LODI – You may want to take a cup of coffee before shopping because in Lodi, the National Small Business Week takes over.
“It's really fun to work in the city center and to be part of the community,” said Gracie Diaz, Barista at the Brew House Coffee.
Diaz has worked in countless small businesses across the city. She knows in the first hand the importance of shopping local.
“It is difficult to have a small business,” she shared. “The fact that the people and the Lodi community come together to support them, it means a lot for them. They are only people who want to start, and they really continue their dreams.”
The city of Lodi is extremely local. Of nearly 2,600 companies, nearly 94% of them are managed by one to 15 employees.
You can walk in the city center and hardly see any chain of restaurants or retailers, which means that small businesses are the driving force of the economy.
This is why this week, the City, the Chamber of Commerce of Lodi and the Department of Economic Development of the County of San Joaquin help to open their paths towards success.
They hosted webinaries, free peaks and even hold a mixer later this week. But that's not all.
“I had the chance to walk with the police chief, and we have broken down into groups and visited certain local companies to try to understand the challenges they are confronted at the moment and then also encourage them to use the resources that exist,” said JP Doucette, president of the Lodi Chamber of Commerce.
Jennifer Pratt is a small business owner of her pretty things in Lodi. Knowing that the city has its back creates a feeling of security.
“Sometimes being the owner of a small business can be very insulating,” said Pratt. “You have a little feeling of being on an island by yourself and so it's really good to know that the city has its back and that it is trying to help us.”
But she and other business owners know this, Lodi likes local.
“You feed someone's family,” Pratt continued. “You put gas in someone's tank. You pay their mortgage. It really makes a difference and you learn to know these people. On the other hand, we get to know our customers, and we can therefore establish these connections with our customers, which is also really rewarding.”
This year, The city presents two initiatives – LODI microloire program and Spark Reluk subsidy from the county.
The Microloan program offers funding of up to $ 50,000 to new borrowers or owners who have struggled to access traditional capital.
The grant provides reimbursements of public services of up to $ 5,000 to help county companies to recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
