​The Mill Valley Chamber has closely tracked the City of Mill Valley's extensive DEI Work Plan, an extensive document filled with items that spanned from housing and police to cultural and recreational opportunities. There were also recommendations that focused on supporting  and expand opportunities for our BIPOC business community.

Here are some updates on that work:

1. A partnership with SCORE.org, a long-standing organization affiliated with the SBA that offers “free business mentoring, low-cost or no-cost business training, and numerous templates and tools” to help entrepreneurs start or grow a business. 10,000 advisors, nationwide. Clients are matched with business experts, most of whom are retired business professionals who advise on marketing, accounting, operations, sales and HR issues. The target audience are businesses and nonprofits. These mentoring sessions are free! Meet their mentors. And sign up here.
2. The Chamber also recently worked with SCORE on a pilot networking exercise with our Board of Directors as a test-run of a facilitated BIPOC business owner/manager roundtable in the coming weeks, allowing attendees to connect and identify ways to work together and support each other. The networking exercise was a huge hit.
3. We're expanding our existing partnership with Marin Small Business Development Center. The MV Chamber already works closely with the MarinSBDC, co-sponsoring ongoing Educational Webinars on key business topics (pre-COVID), and promoting their business relief-related webinars and trainings throughout the COVID-19 crisis and much more. Marin SBDC has 15 “expert advisors” on their team willing to provide individual business development counseling. Chamber will continue to direct BIPOC businesses with financing, educational and business development needs towards Marin SBDC trainings and resources and one-on-one support when appropriate. 
4. In addition to providing the above support to our existing membership, the Mill Valley Chamber extended free one-year memberships to any Marin City nonprofit organization who wanted access to our resources, particularly the power of our promotional, educational and informational, as well as our ability to connect those nonprofits with colleagues in Mill Valley for potential collaboration.
5. The inclusion of our Marin City neighbor nonprofits allowed us to include them in another one of our BIPOC-oriented initiatives, the Marin Independent Journal- and Marin Community Foundation-led WeAreOneMarin.com campaign, which showcases and promotes one Marin BIPOC business every week. (Mill Valley has utilized six slots this year).

Questions? Email us here.

There's been a ton of discussion in Mill Valley and across the country about how hard it has been for employers to bring back their employees and hire new ones.

Despite an unemployment rate of just 2.5% here in Mill Valley, the job boards for the 94941 are loaded with postings, primarily for service industry jobs, spanning grocery store, cafe and retail clerks to salon, pet care and real estate office receptionists. As with most issues, the real reasons employers are struggling to fill openings are complex and nuanced. 
FULL STORY. 

Our focus at the Mill Valley Chamber remains supporting our members. To that end, remember that if you email us your job postings, we will leverage our blogs and myriad social media channels to get the word out, and we're also partnering with our fellow Marin Chambers on a virtual job fair later this year! EMAIL US HERE.

Here's what's available right now:
The Hivery Seeks Community and Facilities Coordinators
Whole Foods Miller Ave. Seeks: Meat and Seafood Associate Team Leader; Prepared Foods Department Associate Team Leader; Prepared Foods Department Team Leader and Grocery Team Leader and more.
Makers Market at MV Lumber Yard Seeks Assistant Store Manager
Mad Dogs & Englishmen Seeks Bike Mechanic
Piazza D'Angelo Seeks Servers

Jobs filled:
Sofia Jewelry Seeks Sales Associate
Sofia Jewelry Seeks Creative Assistant

Hoping to have a less turbulent, bug-laden rollout than the Small Business Administration's long-delayed Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program, which went live on Monday, the SBA is set go live on Monday, May 3rd with the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The $28.6 billion program, created as part of last month’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, will offer grants of up to $10 million to replace lost sales for bars, restaurants, caterers and food trucks, among others.

SBA officials told the NY Times the restaurant fund ran a seven-day test intended to help the agency avoid the kind of technical fiasco that plagued the venue program. “Help is here,” Isabella Casillas Guzman, the agency’s administrator, said of the program. “We’re rolling out this program to make sure that these businesses can meet payroll, purchase supplies and get what they need in place to transition to today’s Covid-restricted marketplace.”

