Many small business owners aspire to grow and create jobs, but need the necessary information, tools and resources to do so successfully. To help fill the gap, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, in collaboration with Inner City Capital Connections, recently provided an opportunity for small business owners in underserved areas of Los Angeles and San Bernardino to gain expert advice.
Eighty ambitious entrepreneurs attended ICCC’s free, kick-off seminar at the Hilton San Gabriel, where they received executive education and instruction on how to access capital to take their businesses to the next level. The 10-hour day ended with personalized coaching sessions. Several Kaiser Permanente Southern California executives were paired with finance/consulting experts to provide this coaching.
Kaiser Permanente is in its third consecutive year sponsoring ICCC. The sponsorship is in partnership with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City — the national nonprofit research and advisory organization that supports ICCC — to reduce income disparity and improve lives by promoting local microeconomies. This support of small businesses allows them to grow, hire more people, and contribute to creating a thriving community.
Kaiser Permanente understands well why this work is so important. Economic, social and environmental factors in communities — beyond the medical care provided – greatly affect people’s health. Economic security, for example, is vital to enabling a person to afford nutritious food, have secure housing, attain a good education and access health care services — all critical elements for quality of life.
Seminar attendee Beate Chelette, owner of The Growth Architect, which specializes in growing, building, and scaling businesses, appreciated the event.
Chelette’s small business is one of 107 organizations that ICCC accepted into the Los Angeles/San Bernardino group. The cohort’s profile is especially impressive. In fact, 59 percent of the small businesses are women-owned — making Los Angeles/San Bernardino the largest cohort of women-owned businesses in ICCC’s 13-year history nationwide.
ICCC program alum Vanessa Faggiolly said what she and her mother Nora Saca learned helped them to transform Amerisal, LLC, their food distribution company of imported goods.
Vanessa Faggiolly was one of many small business owners who attended the event.
After completing the opening seminar, business owners will receive another approximately 32 hours of coaching and webinars. “We call it ‘a mini MBA on steroids,’” Grossman said. They will also have an opportunity to attend a culmination event in Boston, where they can network and make pitches to capital providers, like the real-life TV show, “Shark Tank” — only “kinder and gentler,” Grossman said.
Since Kaiser Permanente’s first sponsorship of the ICCC program’s introduction three years ago, approximately 300 businesses have been mentored in Southern California. Kaiser Permanente San Diego is up next. They will launch the San Diego small business cohort on Sept. 27. The Southern California Region has led the way for the program. Kaiser Permanente Northern California will have a cohort in Sacramento this year. Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States started a Baltimore cohort in July.
To learn more about Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s work in the community, visit community.kp.org.
For more information about ICIC and its ICCC program, visit icic.org.
A special thank you to our Kaiser Permanente colleagues for contributing their knowledge and energy as mentors.