | Register Here

Discover the secrets to finding and retaining customers, defeating the competition, and building authority on social media. Topics will include live video, serving the customer rather than yourself, and becoming an expert.