The amount each businesses can receive is generally the difference between its 2019 and 2020 gross receipts, minus certain other federal assistance such as Paycheck Protection Program loans.

The major caveat is that the funding is expected to go very quickly. “Everyone should apply on Day 1,” Patrick Kelley, the head of the agency’s Office of Capital Access, told attendees at a webinar last week organized by the Independent Restaurant Coalition, according to the Times. Lawmakers projected at least $120 billion in demand for the restaurant fund, Mr. Kelley said, but provided money for less than a quarter of that amount.

All eligible businesses will be able to apply starting on Monday, but for the first 21 days, the Small Business Administration will approve claims exclusively from businesses that are majority-owned by people who fall into one of the priority groups designated by Congress: women, veterans, and individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged. The agency said that latter group includes those who meet certain income and asset limits and are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian-Pacific American or South Asian American.

Publicly traded companies, businesses with more than 20 locations and restaurants that have permanently closed are ineligible for the grants. Applications can be submitted through a Small Business Administration website and some point-of-sale systems. The technology companies Clover, NCR Corporation, Square and Toast are working with the agency to enable applications for their customers.

MORE INFO AND APPLY HERE.

HERE ARE SOME REGISTRATION TIPS:

• if you use Toast or Square, go through them to register for the program
• You do not need to get into the system right at 6am – it will not impact your order for being able to get approved 
• You'll need to have this information to register: email, cell phone, username and password
• If you already registered for a SBA account, you still need to register here - this is a separate portal

APPLICATION TIPS

• Best to use Chrome or a Mac browser – the most up to date platform is best
• If you are a Clover of Aloha customer, they will provide you official documentation for gross receipts  
• Best to have an authorized personnel or your point of sale to help you get the information you need and also verify its accuracy -this will make approval go faster
• Linking your application to a bank account will help get you approved quicker and you won't have to provide bank statements for past 3 months
• Authorized owner title needs to be filled out
• Have the owner sign off on the application do not have a CPA do the sign off for you
• Clarity, precision and organization is key for getting approved quicker
• If you need to correct something in your application you will lose your spot in line and will be put at the end of the line
• All communication will go through the portal – emails will be sent out from this portal to give you status updates
• Helpful to include a cover page to explain how you did your calculations – this will help the person who reviews your application make it all go quicker

MORE INFO AND APPLY HERE.

The City of Mill Valley’s recent notification of a public hearing next month on its proposed changes to sewer rates has sent heads spinning, particularly for restaurants left wondering why their costs are going up in the midst of the most economically devastating year in recent memory.

The news comes in advance of a March 1st City Council meeting on the subject. City officials have said they very much want to hear from the business community on this issue. 

The City proposes to keep commercial customers on a rate structure that is entirely driven by the amount of sewage produced, while residents will convert over time to a combination fixed cost/volume-based plan, starting at 20% fixed and 80% volume in 2021-22 and moving to a 40%-60% split over time. Commercial customers will see an overall rate hike in 2020-21, then hold rates steady for five years.

The vast majority of sewer service revenue – 82 percent – comes from residential customers, with restaurants making up the bulk of commercial sewer revenue at 5.1%, followed by offices at 3 percent.

On February 22, the County of Marin is launching a new lottery, no interest loan program to provide relief to local small businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualified small business owners in Marin may apply to receive a portion of $915,000 in federal relief funding targeted businesses. The money will be in the form of grants of no more than $10,000 and interest-free loans of no more than $50,000.

KEY DETAILS:

• Initial application opens Feb. 22 and closes March 15 at 11:59pm.
• It is NOT first come, first serve.
• It's for small businesses only (nonprofits cannot apply).
• $800K available in loans and $115K in grants (you can only receive a grant if you are first selected in the lottery process AND also do not meet the loan underwriting requirements).
• Loans are 0% interest and can be up to $50K.
• 53% of funding will go to businesses in San Rafael, 27% to those in Novato, and 20% for the rest of the county.
• Since this is coming from CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding, the loans will target underserved groups and low income individuals

The Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), a local Community Development Financial Institution, is administering the program. All applications with go through MEDA. MEDA uses federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds by way of the CARES Act to disburse $800,000 in zero-interest loans and $115,000 in grants over the next few months. On January 12, the County entered an agreement with MEDA to help distribute the funds.

