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Office of Economic Development Receives Grant To Assist Small Businesses

Riverside, Ca -The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) provided grant awards to 69 recipients for the California Small Business Technical Assistance Expansion Program (SB TAEP). The state’s $17 million in grant funding has been allocated to technical assistance centers for expansion of business consulting and training services to historically under-resourced businesses and communities, including minority, women and veteran-owned businesses, and low-wealth, rural and disaster-impacted communities.

Riverside Community College District’s Office of Economic Development was awarded $327,601.45. The funds will be used to expand the RCCD Procurement Technical Assistance Center’s (PTAC) services and develop local businesses through innovative business development counseling and training under the SB TAEP program, Jeannie G. Kim, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor, Grants and Economic Development, said.

“The goal of the program’s expansion is to target local small and micro businesses, minority, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses as well as historically underserved areas in the Inland Empire and develop businesses to become procurement-ready,” Kim said. “We’ve identified a gap between business incorporation and procurement readiness and this program aims to fill that gap through the counseling, training and a connection to resources in the community.

“A procurement-ready framework consists of a series of business development assistance, such as business structuring, accounting and business operations, and business planning, among other business development services. The combination of both types of business assistance (procurement and business development) will help our local businesses achieve greater profitability and create jobs in the region.”

SB TAEP, launched in 2018 and continuing through 2023, allocates funding to eligible centers through a competitive process. This year’s funding is spread across the state and includes small business development centers, women’s business centers, procurement technical assistance centers, minority business development centers, export and trade centers, and resource providers within the state that support small businesses.

The Procurement Technical Assistance Center (http://www.rccdpac.com) and Small Business Technical Assistance Expansion Program offices are co-located at the RCCD Office of Economic Development, 23555 Meyer Dr. Riverside, CA 92518. The PTAC can be reached by calling (951) 571-6442 or emailing pac@rccd.edu and the SB TAEP program can be reached by calling (951) 571-6474.

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