{"id":212367,"date":"2026-03-10T00:40:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T00:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/212367\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T00:40:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T00:40:55","slug":"level-up-lb-opens-up-applications-to-assist-small-business-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/212367\/","title":{"rendered":"Level Up LB opens up applications to assist small business owners"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Long Beach Department of Economic Development & Opportunity<\/a> (EDO) announced the opening of applications for the third cohort of its Level Up LB: Extreme Small Business Makeover and Grant Program<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program will assist 20 small business owners with supportive services, workshops and $10,000 in grant funding to help take their small business to the next level.<\/p>\n

Level Up LB will connect selected entrepreneurs with essential business support, resources and comprehensive workshops focused on strengthening business and marketing plans. Upon completion of an eight-week course, selected businesses will receive grant funding to help grow their small business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Level Up LB will be led by EDO staff, with coordinated support from local partners, including Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce<\/a>, Long Beach SBDC<\/a>, SCORE Long Beach\/South Bay<\/a> and Visit Long Beach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"City of Long Beach officials and small business owners address economic recovery issues during a roundtable event hosted by Mayor Robert Garcia at Rose Park Coffee Roasters on Pine Avenue on March 8, 2022. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

Last year, 24 small businesses were awarded<\/a> $220,000 through Level Up LB. In the adopted<\/a> Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, the Long Beach City Council approved one-time funding of $230,000 toward another round of Level Up LB as part of the Mayor\u2019s Small Business Rebound Initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall businesses drive our local economy and provide more than half of jobs in Long Beach,\u201d said Mayor Rex Richardson in a public statement. \u201cWith another round of Level Up LB, we\u2019re reaffirming our commitment to the entrepreneurs who create jobs, spark innovation and help shape a stronger, more connected economic future for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

EDO\u2019s BizCare staff will provide in-person technical assistance with the application process on March 24 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and March 26 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Long Beach Workforce Innovation Network Adult Career Services site (4811 Airport Plaza Drive).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLevel Up LB is about investing in the people behind our small businesses \u2014 and their passion, creativity, hard work and commitment to our community,\u201d said EDO Director Bo Martinez in a public statement. \u201cWe are proud to support local entrepreneurs with the resources they need to grow and succeed, because when small businesses thrive, Long Beach thrives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applications will be open through March 31. Information regarding eligibility requirements is available at longbeach.gov\/levelup<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For information about Level Up LB and other assistance for small businesses, those interested can visit longbeach.gov\/bizcare<\/a>, call the City\u2019s BizCare Hotline at 562-570-4BIZ (4249) or email BizCare@longbeach.gov.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Long Beach Department of Economic Development & Opportunity (EDO) announced the opening of applications for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[5243,97613,131,133,132,4823],"class_list":["post-212367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-grants","tag-level-up-lb","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}