In a recommendation by the Marin County Community Development Agency, 53% of the Marin County Small Business Fund is targeted for businesses in or near San Rafael, 27% to those in or near Novato, and 20% for the rest of the county. Funding distribution is tied to coronavirus infection rates throughout the county. Businesses will be selected by a lottery because of the expected high demand for assistance. 

Loan forms must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. March 15. 

To qualify, businesses must meet the following:

• Provide an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or Social Security Number (SSN)
• Be a business located in Marin and with a business address in Marin
• Have a valid Marin business license
• Be a for-profit business in good standing
• Have annual business revenues of less than $2.5 million
• Have no town, city, or county tax liens or judgments
• Demonstrate a 25% drop in revenues since January 1, 2020
• Have no more than 50 employees
• Have not previously received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of more than $150,000
• If business has five or fewer employees (including business owner), either owner(s) must qualify as low-income or at least 51% of employees must be low-income. Low-income is defined as annual wages or salary of no more than $97,600.
• If business has six to 50 employees (including business owner), at least 51% of employees must be low-income. Low-income is defined as annual wages or salary of no more than $97,600.

Application Process
1. Submit a loan inquiry form by March 15. 
2. Through a lottery process, MEDA will select businesses to move forward.
3. Notices of selections will be sent out by March 26.
4. If your business is selected, you will then have to submit certain documents (like tax forms and other typical loan documents) in order to receive funding.
5. MEDA will work with you to make sure everything is submitted properly.
6. Funds will be dispersed by April 30.
​
Marin SBDC is hosting several MEDA Info Sessions: 

INFO SESSION #1: Thursday, Feb. 18th, 2-3pm
INFO SESSION #2: Friday, Feb. 19th, 1-2pm
INFO SESSION #3: Monday, Feb. 22nd, 11am-12pm

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6334004364?pwd=d0dNeVpKRVJlSFM3SVBJekdwS3c3Zz09

Meeting ID: 633 400 4364
Passcode: 637727
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,6334004364#,,,,*637727# US (San Jose)

MEDA serves historically under-resourced families throughout the Bay Area, especially those among the Latinx population, by promoting economic equity and social justice. This program is MEDA’s first foray into Marin. The use of CDBG funds prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, sex, and familial status. Marin’s Countywide Priority Setting Committee that oversees CDBG funding recommendations prioritizes funding for projects that serve these protected classes.
​
The Marin County Board of Supervisors has encouraged CDA to pursue federal funding to help keep local businesses alive during this economically challenging time. “Economy” is one of the Board of Supervisors' priority “Four E's” along with equity, environment, and education.

Need Help?
Marin SBDC is ready to support you if you have questions or need guidance with the application or paperwork. You are welcome to reach out to the SBDC Advisor who assisted you with your PPP, EIDL or CA Grant or please reach out to us at 415.482.1819.

MORE INFO.
 
1st Step in Application: Submit a Loan Inquiry Form 
English
Español

The County of Marin has entered an agreement with a community-based organization to help it distribute nearly $448,000 of federal funds to support Marin small businesses with lower-wage employees that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The money will be in the form of grants of no more than $10,000 and interest-free loans of no more than $50,000. In a recommendation by the Marin County Community Development Agency, 53% of the funding will be targeted for businesses in or near San Rafael, 27% to those in or near Novato, and 20% for the rest of the county. Businesses will be selected by a lottery because of the expected high demand for assistance.
 
The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the staff proposal January 12. The County’s partner on the funding distribution is the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), established in San Francisco in 1973. MEDA serves historically under-resourced families throughout the Bay Area, especially those among the Latinx population, by promoting economic equity and social justice. MEDA will use federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to create a new Marin County Small Business Fund worth more than $900,000.
 
In December, the Board approved $1,790,994 in CDBG funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. A quarter of that, $447,749, was set aside for microenterprise and small business financial assistance. The funding does not affect the County’s General Fund.
 
The Marin CDA, which administers CDBG funding locally, is targeting small businesses with low-income owners and/or businesses with 50% or more employees being low-income. For this program in Marin, low income is defined as an employee earning less than $97,600. 
 
