Palmdale partners with Chambers to provide small business support

PALMDALE – The city of Palmdale has announced a new partnership with three local chambers of commerce — the Antelope Valley Chambers, AV Black Chamber, and AV Hispanic Chamber — to provide additional training and support to local small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The city will provide a combined $50,000 to the chambers and provide use of office space and meetings rooms to provide services and conduct trainings throughout the year. Through the partnership, the chambers will provide free one-on-one counseling, workshops, local and federal certification training, and more to connect businesses with the resources and training they need to continue operations. As part of the partnership, each organization will also receive training on how to apply for State and Federal funds that may become available through future COVID-19 relief packages or other programs.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, Palmdale has invested more than $2 million dollars to support local businesses, including a combination of small business grants, gift card programs, fee waivers, and free marketing and promotion opportunities for local businesses. More than 150 businesses and organizations have directly benefited from these programs.

“As we head into 2021, businesses will continue to feel the lingering impacts of the pandemic, forcing many business owners to evaluate whether or not they can continue operations,” said Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer. “It makes great sense to see our staff leverage the relationships that our local chambers of commerce have with [the] businesses community to create this program. The funding will also help the chambers maintain operations at a time when many of their main fundraising opportunities have been canceled due to COVID-19.”

“Collaborating with the local chambers not only provides financial support for their organizations, but also allows us to expand the number of businesses that we can help,” said Palmdale City Manager J.J. Murphy. “Federal and state grants can be difficult to navigate and have several requirements that need to be in place to qualify. Our staff is trained and qualified to better position the Chambers to receive funding in the future to continue providing services to the business community. It really is a win-win situation for Palmdale.”

“We are excited to be able to expand our services to help local businesses get their local, county and federal business enterprise certifications,” said Antelope Valley Black Chamber of Commerce Chairman Arthur Calloway. “These certifications are crucial if local businesses want to complete for government funded contracts. We appreciate the City of Palmdale’s ongoing commitment to help the local business community.”

“I’m proud of the new partnership with the City to provide the Palmdale business community with a locally based professional development resource,” said Antelope Valley Chambers of Commerce CEO Mark Hemstreet. “Our goal is to assist new or established Palmdale businesses and persons interested in starting a new business with resources and counseling to effectively and profitably operate their business or non-profit organization. We’re excited to be able to bring classes and seminars on essential topics such as business training, business plan development, mission, vision and diversity statements, ownership structures, market analysis, human resources, and personnel skill development.”

“We’re looking forward to our partnership with the City’s Small Business Assistance Program where we will be bringing resources, training to the community, and connecting them with partners who can help with capital,” said Antelope Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Sylvia Duarte.

For more information, contact Palmdale’s Economic Development department at 661-267-5125 or email economicdevelopment@cityofpalmdale.org.

[Information via news release from the city of Palmdale.]

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