In the news: Sonoma County Housing Fund and Sonoma SBDC

Sonoma County Housing Fund

At the beginning of March, the Chamber reported on our work to help accelerate the production of affordable housing through the Sonoma County Housing Fund (Sonoma County Housing Fund Producing Big Results). At the beginning of April, one of these projects -- Acme Family Apartments -- broke ground on their 77-unit development. The four-story complex has an expected completion date of July 2023, and families making 30% to 60% of Sonoma County’s median income will be able to submit rental applications in January. Read more about this project at The Press Democrat.

Sonoma SBDC

In January, the Chamber became the host for the new Sonoma SBDC, a program that helps small business ventures launch, survive and thrive. Previously, Sonoma County was served by the Napa-Sonoma SBDC, but as the former director retired and demand in our area surged (last year the center helped over 1,128 Sonoma County clients, who added 359 new jobs and secured $32 million in capital) Sonoma County was allocated its own SBDC.

It's been a busy first few months as Covid restrictions unwind and aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses owners seek to launch or ramp up their operations. Recently, Sonoma SBDC Director Louise Dawson provided an update to the North Bay Business Journal on how things are going and what's on the horizon. Read the article "Solano, Napa, Sonoma small-business help centers shuffle resources as demand rises" at North Bay Business Journal.