Small Business

Director Carlos Espinoza-Toro and his team of three at JPNDC had a mission to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. They supported mostly immigrant-owned businesses by helping them develop marketing plans or apply for loans and other critical services.

Leveraging its status as an SBA 7a Community Advantage Lender, RCAC worked around the clock in the early days of the COVID pandemic, making 307 total PPP loans, deploying nearly $25 million, and saving 3,571 jobs.

With grant funding from Kaiser Permanente & NALCAB, Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) will provide five Ventura County small business owners with no-cost TA and training, as well as $10,000 in forgivable funding.

After decades of criminalization, street vendors achieved a major victory in getting their legal status recognized by the Los Angeles city council in 2018. This article highlights the work of community organizations, including NALCAB member East Los Angeles Community Corporation, in raising awareness about the vulnerability of beloved street vendors as we strive for a more just and equitable recovery post-pandemic.

With support from Kaiser Permanente, NALCAB selected 39 community organizations, including LEDC, to receive support potentially reaching nearly 12,000 entrepreneurs.

Shared Ground started in 2014, organized by farmers and LEDC. With the pandemic and the civil unrest resulting from George Floyd dying at the hands of Minneapolis police, several grocery stores were damaged, creating food deserts in Minneapolis.

Nearly two decades after starting to make tamales in her Berkeley home, Alicia Villanueva has landed 50+ contracts with grocery stores. Her journey started with support from MEDA to earn a loan and TA.