Dear Friends,
For 35 years, OBDC Small Business Finance has created economic opportunity by empowering entrepreneurs. So far, 2014 has been an exciting year.
- We launched our innovative Veteran-Owned Business Lending program, which offers loans and business development services to United States veterans with new or existing businesses.
- We hired Paula Groves as our new Vice President of Business Consulting, a role which will expand and strengthen our business development programming.
- We are proud to be a member of the Community Advantage Century Group, which is generously supported by Bank of America and honored by the Clinton Global Initiative.
- Finally, we’re excited to announce our new partnership with Townsquared, an online platform to help business owners in the same neighborhood connect and share information.
OBDC is powered by our values of opportunity, diversity, empowerment, innovation, and partnership; we’re thrilled to share our growth and impact with you! Thank you for all of your continued support.
Jacob Singer, CEO 
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Welcoming Paula Groves
 Paula Groves has joined OBDC as the Vice President of Business Consulting. Paula brings over 20 years of experience in private equity, venture capital, and entrepreneurial financing. She knows what it takes for an entrepreneur to obtain a loan or an investment, and is responsible for ensuring entrepreneurs receive the consulting assistance they need to grow successful businesses. We’re excited to connect our entrepreneurs with Paula’s wealth of knowledge and experience. You can learn more about her by reading her bio or viewing her interview on our blog.
“One of the biggest challenges in our society is access to capital for women and people of color. OBDC has an impressive track record of getting loans to these communities.” – Paula Groves
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Veteran Program Update
Launched in January, OBDC’s Veteran-Owned Business Lending program is led by Noah Harris who has been working hard to connect veteran entrepreneurs with our services. So far we have funded 3 veteran-owned businesses for total loan proceeds of $277,000. We’re working with businesses in a diverse array of industries: franchising, restaurants, construction, wholesaling, manufacturing, and video production.
Our first funded veteran business was Belger’s Famous Pizza Pies. Belger’s  was referred to OBDC by the Small Business Administration. Owners Gregory Belger, a U.S. Army Veteran, and his wife, Drena, requested a small business loan for a pizza restaurant in an underserved community in Lake County, California. In a collaborative approach with Yuba City SBDC providing business plan development and OBDC providing hands-on guidance and loan packaging, the Belger’s received a loan for start-up capital from OBDC.
Be sure to check-in with our blog, where we will share stories from other veteran entrepreneurs.
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Borrower Resources: Business Consultant Tips by Paula
Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. This is called your blind spot. With the rate at which new information is available through the internet and other channels, it can be hard to keep up with latest and greatest techniques for building a successful business.
There are so many aspects to running a small business, and so many helpful resources to help you along the way. Here’s just a sampling of topics and resources that I like to share with clients:
- Getting new customers
- Setting up technology systems
- Bookkeeping and cash flow management
- Staying ahead of the competition
- Social media marketing
- Construction buildout
- Website development
- Managing employees
In future newsletters I will provide information about each of these topics, and more!
A business consultant can help you sort through all of the information available to you. If you are interested in working with a business consultant, shoot me an email that summarizes the issue you are facing. You can also post a question on the OBDC group at Townsquared.
To read Paula’s full post about business consulting, and to learn about what business consulting has in common with a blind man and an elephant, check out this blog post.
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Upcoming Events
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Small Business Expo
Date: Thursday, September 18
Time: 10:00am-5:00pm
Visit: Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA
Excellence in Business Awards
Date: Wednesday, October 1
Time: 5-10pm
Visit: 335 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA
Veteran Small Business Capital Access: Borrowers’ Panel
Date: Tuesday, November 4
Time: 6-8:30pm
Visit: 1351 Maple Ave
Santa Rosa, CA
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Community Corner
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Investing in an Inclusive Economy
Start-up capital is a strong predictor of success for any business, yet not all entrepreneurs have equal access to the resources or networks necessary to raise growth capital.
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Expert Business Advising
At OBDC we are proud to continue our partnership with Pacific Community Ventures (PCV). PCV’s online advising program has a great new website and offers…
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Recent Loans
We’re excited to announce that OBDC has recently funded these incredible businesses!
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Overheard on Twitter
.@obdc_finance co-create a #neweconomy. Register for #LNEOakland2014, Oct 23-26 – early bird ends today!
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OBDC is hiring! Check out our careers page for more information about available positions.
We’re excited to welcome new staff members Mandolin Kadera-Redmond, Flor Melara, Bernadette Robertson, and Amanda Wysinger.
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