By Gregg Foster, RREDC Executive Director
Published by the Times-Standard, April 7, 2003
Economic development is a high-profile issue in Humboldt County. Redevelopment, retail ordinances, the timber industry, fiber optics, land use, the port, the railroad, permitting and so on are all topics that everyone hears of and, most likely, has an opinion about.
However, these high profile issues are only part of the economic development picture in Humboldt County. Outside of the limelight are organizations and programs that quietly go about providing services and funding to local business. Two of these agencies are the North Coast Small Business Resource Center and the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission.
The North Coast Small Business Resource Center is a small private non-profit formed nearly 20 years ago to provide local entrepreneurs with a place to get help starting, expanding, and running their businesses. The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides the core funding for the Center through a yearly contract. The Center also has contracts with the County of Humboldt and State of California to provide services to specific populations and business types.
Until 2001, the Center was headquartered in Crescent City. Following the death of long-time Executive Director Fran Clark, the Board of Directors decided to close the Crescent City office and headquarter the Center’s five employees at the Prosperity Center in Eureka. This move in addition to major staffing changes made 2002 an exciting year. It was also a year where the quantity and quality of services to local businesses grew exponentially.
Currently, the Center provides three core services; workshops, information and referral, and one-on-one counseling. All of these programs are focused on one thing, helping business owners succeed.
Workshops include the popular “Pre-Venture Seminars”. These free seminars are designed for the new business owner. They provide basic information on starting a business, writing a business plan, and managing your finances. In May, a fourth topic will be added that focuses on personal goal setting and motivation for business ownership. In addition, the Center offers more advanced workshops on a variety of topics including human resources, website development, and cash flow analysis.
Business owners needing quick information can now get those answers by calling BizNet. Biznet is a new Center program designed to provide local businesses with answers and information on common business concerns such as licensing, permits, zoning, etc. BizNet is also the one-stop place for booking appointments and signing up for workshops offered through the Center.
The third core service offered by the Center is free one-on-one business counseling. The Center offers counseling on a broad list of business topics, from permits to financing to managing employees. A unique feature of this program is the Center’s ability to draw from its pool of nearly 40 local business consultants to provide assistance tailored to individual businesses. These “special projects” have included in-depth marketing projects, bookkeeping system assistance, and expansion planning.
Services are not limited to the Center in Eureka. Counseling is available by appointment in Arcata, Bridgeville, Crescent City, Fortuna, Garberville, Hoopa, Klamath, Orick, Rio Dell, and Willow Creek.
So, do these services have an impact? It’s not enough for the Center to merely offer these services. It must also follow up to see if they have benefited its clients. For 2002, Center workshops attracted over 1,000 attendees and 418 individuals received one-on-one business counseling. Five of the businesses served by the Center received SBA loans and 31 others received non-SBA loans. Business clients report that that they created 120 new jobs and increased sales by nearly $3.5 million in 2002. While these results are testament to the hard work and dedication of the business owners, the Center was pleased to support these owners in their growth.
Co-located with the Small Business Resource Center is the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC). RREDC is a nineteen-member government agency formed twenty-five years ago to distribute economic development monies received as part of the agreement to expand Redwood National Park. The member agencies of RREDC include the County of Humboldt, all seven Humboldt County cities, seven Community Service Districts, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District, the Redwoods Community College District, the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District.
RREDC operates Humboldt County’s oldest economic development loan fund. We lend to small businesses that are unable to obtain sufficient credit through traditional sources like banks and credit unions. Businesses receiving loans from RREDC build our economic base by increasing the amount of goods and services sold outside Humboldt County, create good-paying jobs, improve a blighted area, or bring goods and services to underserved areas. To date, RREDC has lent over $11 million to local businesses. Over $2 million of that was lent in just the past three years. We’ve made loans from Redway to Orick to Willow Creek and everywhere in between.
RREDC
is unique in that we receive no operational support from outside sources. All of our programs are supported by income
from our loan funds and other direct services.
Fewer than four full time employees run our entire program. Our small size allows us to remain
financially self-sufficient and provide support other programs, like the Small
Business Development Center, while slowly growing our loan fund.
In addition to our core loan program, RREDC also provides support for our member agencies. For example, we provide loan expertise and services to the County of Humboldt, and the Cities of Arcata, Eureka, and Rio Dell. We also provide grant administration services to organizations like the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the City of Rio Dell, and Del Norte Gateway Partnership. We advocate on issues like the SBC/Cal Trans fiber optics impasse and Buckhorn Summit improvements.
Both the Small Business Resource Center and RREDC, with others in the Prosperity Network, work hard to provide services that help businesses thrive and grow in Humboldt County. For more information on the Small Business Resource Center, call its BizNet line at 445-9035. For more information on RREDC and its programs, call 445-9651.
Gregg Foster is Executive Director of RREDC and a member of the Board of Directors of the North Coast Small Business Resource Center.