Small Business Resources

English - Español* - Tiếng Việt*

Help for Small Businesses

Yellow Underline

Key Resources for Businesses in San José

Yellow Underline

Permitting Assistance?

The Small Business Ally program provides step-by-step, bilingual assistance with City permits, inspections, and business tax certificate registrations (AKA, "business license"). Contact JuanBorrelli@sanjoseca.gov or Anh1.Nguyen@sanjoseca.gov.
Streamlined Restaurant Program: This program helps qualified San José restaurant and food/beverage businesses get building tenant improvement permits in as soon as 1–2 months instead of 4–6 months.
Permits for Outdoor Space Use: Learn how to convert a street parklet or adjacent sidewalk or parking lot space to outdoor dining (al fresco) or other outdoor use.

Looking for legal services?

Santa Clara University’s Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic provides by-appointment advising on legal issues: law.scu.edu/elc

Looking to Hire?

work2future can help employers with talent, training, outplacement, and expertise. work2future.org or (408) 794-1163.
U.S. Department of Labor: dol.gov

Looking for Online Education?

The San José Public Library Works program provides expert online webinars on a wide variety of subjects such as ecommerce and marketing at the San José Public Library: sjpl.org/sjpl-works
My Own Business Institute offers free online courses and resources for starting or expanding your business. scu.edu/mobi.

Safety or Blight Problems?

Yellow Underline

Non-Emergency SJPD 24/7: (408) 277-8900
Code Enforcement (on private property):
Emergency: (408) 794-7477
Non-Emergency: bit.ly/CodeEnforce
Issues on Public Property and Streets, including Graffiti, Abandoned Vehicles, Illegal Dumping, Potholes, Streetlight Outages, Community WiFi, and more: 311.sanjoseca.gov.
Encampment Cleanup: BeautifySJ@sanjoseca.gov
Homeless Outreach Team/Report an Encampment: bit.ly/CSJHomelessOutreach
County Behavioral Health Services (Mental Health and Substance Abuse Referrals): (800) 704-0900
County Crisis and Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988
TRUST: Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, provides free, 24/7 help from trained counselors for mental health and substance use challenges. Call or text: 988 or (408) 596-7290.

Financial Resources for your Business

Yellow Underline

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Word Viewer

Grants

Storefront Activation Grants program has two grants to help small businesses:

The vacant storefront grant to support small business owners to lease a ground floor space that has been vacant for longer than 3 months.
The existing storefront grant helps small, ground-floor business with grants to activate and improve their exteriors

For more information or to apply, contact Sal Alvarez at salvador.alvarez@sanjoseca.gov

Disability Access Improvement Grants program will support your responsibility to comply with the federal Americans with Disability Act and the California Building Code. The grant will help you pay for a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) report and to hire professionals to design and remove ADA barriers. More information about qualifying for grant assistance.

Information on grants changes frequently. Sign up for the SJ Economy Newsletter to receive the latest information on small business grants and other resources.

Loans

Accion Opportunity Fund is a nonproﬁt that serves many types of businesses, with special loans for food-related and food-truck businesses. Low-interest loans are offered up to $100,000. aofund.org.
Community Bank of the Bay serves the financial needs of closely held businesses, professional service firms, owner-operators, and non-profit organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. bankcbb.com or (408) 385-3800.
Excite Credit Union provides meaningful financial products and services and financial education to underserved individuals. excitecu.org or (800) 232-8669.
ICA provides expertise, coaching, incubation and connections to scale your business by providing loans for equity. Info@ica.fund or (510) 271-0142.
Kiva offers a loan regardless of credit rating or immigration status. Kiva loans are underwritten by crowdfunding. kiva.org/about/how.
Lendistry helps small businesses grow by offering loans as well as administering government and private grant programs. Loan amounts starting at $25,000 for longer terms, up to 10 years. lendistry.com.
MeriWest provides personalized banking for local small businesses with free business checking, interest-bearing accounts, loans, merchant and payroll services, and dedicated business banking support. meriwest.com.
Paciﬁc Community Ventures is a microlender that oﬀers loans of up to $50,000. Additionally, their advisors help businesses improve their operations. pacificcommunityventures.org/small-business-loans.
Small Business Administration Loans (SBA) The federal government backs several types of loans, from $5,000 to $5 million. sba.gov/lendermatch.
TMC Community Capital offers loans between $5,000 and $50,000. The online pre-qualification survey will tell you if you qualify: Tmccommunitycapital.org, (415) 655-5419 or info@tmccommunitycapital.org.
Venturize is a free, online tool for identifying the best rates from FDIC-approved banks, concentrating on loans of up to $250,000. Business loans are available for general working capital and will require applications. venturize.org.

Other Help For Your Business

Yellow Underline

The City of San José has community partners who can provide help and advice for free!

Access Small Business Development Center provides one-on-one advice, expertise on access to capital and training on a wide variety of business topics: accesssbdc.org or (408) 385-9800.
ESO Ventures is an entrepreneurial support organization focused on providing the confidence, competence, and capital for Black and Latino entrepreneurs, including the ReEntry Business Incubator Program, which provides training for entrepreneurs with records. eso-ventures.com.
Latino Business Foundation of Silicon Valley helps small businesses to grow. Get free help in partnership with Santa Clara University’s My Own Business Institute (MOBI) and Excite Credit Union. Lbfsv.org or (408) 618-8599.
Minority Business Development Agency specializes in one-on-one business advice, support for scalable growth and preparing for government contracting work: asianinc.org or (408) 998-8058.

ProsperityLab offers in-person and online support including starting up your business. They offer a special focus on women entrepreneurs and local micro businesses: prosperitylab.org or (408) 547-3190.

The Small Business Development Center at San José State University provides free advice and support specializing in innovation and tech-related businesses and startups. svsbdc.org or (408) 924-1402
Silicon Valley SCORE offers a highly personalized expert small business mentoring and training service. They have a specialist service for nonprofits. score.org/siliconvalley or (408) 453-6237.
Start Small Think Big offers advice and services specializing in legal, marketing and financial support. hello@startsmallthinkbig.org or call 646-723-4053 ext. 101.
Yacanex Business Group provides the know-how in taxes, permits, licenses and loans to help small businesses grow. ybusinessgroup.com/en/ or (408) 816-2072.

County Resources

Yellow Underline

The County of Santa Clara provides info on business property taxes, food facility permits and other resources. santaclaracounty.gov/businesses

For ongoing news and resources, sign up for the monthly newsletter or follow us on social media (@sjeconomy): Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

Help for Small Businesses

Key Resources for Businesses in San José

Permitting Assistance?

Looking for legal services?

Looking to Hire?

Looking for Online Education?

Safety or Blight Problems?

Financial Resources for your Business

Other Help For Your Business

The City of San José has community partners who can provide help and advice for free!

County Resources

Questions? Phone: (408) 535-8181 Email: economic.development@sanjoseca.gov

Questions?
Phone: (408) 535-8181 Email: economic.development@sanjoseca.gov