Programs for Small Businesses

The Controller’s Office has compiled the following resources to help California small businesses learn about various federal, state, and local programs available to them. Resources will be updated as programs are identified

Program deadlines and conditions vary, so please check with the agency on timelines and application materials.

COVID-19 Relief

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
Employee Retention Credit (ERC)	Internal Revenue Service (IRS)	The ERC gives eligible employers payroll tax credits for wages and health insurance paid to employees. Businesses still have the opportunity to claim ERC for up to three years retroactively. Whether or not you qualify for the ERC depends on the time period you’re applying for. To be eligible for 2020, you need to have run a business or tax-exempt organization that was partially or fully shut down because of Covid-19. You also need to show that you experienced a significant decline in sales—less than 50% of comparable gross receipts compared to 2019. If you’re trying to qualify for 2021, you must show that you experienced a decline in gross receipts by 80% compared to the same time period in 2019. If you weren’t in business in 2019, you can compare your gross receipts to 2020. The CARES Act does prohibit self-employed individuals from claiming the ERC for their own wages. You also can’t claim wages for specific individuals who are related to you, but you can claim the credit for wages paid to employees.	https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-employee-retention-credit-under-the-cares-act
License Fee Exemptions: Restaurants and bars	Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC)	Specified licensees with on-sale privileges may be eligible for fee waivers of licenses with expiration dates between March 1, 2021, and February 28, 2023.	https://www.abc.ca.gov/law-and-policy/coronavirus19/renewal-fee-waiver/
License Fee Exemptions: Barbering and cosmetology	Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Barbering and Cosmetology	License renewal fees will be waived automatically for all licenses that expire in calendar years 2021 and 2022.	FAQ: https://www.barbercosmo.ca.gov/fee_relief_info.shtml
California Rebuilding Fund	Public-private partnership	The fund is aimed at helping small businesses across every county and region of California and nearly all industries, particularly those located in economically disadvantaged and historically underserved areas. To qualify, small businesses must have employed 50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees prior to March 2020 and have realized gross revenues of less than $5 million in 2019, and must have suffered a direct economic hardship as a result of COVID-19.	https://www.caloanfund.org/
Disaster Relief Loan Guarantee	California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank)	Small businesses located in California with 1-750 employees that have been negatively impacted or experienced disruption by COVID-19 and eligible nonprofits can use the disaster relief loan guarantee program.	https://ibank.ca.gov/small-business/disaster-relief/
Debt Relief Assistance	U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)	SBA offers debt relief to existing SBA loan borrowers whose businesses have been affected by COVID-19. Multiple extensions of debt relief are available.	https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/sba-debt-relief

Grants

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
California Grants Portal	California State Library	The California Grants Portal is your one destination to find all grants and loans offered on a competitive or first-come basis by California state agencies.	https://www.grants.ca.gov/
California Dream Fund Program	California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA)	The California Dream Fund Program is a one-time $35 Million grant program that will provide microgrants up to $10,000 to seed entrepreneurship and small business creation in California. This program will be administered by CalOSBA and disbursed through select centers of the California Small Business Technical Assistance Expansion Program (TAEP) Network of Centers.	View participating centers: https://cdn.calosba.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/California-Dream-Fund-Participating-TA-Centers.pdf

Tax Credits

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA)	State Treasurer’s Office	Offers sales tax exemptions on equipment purchases for manufacturers promoting alternative energy and advanced transportation and facilitates financing for energy efficiency retrofits.	https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/caeatfa/
California Competes Tax Credit	Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)	Offers tax credits to businesses that want to locate in California or stay and grow in California. Businesses of any industry, size, or location compete for over $180 million available in tax credits by applying in one of the three application periods each year.	https://business.ca.gov/california-competes-tax-credit/

Loans and Financing

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA)	State Treasurer’s Office	Supports small business financing and has sub-programs for both electric vehicle charging and low-emissions heavy duty trucks.	https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/cpcfa/
California Rebuilding Fund	Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) lenders	A loan program to support California’s small businesses—especially those located in economically disadvantaged and historically under-banked areas of the state. Businesses who employed 50 or less full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) and had gross revenues of less than $5 million or below in 2019 are eligible to apply	https://www.connect2capital.com/p/californiarebuildingfund/

Training

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
Trainings and webinars	CalOSBA	California funds a network of small business technical assistance centers that provide no-cost one-on-one consulting and low-cost training services to small businesses and entrepreneurs with all stages	https://calosba.ca.gov/local-direct-assistance/external-trainings-webinars/

Employer-Provided Programs

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
CalSavers	State Treasurer's Office	California’s new retirement savings program that offers employers a public option.	https://www.calsavers.com/
Employee training	Employment Training Panel	The Employment Training Panel (ETP) provides funding to employers for training that upgrades the skills of their workers.	https://etp.ca.gov/program-info/small-business/

Government Contracting

Program	Agency	What Does It Do?	More Information and to Apply:
Learn how to do business with the state of California	CA Department of General Services	Find resources to support your certified small business or disabled veteran business enterprise pursue contract opportunities with the state of California.	https://www.dgs.ca.gov/PD/Resources/Page-Content/Procurement-Division-Resources-List-Folder/How-to-do-business-with-the-state-of-California
Cal eProcure	State of California	California's online marketplace portal designed to improve the experience of businesses selling products and/or services to the State.	https://caleprocure.ca.gov/
California’s Small Business (SB) and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) Certification Programs	California Department of General Services	Get certified to do business with the State of California	https://caleprocure.ca.gov/pages/sbdvbe-index.aspx
Doing business with CDCR	California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)	The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is committed to providing opportunities for local communities to do business with this organization.	https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/obs/doingbusiness/
Doing business with CalVet	CalVet (CA Department of Veterans Affairs)	CalVet is committed to awarding a minimum of 25 percent of its procurement dollars to California certified Small Business (SB) and a minimum of 5 percent to certified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) firms.	https://www.calvet.ca.gov/OPC/Pages/SB-DVBE.aspx
Doing business with Caltrans	Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation)	Caltrans partners with the California Department of General Services (DGS) to make doing business with the State of California easier.	https://dot.ca.gov/programs/procurement-and-contracts/contract-with-caltrans
Federal Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP)	Federal Defense Logistics Agency	The Procurement Technical Assistance Program was established to expand the number of business capable of participating in government contracts.	https://www.dla.mil/SmallBusiness/PTAP/

Business Advocacy Agencies (Note: These are not government agencies.)

Company	More Information:
California African American Chamber of Commerce	www.calaacc.org
American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California	https://www.aicccal.org/
California Black Chamber of Commerce	https://www.calbcc.org/
America’s Small Business Development Centers	https://americassbdc.org/
Small Business Majority California	https://smallbusinessmajority.org/state/ca
California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce	https://www.calasiancc.org/
California Hmong Chamber of Commerce	https://cahmongchamber.com/
California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce	https://www.cahcc.com/
California Chamber of Commerce	https://www.calchamber.com/