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Such a nice surprise when Marlow Schindler, Assistant District Director for Lender Relations, of the Small Business Association, and fellow board member, Tony Archuletta-Perkins, stopped by Equator Coffee to chat with us.

One of the interesting topics of conversation centered on PTAC, the Procurement Technical Assistance Center, which provides local, in-person counseling and training services for you, the small business owner. They are designed to provide technical assistance to small businesses that want to sell products and services to federal, state, and/or local governments. Marlow talked about how going thru the process itself would be of great help to LGBT businesses, reminding us that just because the federal government does not currently recognize the LGBTBE certification, that does not mean LGBT owned businesses cannot do business with the US government.

Marlow also told of the many free SBA services open to LGBT and all businesses surrounding ‘The Three C’s: Capital, Counseling, and Contracting’. It was great to hear that in spite of the current administration’s rhetoric and actions, the SBA is still working hard to help LGBT and all small businesses to thrive. For more information on how the SBA can help you, please reach out to Marlow and the rest of the SBA staff, located at 455 Market Street (at First Street), downtown.

Talk also centered on the importance for all LGBT owned small businesses to become a certified LGBT Business Enterprise:

• For the individual company, Certification brings new opportunities to network and grow, and levels the playing field when becoming a vendor to the many companies and industries that include LGBTBE’s as part of their supplier diversity spend mandate, such as the California public utilities (CPUC’s).
• For the LGBT community at large, achieving national recognition alongside other women owned, veteran owned, and other minority owned will only come when the government sees the full breadth, scope, and size of the LGBT business community. You becoming Certified is how you can be sure your voice is heard and counted.

For more information on how to become a certified LGBT Business Enterprise, contact the NGLCC here – https://www.nglcc.org/get-certified  and remember that as the local affiliate, the GGBA is here to help you along the way.

Thank you again, Marlow, Tony for stopping by this week. We look forward chatting with you all next Friday.

To our shared success!