CivCom, a new veteran-owned organization that prepares service members and their spouses for civilian jobs after their military service, recently launched a survey to collect veterans’ experiences about their transition from military-to-civilian careers. Click here to read the full analysis of the survey. Nearly everyone reported they wished they had started planning earlier,…
Katie Taylor, Main Street’s Assistant Vice President – Communications, interviews Karla De Leon. Karla’s background has been a mix of business and public policy, and her focus has been small business finance. Click here for Karla’s bio. In what ways do you think Main Street Launch brings value to our communities? First and foremost, Main Street…
Paula Groves is Main Street Launch’s Senior Vice President – Business Consulting. She offers tips and advice to entrepreneurs to help them start and grow their small businesses. This tip is about how to use your New Year’s Resolution to support your business. I love New Year’s Resolutions. The New Year allow us…
As you shop for holiday gifts, consider choosing to #shoplocal for some of your gifts. Buying local has a big impact on our neighborhoods and communities: More tax revenue, for community services like education, road repair, and more, stays in our communities when you shop local Local nonprofits receive 250% more support from local businesses…
Happy Thanksgiving! We’re thrilled to be celebrating with our loved ones, and we hope you are too. While you think about your holiday shopping, consider #shoppingsmall to support your neighbors and communities. Click here to see our small business clients that operate in your neighborhood (it’s a map!). You don’t need to shop small…
When Kanitha Matoury, Air Force veteran, started Spice Monkey, a restaurant and bar in Oakland, she followed her passion for food and her desire to have a bigger impact in her community. Since it opened doors in 2008, Spice Monkey has grown to be a truly community-focused business, living their mission by operating in an…
Tomorrow, November 11, is Veterans Day. We’d like to express our gratitude to veterans of all eras for their service, and recognize the veterans who continue to serve our communities as small business owners. Across the country, veterans own 2.4 million businesses and in California has the most: 239,422 veteran-owned businesses statewide or 9.8%…
Willy Wang and Stacy Tang, the owners of Taiwan Bento, decided to open their small business, they were not able to secure startup capital despite having great credit scores and both graduating from UC Berkeley’s business school with MBAs. We are thrilled to support their business and watch it continue to grow and expand. …
Michelin offers zero to three stars to restaurants based on anonymous reviews. We’re thrilled to see a few of our clients mentioned on the list of Bay Area restaurants recognized by Michelin. Three stars is the highest level of recognition through Michelin, and now San Francisco has as many three star Michelin restaurants…
Recently, online lenders have multiplied, offering small business owners more options to access the capital they need for their small businesses. However, some of these lenders are not transparent about their terms, and small business owners have faced obstacles in successfully paying back while continuing the operate their businesses. Many of these financing options have…