Funds will Support California Start-Ups and Small Businesses Achieve Short and Long-Term Goals

ORANGE COUNTY – Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, Chair of the Assembly Jobs Committee, and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) today announced the 84 recipients of the of the California Small Business Technical Assistance Expansion Program (SB TAEP) for 2018. The $17 million provided for this year’s recipients has been allocated to technical assistance centers with a focus on services to underserved business groups, including women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses and businesses in low-wealth, rural, and disaster-impacted communities.

“California is home to the largest number and fastest growing start-ups and small businesses in the country doing everything from providing professional services to innovating next gen consumer products,” said GO-Biz Director Panorea Avdis. “This new grant program will give many of these small businesses the expert advice and tools they need to grow and maintain their ventures.”

SB TAEP was created as part of the Governor’s Fiscal Year 2018 / 2019 state budget to expand the capacity of federal small business technical assistance programs and services in California such as free or low-cost one-on-one consulting and low-cost training. The Office of Small Business Advocate at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is charged with implementing and administering the Program.                          

“As Chair of the Jobs Committee, I am pleased to see that our state’s real job creators, our small businesses, now have greater access to services that help them expand their successful ventures and begin new ones on the right foot,” said Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. “These grants will support the development of small businesses in California, and remove impediments to help businesses flourish. This investment will make economic independence, and upward mobility, a reality for millions more Californians, by cultivating the ingenuity and talents our best have to offer.”

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed Assembly Bill 448, legislation jointly authored by Orange County Assemblymembers Tom Daly (D – Anaheim) and Sharon Quirk-Silva (D – Fullerton) to establish the Orange County Housing Finance Trust.

"This legislation is a product of teamwork, and refreshing cooperation in Orange County. This was a bipartisan effort to find permanent housing for our struggling residents," said Quirk-Silva. "As a mother, teacher, former mayor, and concerned resident, I understand there are many roadblocks to providing housing for the county’s growing population of chronically homeless people. Nevertheless, with optimistic and sensible approaches like this one, we will be able to help the homeless in our community over time."

A 2017 UC Irvine study, commissioned by Orange County United Way, found that 68% of Orange County’s homeless population had lived in the County for 10 years or longer. The UCI study concluded that Orange County could save $42 million a year on healthcare and law enforcement, among other expenses, by moving chronically homeless people from the streets into permanent supportive housing.

FULLERTON – In further efforts to bring state funds back to the people of Orange County, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D – Orange County) secured $5 million from the 2018-19 State Budget’s Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, to house and assist persons experiencing homelessness. The funds will be used to expand bed and support services for the homeless at the Bridges at Kraemer Place emergency shelter in Orange County. With these funds, the Bridges at Kraemer Place will serve hundreds of men, women, and children of North Orange County.

“Supporting a proven successful shelter, already in operation, is the logical first approach to confront the complicated issue of homelessness,” said Quirk-Silva. “We need beds for people in responsible shelters, such as Kraemer Place. Supporting these shelters with a proven success rate will ease the burden put on our neighborhood streets, in times of crisis.”

Bridges at Kraemer Place in Anaheim is more than an emergency shelter. It has added services to help transition transients into more stable, long-term housing. Homeless people have to be referred, and screened for outstanding warrants, to get into Kraemer’s 24-hour shelter. Also, sex offenders are not allowed, and public safety is paramount.