Relief Capital Will Assist Siskiyou Businesses

The Siskiyou Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is one of several Siskiyou EDC programs in place, to help Siskiyou County businesses prosper .

The Siskiyou EDC has worked directly with more than 700 businesses since the start of COVID-19 and has connected capital opportunities to hundreds more. In recent months the team launched a county-wide effort to help businesses apply for available funding opportunities.

“Our Siskiyou SBDC call volume tripled in April and May,” explains SBDC Director, Niki Brown. “Our initial response connected Siskiyou businesses to resources and capital. Now, as we navigate the crisis and recovery phase, our advisors can help businesses approach their business model in a new way and move forward towards recovery.”

The SBDC center opened in 2016 as a proactive strategy to mitigate unemployment in Siskiyou County. City jurisdictions, the County and the Siskiyou EDC advocated for the location of the Siskiyou Center. In 2019 SBDC services supported the creation of 80 local jobs. Today the SBDC strives to support job retention and creation for more than 200 businesses, through the unprecedented economic shock brought by COVID-19.

SBDCs are hosted by leading universities, colleges, state economic development agencies and private sector partners, and funded in part by the United States Congress through a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration Several local foundations provide essential match funding for SBDC business services to help adequately serve the entire geographic footprint of Siskiyou County. Between March and October, the Ford Family Foundation, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, The Wells Fargo Foundation, and U.S. Bank provided COVID-19 emergency funding to help the Siskiyou SBDC operate at four times its normal capacity and meet the influx of advising requests.

“We are thankful for the quick action and generosity of these funding agencies.” Brown says. “This support helps the SBDC will reach over 200 Siskiyou County small-business owners with virtual technical-assistance, training and one-on-one advising.”

The Siskiyou SBDC is committed to ensuring businesses have a productive recovery. Siskiyou businesses are encouraged to enroll for no-cost advising and targeted trainings by signing up at www.siskiyousbdc.org.

SBDC questions can be directed to info@siskiyoucounty.org or by calling the center at (530) 842-1638.