Title
Approve and Authorize the Assistant County Administrative Officer to Execute the Standard Agreement with the Monterey County Business Council (MCBC) to provide COVID-19 Disaster Small Business Tutorial Webinars, in the amount of $25,000, retroactive to April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2020.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Administrative Officer to execute the Standard Agreement with the Monterey County Business Council (MCBC) to provide COVID-19 Disaster Small Business Tutorial Webinars, in the amount of $25,000, retroactive to April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2020.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
temporarily been shut down or have significantly reduced hours and are in desperate need for Due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the shelter in place orders, small businesses have temporarily been shut down or have significantly reduced hours and are in desperate need for disaster relief to save their businesses.
There is a need for businesses to have a resource that provides education and dissemination of current legislation and changes to Small Business Administration (SBA) loan opportunities for local businesses. The COVID-19 webinars will focus on business topics that range from SBA disaster small business loans, microloans, grant opportunities, current events, recovery efforts, and changes to the local economy from COVID-19 that are affecting small businesses as new information emerges daily. As a result of the webinars to date, the Monterey County Business Council and Small Business Development Center have assisted hundreds of businesses.
The MCBC will create weekly disaster small business tutorial webinars for 12 weeks. The MCBD will partner with the Small Business Development Center and other business partners to educate small businesses on disaster loans that are available and the process for submitting loan applications. Up to three webinars will be held in Spanish; all webinars are free to the public. The first webinar had 798 registered and 626 participants. The webinars offer a question and answer period that provides an opportunity for individual questions to be answered. In addition, the Small Business Development Center follows up on questions that were unable to be answered during the webinars.
The MCBC President/CEO will assemble speakers and topics for each webinar and absorb all associated costs. MCBC staff will be dedicated to promoting each week’s webinar and a paid social media schedule will accompany each webinar to ensure maximum visibility and participation. The MCBC CEO will be available for press briefings and interviews to speak on the partnership between the County and the business industry.
The MCBC will coordinate with regional Chambers of Commerce, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and local jurisdictions to promote the webinars across the County. Additionally, local jurisdictions will promote the webinars within their social media networks.
The MCBC President/CEO will be available for press briefings and interviews to speak on the partnership between the County and the business industry.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
FINANCING:
Due to department savings, funds for the MCBC Agreement, in the amount of $25,000 are available in the FY 2019-20 Adopted Budget, Fund 001, Department 1050, Unit 8514. There are no additional fiscal impacts with this recommendation.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
The Disaster Small Business Tutorial Webinars support these Board approved Strategic Initiatives:
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
X Economic Development
__Administration
__Health & Human Services
__Infrastructure
__Public Safety
Prepared by: _____________________________________________________________
Debby Bradshaw, Management Analyst III, Ext. 5338
Approved by: _____________________________________________________________
Anastacia Wyatt, Housing Program Manager, Ext. 5387
Attachments:
Board
MCBC_SBA_Agreement