Entrepreneurial Resource Center Launching In San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Aug. 15, 2023 - PRLog -- Existing and aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners in the City of San Bernardino are about to have a new resource available to help them launch and grow businesses, thanks to an innovative initiative developed by the City and California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB).

The newly created Entrepreneurial Resource Center (ERC), led by CSUSB's Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE), will be an easily accessible hub for small business services, centrally located in downtown San Bernardino at Studio D, 330 N. D Street. Studio D is a newly established co-working and business hub designed for entrepreneurs at every stage that is committed to building a dynamic and diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem in the City. The ERC will bring together a wide range of entrepreneurial support programs and organizations to provide a complete set of training, business counseling, and access to resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs in the City.

"The new center will improve access to resources for all aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, increase the rate of business creation, and foster greater success and long-term sustainability for local small businesses," said Mike Stull, a professor of entrepreneurship and director of the IECE and the CSUSB School of Entrepreneurship. "The ERC will also seek to address disparities in small business ownership and entrepreneurship through a deliberate focus and outreach to underrepresented groups in the City."

Each partner is making a significant commitment to ensure the success of the ERC, including the City of San Bernardino investing of $1.87 million over three years, and the IECE investing $1.9 million of resources through its major business assistance programs including the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center (IESBDC) and Inland Empire Women's Business Center (IEWBC).  The City and CSUSB project that the ERC will be operational in October 2023.

The ERC grew out of the City and the University's participation in the Aspen Institute Latinos & Society Program's City Action Lab, a unique initiative that focuses on Latino majority cities and communities to strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems. San Bernardino was one of six cities nationally chosen to participate in the program, which focuses on generating long-term, inclusive economic growth through business ownership.

Out of the City-University partnership with the Aspen Institute, the ERC emerged as one of the ways CSUSB, as an anchor institution in the region, could strategically work with the City.

"In just a few months, the ERC will be assisting San Bernardino's small and family-owned businesses startup, grow, and thrive," said San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran. "We are pleased to be partnering with Cal State San Bernardino on this and thank President Morales and his entire team for joining us by investing in the entrepreneurial spirit of our residents."