"Small loans make a big difference for women and minorities” proclaims the San Francisco Chronicle in an article on the front page of the Sunday Business Report published on January 13, 2019. The article highlights how Working Solutions has supported Bay Area small businesses.

Opportunity Zones are a hot topic in many circles with investors, real estate developers, and community development groups. The Bay Area, and Oakland specifically, have been designated as very high potential Opportunity Zones.

Our partnership with Nova Credit gives us great pride, because it helps us serve a large segment of communities of color – recent immigrants.

We are very excited to roll out a deepened partnership with Bank of the West in January 2019.

A recent trending conversation on KQED’s The Forum radio program highlighted the issue of displacement in San Francisco. The program discusses SF Mayor London Breed’s first policy proposal to address the issue of empty storefronts – the first for a city, and a model for other Bay Area cities.

On November 29th, Working Solutions joined the Responsible Business Lending Coalition in support of SB1235. The Coalition met with Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen and her staff in Sacramento at the Department of Business Oversight which is in charge of implementing the recently signed legislation.

Working Solutions was honored by the Napa Valley Community Foundation in October as a key “Second Responder” to last year’s Napa fires.

Working Solutions organized a small but impactful event for local San Francisco bookstores to celebrate a partnership with San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco SBDC.

Working Solutions participated in the West Contra Costa Economic Summit in Richmond through an event organized by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance.

Working Solutions and several key members of CAMEO, our state trade association, supported the passage of the first small business truth-in-lending law in the country.

Working Solutions is part of a diverse coalition of organizations supporting California small businesses that sent a letter to State Senator Steve Glazer voicing our support for SB 1235.  This bill would require clear communication of the costs of financing small business loans.