Message from the CEO

Dear friends and supporters:

Fiscal Year 2019 represents one of the most memorable years in our program history, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic which descended upon the Golden State during the end of First Quarter 2020. The catastrophic results have included incalculable economic losses for our small business communities and detrimental impacts to populations throughout California.

Recognizing the challenges ahead, our board of directors pushed for an all-out concerted effort to support the capital needs of affected businesses including the deployment of California’s Disaster Relief Loan Guarantee Program (DRLG) administered by our program authority, The California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank).

Under the direction of the IBank, we have funded 31 DRLG guarantee transactions totaling $2.3 million supporting direct loan funding from our resource partners comprised of several Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). This effort saved some 269 full-time equivalent jobs for those businesses suffering measurable economic damage. In total we were successful in issuing 103 guarantee transactions across our programs totaling $37.3 million in credit loan guarantees which supported approximately $57 million in total bank and non-bank lending increasing our total guarantee portfolio to over $146.3 million.

Our primary market space is the tri-county region encompassing Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties which represents 57.0% of total production activities, although the organization possesses statewide authority to leverage public dollars throughout California. To that end, kudos to our well-seasoned staff and long-time board directors who not only understand and support the SBDC-OC mission but also are deeply committed to its success and public benefit focus.

In terms of our overall economic development impact, our numbers reflect a favorable story for FY 2019-20. As a result of our guarantee issuance activities, we have created some 325 new jobs while saving 1,477 existing full-time equivalent positions. The distribution of guarantees includes 17.0% to women-owned companies and 31.0% allocated to those that are minority-owned. Most notably, 35.0% of guarantees were issued within low and moderate-income census tracks.

Your commitment to our public mission and continued growth is essential to the effort of assisting small businesses and improving communities. We are dedicated to helping re-build and better California’s business community and the many lives impacted by COVID-19, and we have much more to do in the upcoming year. We look forward to your continued support.

Michael A. Ocasio
President & CEO