San Francisco LGBT and Wells Fargo

Ken Stram, Director of Economic Development
1800 Market Street
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Upper Market/Castro
415.865.5515
www.sfcenter.org

Our economic development program helps entrepreneurs and small business owners access the services and financing they need to start and grow their businesses. We contribute to the small business community by providing a holistic approach which includes workforce, business and literacy programs. Sometimes, people are not prepared to start a business and we can help them. We are looking out for our community for the long term.

Wells Fargo Bank
420 Montgomery Street
Neighborhood: Financial District
www.wellsfargo.com

As the oldest and largest financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo is proud to be the Bay Area’s top small business lender. Wells Fargo has been supporting Small Business Week since its inception. Wells Fargo is proud to support Small Business Week and has an unwavering commitment to support San Francisco’s economic growth engine: small business owners.

LearnIT and Microsoft

The Lembi Group
Damon Lembi ,President and CEO
33 New Montgomery Street Suite 300
SF CA 94105
Neighborhood: Financial District
415.693.0250
www.learnit.com

We provide Microsoft end user and technical training for small business. We are a home grown family business that began with our grandfather in the 1940’s. We are a San Francisco based business that chooses this city because we love it. What we contribute to the small business community is training that not only helps small business differentiate themselves from their competition but to remain competitive in the market place in business operations, technology and training.

Microsoft
835 Market Street, Suite 700
Neighborhood: Financial District
415.972.6400
www.microsoft.com

We provide a wide variety of technology that helps small businesses from startup through increased productivity but most importantly, we have partners who can assist small businesses and educate them on enabling that technology. We have participated in Small Business Week for the last several years and we are dedicated to help small businesses thrive.

SBA's Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year: Cole Hardware

Rick Karp
956 Cole Street
415.753.2653
www.colehardware.com

We are the fabric of our community. My father, Dave Karp opened the first Cole Hardware in 1961 and he is 91 years old. We are committed to the success of locally owned businesses and believe that a healthy San Francisco is comprised of healthy small and locally owned businesses.

PG&E's Green Business of the Year: Pet Camp

Mark Klaiman
525 Phelps Street
Neighborhood: Bayview
415.282.0700
www.petcamp.com

Pet Camp and Pet Camp Cat Safari provide overnight and day care for dogs and cats. We are a certified green business and we are family owned. I choose to do business in San Francisco because this is where I live and choose to raise my children.

The Painting Corner Child Care

Aricela Aranivar
2223 Cayuga Avenue
Neighborhood: Excelsior
415.587.0391

We provide quality child care for San Francisco children. I choose to do business here because I believe that it is one of the best cities in which to do business. There are over 600 child care providers in San Francisco and our industry contributes to the economic backbone of this city. The value of what we bring is that we are helping to raise the next generation through quality care and a safe environment. Our children feel loved, secure and respected.

Yerba Buena Construction

Miguel Galarza
1340 Egbert Avenue
Neighborhood: Bayview/Hunters Point
415.822.4400

Our company works for the National Park Service and the US Army Corps of Engineers. We build parks, roads, install pipelines and create wetlands. We employee 50 tradespersons and are recognized as one of the fastest growing Hispanic businesses in the country. I choose to do business here because I was born and raised in San Francisco. San Francisco affords small businesses a great opportunity to get traction in the business world through their programs, such as the SBC, Human Rights Commission and others. These supporting organizations nurture small business unlike any other community.

Ducky Music

Morgan Neiman
Ducky Music
www.duckymusic.com
www.myspace.com/molikesducks

Morgan Neiman is one of San Francisco’s youngest entrepreneurs. She has produced the music for the Small Business Week commercial and the music for the opening kick off event for Small Business Week at City Hall. She has been composing electronic music for two years and she has a very large following. You can visit itunes to download her music. Morgan is 16 years old.

Colorful Expressions

Jen-Mei Wu
268 Bush St. #2835
Neighborhood: Financial District
415.462.5623
www.colorxp.com

We are a general computer consulting company and provide systems, network support, programing and database services. We also act as the outsourced IT department for many of our clients. At Colorful Expressions, we’re here for your four-letter computer days.
“The reason that I choose to do business in San Francisco is because of the diverse community and interesting challenges. We consider ourselves to be a value to the small business community because we contribute common sense and provide perspective to our clients. We are invested in social justice and we do a lot of work for non-profits. We also encourage doing business with small and women and minority owned businesses.”

XRoads Philippine Sea Salts

Lennie and Anthony Dicarlo
415.425.6505
www.PhilippineSeaSalts.com

We are committed to bringing quality, eco-friendly, natural sea salts from the Philippines to culinary enthusiasts and professional kitchens everywhere. The reason that we choose to do business in San Francisco is because it is the restaurant capital of the west coast and the people here are very aware of the culinary arts. What we bring to our community is an awareness of Philippine culture and the boutique products that come from there.

I Am Small Business is About You!

This interactive blog aims to highlight the unique diversity of San Francisco businesses. In San Francisco, businesses with 100 or fewer employees make up 99% of all businesses.

In addition to the traditional small business image of the corner grocer, restaurant and storefront merchant who provide you with all the needed neighborhood amenities, San Francisco’s economic growth is also being fueled by small business entrepreneurs providing a myriad of services: they are creative designers, architects, insurance agents, health care providers, technology consultants and accountants.

The stories presented in this blog are about you, the small business owner. You represent the City’s diversity, innovation and growth.

You are the neighborhood hardware store next door that donates basketball uniforms to the local school;

You are the volunteer who helps design a website for a local non-profit organization;

You are the local banker who offers your space to host a neighborhood meeting;

You are the restaurant owner who donates food to the shelter down the street…..

You are just like me!

Tell us your story….

Why are you a small business owner here in San Francisco?

What is unique about your business?

What have you accomplished and contributed to making San Francisco
a special place to live and work?

Specifications:
- Upload a jpeg image of you
- 25 or fewer words
- email/website