Find Your Vision at the Los Angeles Small Business Summit

This spring, Find Your Vision had the pleasure of attending the Los Angeles Small Business Summit at Calstate LA. This enriching event, hosted by the Los Angeles Department of Economic Opportunity, provided invaluable resources and networking opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The summit underscored the power of collaboration and community support in fostering business growth and development.

A Day of Learning and Networking

We were joined by several of our esteemed business associates and clients, including:

• Nina Nielsen leading the Find Your Vision team and affiliated businesses and partners
• Larry "Bone Collector" Williams with his Bone Collector Foundation and management company Team Ankle Breaker, LLC
• Taz Tikoon and her nonprofit Tide Water
• Chazz Bradford representing Milliballers
• Oliver North with his nonprofit Only Thoughts of Ownership

In addition to our core team, we also assisted other companies in navigating the summit, including Valley Backflow, TDat Enterprises, In Between Care, RLM Industries, Sonstar, and Paige Hoffman Designs.

Summit Highlights

The summit featured a series of insightful panels and resources aimed at empowering small businesses. With over 65 booths from local and nationwide resources and businesses, such as LADWP, LA Public Library, EDD, SBA, LEEAF, and Goodwill, etc, attendees had access to a wealth of information and support.

The panels covered key topics such as entrepreneurship upward mobility, workforce development, financial stability, and procurement opportunities. Notable speakers included Rhonda Jackson, Jessica Mireles, Fred Jackson, Linda Nguyen, Elianne Rodrigues, Maria Contreras Sweet, Julie Clowes, Pat Nye, and Irma Vargas. These sessions provided practical advice and highlighted essential resources available to small businesses.

Valuable Connections

The summit allowed us to connect with influential figures such as Fred Jackson from the City of LA Economic Development and Ronda Jackson from the LA County Small Business Commission. We also established valuable connections with organizations like the LA84 Foundation and the Economic Mobility Initiative.

Throughout the weeks to follow, Find Your Vision will be blogging about the information and resources learned at the event. We will highlight these resources and feature some of the businesses and professionals we interacted with at the summit. This ongoing sharing of insights aims to support our local economy and businesses, fostering community development and growth.

These events focused on contract procurement, finance, infrastructure, and economic development assistance from regional business leaders and included a resource expo with more than 60 providers and networking opportunities.

"In Los Angeles, small businesses account for nearly 50% of the current employment base and 75% of net new jobs,” said Deputy Mayor of Business and Economic Development Rachel Freeman. “They also build stronger communities, drive investment into our economy, generate global business opportunities, and make Los Angeles the leader in innovation it is today. Small business support is a key pillar of Mayor Bass's economic agenda.”

Mayor Karen Bass announced continued progress to open Los Angeles for business earlier that month by expanding City departments’ services for small businesses and improving the experience of doing business with the City. The announcement followed Mayor Bass’ State of the City address during which she highlighted work to bring business back to Los Angeles, including the Banc of California relocating to L.A., and her support to boost Downtown and our economy citywide by exploring the modernization of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

To learn more about these events straight from the source, please visit the Economic Mobility Initiative website.

We are excited to share these insights with our community and look forward to implementing the knowledge gained to further support our clients and partners. Stay tuned for more updates and detailed posts on the valuable resources available to help your business thrive! Please subscribe to our emailer list to stay up to date.

Image Credit: BrandLA source