To comply with the CARES Act requirement to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, this  assistance is targeting businesses that are either located in communities most impacted by COVID-19 and/or businesses that have a majority of employees that live in communities most impacted by the pandemic. In Marin, that means the resources will be focused toward supporting the heavily hit Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, portions of Novato, and areas seeing heightened infection rates across the rest of the county. 
 
MEDA’s webpage for the Marin County Small Business Fund will have more information about how businesses can apply for the program in the coming weeks. Inquiries should be emailed to MEDA.

After a seven-month wait, the federal Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program, which offers small businesses forgivable loans to help them retain and pay their workers if they meet certain conditions, reopens this week.

​Are you applying? Let us know and, if so, how we can help.

The first round of the program closed in August after distributing $523 billion to more than 5 million businesses. Last month’s stimulus package included $284 billion in new funding to restart the relief effort.

An Equitable Start
​Beginning today, the SBA is accepting applications from community lenders seeking loans for first-time borrowers. Lenders who specialize in working with Black- and minority-owned small businesses will have a head start in tapping program funds, a move meant to address complaints that the aid was not distributed equitably the last time around and favored businesses with existing banking relationships.

Community lenders are specially designated institutions that focus on underserved borrowers, including women-led businesses and those run by Black, Latino and Asian owners and other minorities.

The SBA has not said when it will begin accepting applications via non-community lenders, only that it will "reopen to all participating lenders shortly thereafter." We'll keep you posted on this.

Double Up
Borrowers were previously limited to just one loan, but the new funding will be available to both first-time and returning borrowers. First draw loans are eligible to any business or nonprofit with fewer than 500 employees and can be used to help fund payroll costs, including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay for mortgage interest, rent, utilities, worker protection costs related to COVID-19, uninsured property damage costs caused by looting or vandalism during 2020, and certain supplier costs and expenses for operations.

On Jan. 13, lenders will be able to submit applications from people seeking second-round loans. Businesses will be eligible for a second loan if they suffered a sales drop of at 25 percent or more in at least one quarter of 2020, compared with the previous year. Second loans will be restricted to businesses with no more than 300 employees; initial loans are available to larger companies, generally those with up to 500 workers.

Mill Valley business owners leaned heavily on the program's first incarnation in 2020, garnering more than $32 million in forgivable loans for the period prior to June 30, enough to retain 2,795 jobs, or nearly 14 percent of jobs saved in Marin for that period.

Many sole proprietors, a sector heavily represented in Mill Valley, got little or no PPP aid.  Some were helped by other government relief programs like expanded unemployment benefits under the $2 trillion CARES Act, which are not typically available to those who are self employed. And millions of business owners got loans from a second S.B.A. program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan system, which offers low-interest loans. But those, unlike PPP loans, must be repaid.

Questions? Comments? Email us.

Marin County’s partnership with Curative Inc. is expanding to bring additional self-administered, oral swab testing to Marin. Six locations were announced on December 17, and a seventh location that will operate five days per week is set to open on Wednesday, January 6.

The new drive-through testing location in San Rafael offers FDA-authorized, pain-free swabbing that is self-administered. Instead of doing nasal swabs, residents will simply open a swab package, cough deeply three to five times and swab inside each cheek, upper and lower gum, underneath and on top of the tongue, and the roof of the mouth. This swab is then placed inside a biohazard bag and returned to a Curative worker. Results are returned within 72 hours by email or text.

All curative testing sites remain free, but appointments must be scheduled in advance through the Curative website (available in English and Spanish). Appointment slots open about 3-4 days in advance of each scheduled testing day. The updated schedule of Marin County -based Curative test sites includes:

• Bolinas: Mondays, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM; Bolinas Fire Station (100 Mesa Road)
• Larkspur: Thursdays starting January 7, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Piper Park (250 Doherty Drive)
• Novato: Fridays starting January 8, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Novato Library (1720 Novato Boulevard)
• San Anselmo: Tuesdays, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; United Market (100 Red Hill Avenue)
• San Geronimo: UPDATED! Mondays, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; San Geronimo Golf Course parking lot (5800 Sir Francis Drake Blvd)
• San Rafael: Starting January 6; Armory Parking Lot (Armory Drive)
• Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Sausalito: Wednesdays starting January 6, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Sausalito City Hall (420 Litho Street)

