Long Beach City College has received a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to support veteran small businesses – one of six organizations nationwide selected for the money.
LBCC will receive $375,000.
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps the pursuits of small business owners and entrepreneurs and is the only cabinet-level federal agency fully dedicated to small business. It provides counseling, capital and contracting expertise.
Through its nationwide Veterans Business Outreach Center program, SBA offers support for veterans as they enter the world of business ownership by providing resources such as funding programs, training and federal contracting opportunities.
LBCC was selected by SBA as one of the six organizations to be awarded the grant because the college has demonstrated a commitment to addressing challenges that veteran-owned small businesses face and helping them succeed, according to a press release.
LBCC will now be a designated a Veterans Business Outreach Center as well.
“LBCC has a long history of supporting small business entrepreneurship across the region, and we have always proudly served our veteran entrepreneurs,” Herlinda Chico, president of the Long Beach Community College District’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement.
“This grant will allow us to significantly expand our current efforts,” she added, “by tailoring services and bringing resources directly to our region’s military installations to reach active service members, veterans and their families as they transition to civilian life.”
The one-year renewable grant will support a range of services, including providing veterans with training and counseling on accounting, financial planning and management; helping them understand the multitude of sources of capital available; helping them access financing, loans and grants; providing marketing and outreach services to promote veteran-owned businesses in their communities and beyond; and providing instruction to help active duty service members transition out of the military.
As a Veterans Business Outreach Center, LBCC will deliver services on bases to assist active service members who are about to transition to civilian life, as well as service members’ families and dependents who also wish to start their own small businesses, college officials said.
This outreach center program joins LBCC’s other economic development programs, which include the Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center Network and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at LBCC.
In the United States, veteran-owned small businesses employ more than 5 million people and generate more than $1.3 trillion in annual revenue, according to the press release announcing the grant awardees.
“We are honored to support transitioning service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, as well as military spouses, in launching and expanding their businesses,” said LBCC Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz. “By doing so, we can help boost the regional economy and further the mission of our California Community Colleges to support the development of our local small businesses.”
