The State of California offers a variety of support to both new and established companies. The application period for several programs are open or will open soon. This is a good time for business owners to review the options for potential funding and decide if any of these programs might be a good fit for their needs

California Competes

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) describes itself as the State of California’s leader for job growth, economic development, and business assistance efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of no-cost consultation services to business owners. They include attraction, retention, and expansion services; site selection; permit assistance; regulatory guidance; small business assistance; international trade development; assistance with state government; and more.

Existing California companies that want to stay and grow here as well as businesses that want to relocate to the state may be eligible for the California Competes Tax Credit program. “Businesses of any industry, size, or location compete for over $180 million available in tax credits by applying in one of the three application periods each year,” according to GO-Biz officials. “Applicants are analyzed based on 12 different factors of evaluation, including number of full-time jobs being created, amount of investment, and strategic importance to the state or region.”

GO-Biz is accepting applications for the California Competes Tax Credit from March 6 to March 20, 2023. Two application periods were available earlier; this is the final application period for fiscal year 2022-2023. To make it easier to apply, GO-Biz is offering a live webinar on the program on March 8 and March 16. A recorded webinar is also available for viewing on demand. Many additional resources are available on the California Competes website, including an Application Guide and Application Tutorial Videos. Some materials are available in Spanish as well as English.

A completely different type of aid may be available to businesses and residents in Alameda and Contra Costa counties due to the extreme weather earlier this year. On January 4, 2023, Governor Newsom declared a statewide state of emergency due to “a series of atmospheric river systems bringing high winds, substantial precipitation, and river and urban flooding,” according to state officials. On January 9, President Joe Biden issued an Emergency Declaration and then a Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster on January 14.

Those declarations released federal aid for damages caused by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides as of December 27, 2022. While the extreme weather last December and January caused more damage in other areas of the state, some Tri-Valley cities, companies, and residents were deeply affected by the storms. As a result, they may qualify for federal help.

“Federal assistance includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs for individuals and business owners,” according to state officials. “The Federal Emergency Management Administration oversees the applications approval process for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance. The Small Business Administration oversees the applications approval process for Business Physical Disaster Loans and Emergency Injury Disaster Loans for businesses and nonprofits.” Business Physical Disaster Loans are available to many California counties, including Alameda and Contra Costa, which are also eligible for Emergency Injury Disaster Loans “to supplement working capital for small businesses, agricultural cooperatives, and most nonprofits.”

CalSEED Program

The CalSEED Program began accepting applications on February 17 and will continue accepting them until March 5, 2023 for its 2023 Concept Awards. These early stage grants of up to $600,000 are given to qualifying clean energy entrepreneurs. CalSEED seeks applications from individuals, businesses, and nonprofits that are working on early stage clean energy innovations, from concept to basic prototype. CalSEED is one of several initiatives funded by the California Energy Commission EPIC program to advance energy innovation. “The program supports entrepreneurs in delivering projects that respond to clean energy, efficiency, or storage needs while considering equity of access and benefit, ensuring these technologies are working to serve California’s most vulnerable populations,” according to program officials.

“We select startups for their potential to reduce energy costs, to increase access to renewable energy technologies or energy efficiency technologies, or to increase grid reliability,” says Joy Larson, Program Director. “Reliability is an important issue in California where there are public safety power shut-offs and natural gas leaks. If there are technologies that once they're scaled, people who pay into utilities are going to see some tangible benefit, like they're going to have access to more technologies or their energy bill is going to be lower or their power's not going to be shut off. Those are all the kinds of benefits that we select for.”

Entrepreneurs who are accepted into the program received more than grant monies. They also receive access to key accelerator and incubator programs and test facilities, enhanced access to private capital, and access to targeted professional development services, “including mentorship with seasoned professionals, legal counsel, expert guidance, and training to support technology refinements, market development, and commercialization,” according to officials.

Larson recommends that entrepreneurs and startups keep in mind the qualities that CalSEED considers in awarding its grants, including technology that serves energy equity. When it comes to building an award-winning startup, “I think having diversity on your leadership team is huge,” she says. “If your company can build-in equity, diversity, and inclusion from the beginning, it is going to set you up for success in a few different ways. It's the right thing to do. It can help you grow more quickly. And it's also something that investors and other grant programs are going to be looking for.”

For more information about the California Competes Tax Credit, please visit www.business.ca.gov/california-competes-tax-credit/# or call (916) 322-4051.

To apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Administration, please visit www.disasterassistance.gov or call (800) 621-3362.

For help with Small Business Administration disaster loan applications, please visit www..sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance or call (800) 659-2955.

For more information about CalSEED, please visit https://calseed.fund. For information on how to apply for the 2023 Concept Awards, please visit www.calseed.fund/how-to-apply.

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