(Editor’s Note: The following release celebrating small business month was received from Gov. Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development, Go-Biz)
“Today, we celebrate the innovation and impact of California’s small business owners,” said the Governor’s Chief Economic and Business Advisor and Director of Go-Biz Lenny Mendonca. “They are the bold entrepreneurs of our state who take an idea and tirelessly work to craft that idea into a California Dream. These men and women are also the anchors in their community; making them vital in our effort to build sustainable, inclusive growth across the state.”
California, the fifth largest economy in the world, has more than 3.9 million small businesses operating in the state – over 40 percent of which are minority-owned. The 70,350 small firms that exported goods from California generated 43 percent of the state’s $152 billion in total exports. California leads the nation in new businesses started every year. To help California’s small businesses succeed in the marketplace, Go-Biz provides information and assistance including incentives and financing, consulting and training offerings, and emergency preparedness.
“Small business owners are the backbone of California’s economy,” said Go-Biz’s Director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate Isabel Guzman. “With their entrepreneurial mindset, they innovate to solve global issues, work tirelessly to reshape Main Streets, and create jobs to uplift local communities. They have the grit and agility we must embody as a state. I am thrilled to celebrate our small businesses with Governor Newsom’s proclamation of Small Business Month.”