The many small businesses at Hacienda and elsewhere in the Tri-Valley have an outsized impact on the economy. An average of two-thirds of every dollar spent at small businesses in the US stays in the local community, according to the Small Business Economic Impact Study. This county-level economic analysis was commissioned by American Express in 2018. The analysis found that for every 10 jobs at a small business, another seven are supported in the local community. Moreover, every dollar spent at a small business creates an additional 50 cents in local business activity thanks to employee spending and businesses purchasing local goods and services.

In 2019, there were nearly 31 million small businesses in the United States, according to the federal Small Business Administration (SBA). More than 99% of all US businesses are classified as small businesses. Last year there were 4 million small businesses in California employing 7.1 million people, or nearly half of the state's employees. Clearly, small businesses are hugely important to the economy. That value should not be taken for granted. Entrepreneurs and small-business owners must overcome a host of challenges in order to survive and thrive. Luckily, the SBA is designed to support small business success.

The City of Pleasanton has more than 3,300 small businesses, defined as companies with one to 50 employees, which are an integral part of the local economy, according to Lisa Adamos, Economic Development Manager for the City of Pleasanton Economic Development Department. Collectively, these companies employ more than 34,000 people in the provision of needed goods and services. "For the last seven years, we have actively celebrated small businesses on Small Business Saturday, and through our annual business anniversary recognition, acknowledging the important contribution they make to Pleasanton," says Adamos.

Clearly, small businesses are hugely important to the economy. That value should not be taken for granted. Entrepreneurs and small-business owners must overcome a host of challenges in order to survive and thrive. Luckily, the SBA is designed to support small business success.

A Foundation for Success

The SBA helps Americans start, build, and grow businesses. It was created as a federal agency in 1953 to "aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation," according to the SBA. The agency works independently as well as with partners to help both new and existing small businesses. While the exact definition of a small business varies by industry, the SBA uses a broad definition. Nearly any company engaging in a federally lawful industry with fewer than 500 employees and less than $5 million in annual revenue may be eligible for SBA services. That includes single-person companies. The SBA also helps Americans start companies.

"The Tri-Valley area has been a very active participant in our programs, much more so than some of the surrounding areas," says Noah Brod, Economic Development specialist at the San Francisco District Office of the SBA. "It really shows that the business community in the Tri-Valley area is quite diverse in size, industry, and approach and that those different types of businesses are using our programs to good effect."

Over the past five years, according to Brod, more than 630 Tri-Valley residents have attended SBA training sessions. Nearly 1,300 Tri-Valley clients have received an . estimated 5,000 hours of consulting or counseling. More than 600 loans worth a total of $350 million have been given to Tri-Valley businesses during that period. Nearly 80 firms have received a total of $34 million in research grants and 975 federal SBA contracts worth $137 million were awarded to Tri-Valley small businesses.

Custom Consulting

Among its many services, the SBA funds nonprofits to provide direct, one-on-one counseling, consulting, and mentoring to business owners at no cost. These nonprofits have expertise in almost any area that a Tri-Valley business might be interested in, whether it is marketing, finding new customers, setting prices, hiring, or nearly any other issue that business owners face.

Many small business owners are unaware of the free consulting, counseling, and mentoring services that the SBA provides, according to Brod. "Most business owners think, 'I am in this on my own, I have to come up with my own prices, my own marketing, my own strategies for starting and launching this business. Or, if I want help, I have to go find a consultant or hire a staff member immediately and pay all these costs to get that help.' What is really surprising to business owners is when they learn that they can get that professional, expert advice at no cost. Taxpayer dollars provide a service that is here for the taking."

Thanks to the SBA, an eligible business owner can sit down with a marketing consultant to figure out a social media strategy, for example. A restaurant owner can meet with a restaurant consultant to find out if certain menu items should be cut because of their expense or if some items should be promoted. Whatever the industry, there are experienced consultants who can share their expertise. "Those are the types of services that make a huge difference in whether a business can succeed or not," notes Brod.

The two SBA-related nonprofits that most directly serve the Tri-Valley are East Bay SCORE and the Alameda County Small Business Development Center. East Bay SCORE serves Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties at 24 locations. As a resource partner of the SBA, SCORE's free counseling service includes business plans, financing availability, and workshops that teach all aspects of business management. The Alameda County Small Business Development Center serves all of Alameda County. Its services also include consulting, workshops and training, and funding assistance. Its clients can get advice on loan and equity investment, strategic planning, financial projections and budgeting, marketing and sales, technology integration, human resource management, operations, exports, and more.

For business owners seeking funding, the SBA created a tool called Lender Match, which connects business owners directly to SBA lenders based on a short survey. It also funds two specialty nonprofits that focus on specific types of businesses, the Tech Futures Group and the Northern California Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

The Tech Futures Group works with tech companies in all verticals, including software, hardware, mobile, Internet, telecom, life sciences, clean tech, bio tech, and others. Clients receive no-cost access to advisors who specialize in pitching to venture capitalists and angel investors. They also have expertise in intellectual property issues, financial modeling, and grants. This nonprofit is especially helpful to business owners looking for assistance with seed capital or innovation research grants. Innovation research grants are available to organizations, businesses and individuals to research innovative and technological solutions to social and scientific problems and advance scientific progress.

The mission of the Northern California Procurement Technical Assistance Center (Norcal PTAC) is to help small businesses build their government contracting capacity. Its Procurement Specialists can help small business owners simplify the process of selling to the government. Norcal PTAC helps business owners determine if federal, state, or local contracting is right for their business, navigate entry into the procurement marketplace, identify the agencies that a business should target for contracts, meet requirements necessary to compete for contracts, interpret complex regulations, and review and improve bids and proposals.

The number of available resources may seem overwhelming to a small business owner. Brod encourages business owners to reach out to the San Francisco office directly if they have questions about where to start. "We are happy to guide business owners and match them to programs that might work best for their type of business."

For more information about the Small Business Administration, please visit www.sba.gov.

For more information about East Bay SCORE, please visit www.eastbay.score.org.

For more information about the Alameda County Small Business Development Center, please visit www.acsbdc.org.

For more information about Lender Match, please visit www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/lender-match.

For more information about the Tech Futures Group, please visit www.techfuturesgroup.org.

For more information about the Northern California Procurement Technical Assistance Center, please visit www.norcalptac.org.