Success Stories
Success Story (#1)
Ms. A was on public assistance three years ago. She and her husband attended the Job Club and were successfully employed for two years and were able to buy their own home.
They started up a home-based lawn care business to service senior citizen residents in midtown and South Sacramento areas by accessing the Stockton Boulevard Business Information Center's (BIC's) consultation services and attending a variety of the workshops offered there.
Success Story (#2)
K Inc. is a start-up website design company that opened in August 2000. They obtained consultation services and attended the Federal Contracting Workshop at the Stockton Boulevard Business Information Center (BIC). In twelve months, the company was able to move to a 3,000 square foot midtown building and hire three additional staff members.
Success Story (#3)
Mr. V has been a businessman and property owner on Stockton Boulevard for the last 15 Years. He originally came to Sacramento as a refugee from Viet Nam.
He attend the Stockton Boulevard Business Information Center's (BIC's) open house reception in June 2000, and was excited about the center's services. He regularly dropped in to the BIC to obtain information on business expansion. He utilized BIC resource information, counselor referrals and other needed resources.
Mr. V. is now in the process of purchasing a 10,000 square foot store at a nearby location. He also plans to hire 5 to 10 CalWORKs participants and make use of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program (WOTC). Mr. V. attributes many of these new opportunities to BIC services.
Success Story (#4)
Ms. C. was a bookkeeper/secretary for a small private company in Oregon. Ms. C. got married and had children, yet life took a turn for the worse. She became a victim of domestic violence, and was most concerned for her safety and the safety of her children. Ms. C. decided to come to Sacramento to live with her mother in a modest trailer home.
With no income to support her children and herself, Ms. C. sought public assistance. Her case manager learned about the skills Ms. C. used in prior employment. She wanted desperately to be self-sufficient, and quietly mentioned that she would like to start a business of her own. Her case manager wasted no time in referring Ms. C. to a Vocational Assessment Counselor (VAC) for further assessment. The VAC determined that Ms. C. was a model candidate for self-employment.
To assist Ms. C. in her endeavors, the VAC gave Ms. C. a voucher for a Business Information Center seminar. Ms. C. attended the seminar, utilized all the center's resources, followed-up on counseling opportunities and referrals, and began networking. Ms. C. was ready to begin her own business, but she needed capital. Through counseling and her own research made available at the BIC, she was able to secure needed funding.
In the meantime, Ms. C. graduated from a micro-enterprise class that she'd been referred through the BIC, and began working part-time form her mother's trailer home. Ms. C. has now obtained several independent bookkeeping contracts, has purchased a new home and car and is no longer dependant on public assistance.