The city of Sacramento is offering business consulting and matching grant funds for local companies in an effort to build the region’s economy. It hopes to use the Economic Gardening program to grow its tax base.
Michael Young, the project manager for the city of Sacramento, said the goal of the program is to support local businesses and bring new revenue into the city from preexisting establishments.
“One of the best opportunities to grow businesses is to help the businesses who are already in the city,” Young said “That’s what economic gardening is all about.”
Here’s what to know about the program.
What is the Economic Gardening program?
The city was approached with the idea in 2019 from a resident, Young said. Similar national programs trace their roots back to 1987.
In an effort to uplift local entrepreneurs, Young said the program seeks to help local businesses develop their businesses through consulting and a matching grant to financially assist them.
“Not only is the city helping provide dollars to that idea, but businesses themselves are enticed to spend dollars and invest in the city of Sacramento,” Young said.
Executive Autopilots, at 5957 Freeport Blvd., is one of the 32 Sacramento businesses from previous cohorts. Andrey Kalchenko, the business’s co-owner, said the data from the program assisted the business in identifying how upgrades in modern avionics are increasing, as well as its demand.
“We’re using the insights to guide new equipment investments that will help us compete for additional and more complex projects in a more effective and competitive manner,” Kalchenko said in a news release.
What to know about this year’s program
To qualify for the program, companies need to be a for-profit business in the city of Sacramento, employ five to 99 employees and generate $1 million to $50 million in annual revenue.
Sacramento is partnering with the National Center for Economic Gardening to provide consultation services to businesses, including lead generation, social media examination and workplace culture analysis.
“We’re looking for a successful business. One that is bringing in significant revenue, but has identified, possibly, an idea for growth but needs assistance on how that might be done,” Young said. “That’s what we hope this consulting will come in handy for them and help them learn and identify new opportunities.”
After the consulting and research phase, businesses will qualify for $50,000 in matching grant funding to “implement the growth strategies identified during (business) consulting,” the news release said.
“The Economic Gardening program helps local companies make data-driven decisions that accelerate growth,” Young said in a news release. “The expert business intelligence and matching grant opportunity help business increase revenue, create jobs, and expand operations while keeping that growth here in Sacramento.”
Local businesses will have until April 20 to apply. They can do so by going to the city of Sacramento’s website. Only 10 businesses will be accepted into the program, Young said.
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Emma Hall covers Sacramento County for The Sacramento Bee. Hall graduated from Sacramento State and Diablo Valley College. She is Blackfeet and Cherokee.