For Mark Gisler and his family, a lack of good assisted living facilities in his area spurred two generations of Gislers to make their mark on the care home industry in Northern California—and to create a workplace where employees can feel like family.
Policymakers at all levels, from town councils to the halls of Capitol Hill, emphasize the challenges of small businesses as a key talking point during political debates. But new opinion polling in four states—Illinois, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin—reveals small businesses feel their government officials don’t actually understand their challenges, and they support a wide array of policies to address their needs, some of which might come as a surprise to their elected officials.
Small Business Majority’s Outreach Team advocates for entrepreneurs on two fronts: It supports policies that would benefit small firms, and it offers workshops and events that help small business owners grow their companies. Over the coming months, we’ll be sitting down with members of our Outreach Team to provide an introduction and let small business owners know how our team members can assist them.
This week we are spotlighting Bianca Blomquist, Small Business Majority’s Northern California Outreach Manager.
Kenitra “Keni” Dominguez was determined to expand Red Bay Coffee’s employee benefits when she became the sustainable coffee company’s Director of People and Culture in early 2018.
“Finding good employee benefits takes time, dedication and resources, and before I came to Red Bay, there was no one serving in a dedicated HR or people operations capacity, so I was essentially starting from scratch,” she said.
In 2015, Kristine de la Cruz, owner of Crème Caramel LA and co-owner of Frankie Lucy Bakeshop in Los Angeles, traveled to Washington D.C., to participate in one of Small Business Majority’s policy-focused events. Four years later de la Cruz joined us again–a little closer to home–for the “California Small Business Summit: Building Local Economies” to learn how she can expand her businesses. She wasn’t disappointed.
As a small business owner, we know you wear many hats—from running the day-to-day operations of your business, to managing employees, building a brand and much more. And for aspiring entrepreneurs, this can mean juggling a traditional job while navigating the ins and outs of starting a new venture. One thing many entrepreneurs feel unequipped to deal while starting or running a business is how to handle business finances and maintain health.
We are proud of our work this year serving small businesses and independent entrepreneurs. As we prepare to expand this work in 2019, we’re taking time to reflect on our successes over the last year.
This was certainly a year of expansion for Small Business Majority. We worked hard to bring new resources to underserved communities and supported new policies that will benefit small business owners. Here are six of our biggest accomplishments in 2018:
The CalSavers Retirement Savings Program is a portable workplace retirement savings program for private sector workers whose employers do not offer their employees a way to save for retirement. CalSavers is run by the state and funded by modest employee contributions, so it involves minimal requirements for employers. You can learn more by watching this introduction video.
The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program, signed into law January 2015, helps small businesses that struggle to offer retirement benefits to their employees and provide retirement security to the 2.5 million Illinoisans who do not have access to an employment-based retirement plan. Below is an overview of what small businesses need to know about the program.
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