A few highlights from 2023

Springtime is upon us and with it comes a sense of renewal and growth. As we reflect on how fruitful 2023 has been for us, we hope that it’s been equally as successful for you.

Your membership has played a significant role in allowing us to take on new, impactful programs and provide outstanding events for our members and the community.

• As host of the Sonoma Small Business Development Center (SBDC), we added additional support for small and emerging businesses, providing no-cost one-on-one counseling and training that helped launch nearly 100 new small businesses and connected them to $5,475,968 in capital.
• Having secured $6.4 million dollars in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), we're leading a coalition of business organizations, including the North Bay Black Chamber, Los Cien, the Hispanic Chamber and more than a dozen others that supports businesses recovering from the impact of the pandemic.
• The new digital Beer Passport clocked over 2,000 signups and almost 8,300 brewery check-ins, and is now a year-round feature for tourists and locals alike.
• Our Sonoma County Housing Fund provided financing allowing 583 affordable homes to start construction since its launch in 2020.
• An expanded Showcase Sonoma County expo incorporated Sonoma SBDC’s PitchFest funding finals and Food INCubator “Hatching New Business” launch party to highlight some of Sonoma County’s newest small businesses.
• Season-long activations in Downtown Santa Rosa like Summer on the Square and Winter Lights brought more life and commerce to downtown with over 14,000 event attendees.
• And our website that continuously promotes member businesses clocked 1,197,735 referrals in 2023.

This, and so much more, is the work that your membership supports. Thank you for your partnership. And as always, our entire team is available for you, from answering small questions to help with major issues.

Have a look at some of the other highlights on the graphics below -- click to expand images.