On. Dec. 30, the California Office of the Small Business Advocate opened the first round of applications for the state's $500 million California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program. The CAReliefGrant.com website is live. MORE INFO.
​
HAVING ISSUES APPLYING FOR THE GRANT?
You're not alone. The good news is that this Grant Relief Program is NOT first come, first serve. If you face any technical issues during the process, you can still submit your application any time before Jan. 8, 2021,11:59 PM. If you are experiencing technical difficulties with the high volume demands, circle back to the application portal in lower peak demand times, today and throughout the holiday weekend. We have seen successes with clients submitting at non peak times. 

The Marin SBDC compiled screenshots of the application once you are in the portal: 

CLICK HERE FOR SCREENSHOTS OF APPLICATION

CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION GUIDANCE

GETTING ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT WITH YOUR APPLICATION 
If you are an existing Marin SBDC client, please contact the SBDC Advisor that you worked with already (whomever helped you with EIDL, PPP or another program). If you are a new client, sign up HERE.

Our SBDC CA network created webinars to help you apply and answer your questions. All webinars are at 11:00am PST - REGISTER HERE

We will be discussing:

• The Grant Program
• Eligibility Requirements
• What the funding can be used for
• The Application
• Required Documents
• Who to Contact for Assistance

Webinars occur daily at 11:00 a.m.

• Jan 1 - English
• Jan 2 - English/Vietnamese
• Jan 3 - English/Korean
• Jan 4 - English/Arabic

REGISTER HERE FOR ANY OF THESE WEBINARS
INFO ON FIRST ROUND FOR CA GRANT RELIEF PROGRAM OPENS DECEMBER 30 -
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• This is NOT a first come first serve process. 
• They will have 2 rounds of funding open. First round opens December 30 at 6:00 AM - January 8 at 11:59 PM - Second round TBD
• You can apply even if you received EIDL, PPP or other COVID funding

WHO CAN APPLY

• Active small businesses with gross revenues of $2.5M or less and small nonprofits 501(c)3 and 501(c)6 with gross revenues of $2.5M or less
• Operating in business from June 1 2019

HOW MUCH CAN YOU ASK FOR

• Eligible businesses with annual revenues of $1,000 to $100,000 can ask for $5,000
• Eligible businesses with annual revenues of $100,000 up to $1,000,000 can ask for $15,000
• Eligible businesses with annual revenues of $1,000,000 up to $2,500,000 can ask for $25,000

HOW WILL APPLICATIONS BE CHOSEN
Eligible businesses will be scored based on COVID-19 impact factors incorporated into the Program’s priority criteria so that distribution can take into account priority key factors, including the following:

1. Geographic distribution based on COVID-19 health and safety restrictions following California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy and county status and the new Regional Stay At Home Order;
2. Industry sectors most impacted by the pandemic; and
3. Underserved small business groups served by the State supported network of small business centers (i.e., businesses majority owned and run on a daily basis by women, minorities/persons of color, veterans and businesses located in low-to-moderate income and rural communities). 

FIND ALL INFO HERE: https://careliefgrant.com/

Through the spring and summer of 2020, the Mill Valley community locked arms with local small businesses, donating to the Chamber's COVID-19 Mill Valley Business Fund, our campaign to raise funds for as many $1,000 direct cash grants as possible at a moment of crisis amidst the pandemic.

You donated, en masse, raising nearly $100,000 to support almost 100 grants to businesses. Due to the ever-murky prospects for local Mill Valley businesses on the horizon, we're hoping you'll take the opportunity to support your local community again, in a slightly different but no-less-meaningful way.

The biggest differences this time are that you have the ability to designate your donation specifically to your favorite business(es) and your donation is tax-deductible via MarinLink.org, our fiscal custodian and nonprofit partner. To make a donation online by credit card, click the Donate button below to be directed to the MarinLink website. 

Indicate recipient(s) in the "In Honor of" portion of the form – we'll split the donation evenly among them. If you don't designate a business, we will pool not-designated donations to support the continued creation of $1,000 direct cash grants to the businesses that applied to our GoFundMe campaign in the spring and summer but weren't fulfilled with the funds raised.