Main Street Launch Fall Newsletter

In this newsletter

• Letter From Our CEO
• Credit Tip
• Meet Our Clients: Wholesome Bakery
• Get To Know Brooke Solomon
• Advising Corner: Hiring Employees
• Oakland 2018 Holiday Campaign
• 2018 Main Street Launch Organizational Report
• Upcoming Events For your Small Business
• Get Connected To Resources
• Welcome Our Newest Clients
• Welcome Our Newest Team Members

Friends,

Main Street Launch is proud to work with innovative small business owners who are creating jobs for themselves and others, investing in our communities, and providing essential goods and services to our neighborhoods.

As the end of the year gets closer, we are reflecting about the innovation that our clients, staff, and partners bring to their work. From business owners like Mandy Harper, owner of Wholesome Bakery, who wanted delicious food for people with restrictive food allergies and created a business to support her community, to our partners in the San Francisco Economic Development Alliance who collaborate and advocate for small businesses across the City (and beyond), to our staff who spend their days thinking of new, creative solutions to better serve our clients and communities, our industry is full of innovation and the energy needed to make big change in our neighborhoods. We find ourselves energized and motivated by working in such close proximity to these incredible people and organizations.

In this newsletter you’ll find:

• A profile of Wholesome Bakery, one of our San Francisco clients,
• A profile of Brooke Solomon, who recently joined our loan closing team,
• An advising column from Katie Taylor about best practices and resources for hiring employees,
• An opportunity for Oakland businesses to promote themselves during the holidays,
• Our 2018 Organizational Report,
• Upcoming events to support your small business,
• Our recently funded clients and our new staff.

Thank you for your support of our clients and our work. We look forward to continuing to partner together to serve entrepreneurs.

Jacob Singer
President & CEO

Credit Tip

Meet Our Clients: Wholesome Bakery

Open since 2009, owner Mandy Harper used her Main Street Launch loan to open her retail bakery space at 299 Divisadero Street in San Francisco.

Wholesome Bakery is an organic, sustainable bakery offering delicious options to serve nearly every dietary restriction: gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, trans fat-free, low glycemic, and more! In addition to baked goods, they offer a rotating brunch menu, gift boxes, custom orders, and more.

“My loan from Main Street Launch made growth for my business possible,” says Mandy. “Because it’s just me, no investors or partners, the ability to access the money I needed to do the things I’ve been wanting to do was critical in expanding my business.”

Wholesome Bakery is always on the lookout for catering opportunities, so contact them today to book your next corporate lunch or event.

Click here to read Wholesome Bakery’s full profile.

Get To Know Brooke Solomon

Brooke Solomon is Main Street Launch’s Loan Closing Manager. Before coming to Main Street Launch, Brooke was involved with a variety of nonprofits including the American Cancer Society and the Climate Readiness Institute. Click here to read Brooke’s bio.

“The entrepreneurial spirit is so inspiring. It takes an intelligent, ambitious, and passionate individual to put their whole heart into their own business. Being able to work with clients and hear their stories of how they got to where they are today honestly stops me in my tracks and reminds me to keep hustling. It’s an honor to be of service to them and to join their team in supporting them.”

Click here to read Brooke’s full profile.

Advising Corner: Hiring Employees

This post was written by Katie Taylor, Vice President – Marketing & Executive Projects at Main Street Launch.

As your business grows, it becomes impossible to do it all yourself. Hiring can be daunting, but having a simple plan and process can make it easier. In this post we share some of our best practices for hiring.

1. Look for candidates in a few places.
2. Ask for a cover letter & resume.
3. Prepare questions in advance.
4. Talk to candidates by phone.
5. Interview candidates in person.
6. Work with a human resources professional.

To read the full post, click here.

Oakland 2018 Holiday Campaign

Main Street Launch is proud to partner with the City of Oakland, Oakland Grown, the Oakland Chamber, and Visit Oakland to celebrate small businesses and shopping local this holiday season.

Click here to sign up. Participation is free to small businesses, and this campaign relies on business owners promoting it to make it successful.

Oakland Grown will provide you with printed materials and information to share with your customers.

Main Street Launch staff can support you in developing your plan for how to best take advantage of this opportunity.

Click here to learn more about the campaign or contact us anytime for resources that can support your small business.

Organizational Report 2018

Our digital Organizational Report for fiscal year 2018 is now available. Print copies will be available later this fall. You can request your copy by emailing updates@mainstreetlaunch.org. Click here to read the report.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Click here to view more upcoming events to support your business this fall.

We welcome our partners and community to share upcoming events.
We post them on social media and on our website.
Send any upcoming events to katie@mainstreetlaunch.org.

Get Connected to Resources for your Business

The Alameda County SBDC provides free, one-on-one consulting and trainings to more than 2,000 small businesses in the county each year. Areas covered include raising loan and investment capital, marketing, social media, technology, operations, accounting and industries such as food, restaurant and retail. Click here to sign up at no cost to you.

BusinessAdvising.org connects free expert advisors and mentors to entrepreneurs for tailored, hands-on assistance to grow businesses and create new quality jobs in their communities. Click here to sign up at no cost to you.

Townsquared is a social network that connects neighborhood small businesses to each other. This platform fosters collaboration among businesses and offers a place to share resources and information. Click here to join at no cost to you.

Localwise connects local people to jobs at local businesses. As small businesses are ready to make their first hire or grow their team, Localwise offers a local job community focused on building talent in small businesses. Click here to post a job.

Welcome To Our Newest Clients

For more information about shopping with our clients, please check out our map.

Welcome Our Newest Team Members

We are pleased to welcome Kelly Baker and Ryan Zhou to our team! Kelly joins us as our new Data & Online Content Manager, supporting our outreach teams in Oakland and San Francisco, as well as various marketing and data projects. Ryan joins our team as our Business Outreach Intern, focusing on outreach in Oakland’s Chinatown for Shop Oakland Now, our online directory of Oakland businesses.