Sponsors
To all of our sponsors, we extend our deepest gratitude for making San Francisco Small Business Week possible. Our sponsors work with small business owners every day and know the importance of small business to a thriving community. Their financial support allows us to offer you free events and resources while their expertise ensures that the content we feature is relevant and educational. We encourage you to visit their websites, meet with them at one of our events and thank them in person for their contributions.
America’s #1 small business lender in total dollar volume according to the most recent Community Reinvestment Act and the #1 SBA 7a bank lender in total dollar volume. Wells Fargo has loaned close to $35 billion to women, African American, Latino and Asian business owners since 1995. For more information, speak with a Wells Fargo banker, visit wellsfargo.com/biz
In 1976, PG&E became one of the first utilities in the nation to offer energy efficiency programs to our customers. And we’ve been a leader ever since. Using energy more efficiently is more than simply the right thing to do – it saves our customers money on their energy bills. It is also the fastest, most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global climate change. In fact, over the past 30 years, PG&E and our customers have kept over 125 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere. For more information go to pge.com/mybusiness.
Visa is proud to be a part of San Francisco Small Business Week. Growing a small business takes determination and hard work—and Visa understands that. Visa is committed to the small business merchants who have been and continue to be the backbone of our city’s economic engine. That is why we offer a variety of business cards, payment products, services and programs to help hard working small business owners cultivate their business and turn dreams into reality. We join our friends and colleagues in celebration of San Francisco’s small business community and the merchants who keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive. Visa thanks you and congratulates you! For more information, go to visa.com/smallbusiness or facebook.com/visabusinessnetwork.
AT&T Advertising Solutions offers local search advertising that connects consumers and businesses through premiere print, Internet, mobile and television platforms. The company’s suite of multimedia offerings includes YP.com, YPmobile, The AT&T Real Yellow Pages, traditional and mobile websites, search engine marketing, online video ads, direct mail, interactive TV channels on U-verse, and targeted online and mobile ads. AT&T’s platforms receive 5 billion consumer searches a year for local business information, providing nearly 1 million advertisers with valuable sales leads. And the company offers expert media consultants who help advertisers make the most of local search options to grow their business. For more information go to: http://adsolutions.att.com/
HP Experts will be available throughout Small Business Week to show you how beneficial and inexpensive it is to use HP’s array of products and services to make in-house, do-it-yourself marketing accessible – whatever business you are in! The HP experts are equipped to discuss a variety of business solutions that HP offers and they will be happy to assist you in marketing you businesses! For more information go to www.hp.com/smb.
Recology is a national leader in recycling and compost collection programs. Waste Zero is our mission. We make recycling easy and convenient for customers and help the cities we serve, including the City of San Francisco, achieve all their recycling goals. Currently the City of San Francisco’s diversion rate is 77% the highest in the nation. Recology’s operating companies provide collection, recycling and disposal services for everything from residential food scraps to construction and demolition debris. Everything Recology does is founded on a single principle — provide superior service while controlling costs. This creed ensures refuse and recyclables are picked up on time, and that bills remain fair and reasonable. Recology emphasizes recycling to reduce consumption of virgin materials, save landfill space and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All of our trucks run on alternative fuel. High-tech liner systems are employed at landfills to protect soil and groundwater. Safety is stressed in all undertakings. Recology provides good jobs, is 100 percent employee-owned and supports area businesses by purchasing goods and services locally. http://www.RecologySF.com
Cisco helps state and local governments become more efficient and proactive by helping them transform the way they communicate internally and with constituents. Using Cisco® networking and voice solutions, governments can better deliver on their mission. The Cisco Connected Communities approach improves service effectiveness, empowers citizens, promotes social inclusion, facilitates economic growth, and increases public safety.
Chevron is one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, we conduct business in countries all around the globe. Chevron is engaged in every aspect of the crude oil and natural gas industry, including exploration and production, manufacturing, marketing and transportation, chemicals manufacturing and sales, geothermal, and power generation. We’re also investing in renewables and advanced technologies. To learn more about Chevron visit www.chevron.com.
Google is dedicated to providing the best search experience on the web. Google has its own search destination site at google.com. Google also offers co-branded solutions for information content providers. Google was founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, building on three years of research as computer science Ph.D. candidates at Stanford University. The Company’s nameis derived from “Googol,” the name for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros, and reflects the immense amount of information available on the Internet. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information, making it universally accessible and useful. Google is based in Palo Alto, California. Learn more at Google.com
Founded in 2005, MerchantCircle is the largest online network of local business owners in the nation, combining social networking features with free marketing tools that enable merchants to maximize their online visibility. Over 1.6 million merchants use the tools offered on MerchantCircle to create conversations with customers and connect with other local merchants. In addition to its free services, MerchantCircle offers a portfolio of premium online advertising solutions including search engine marketing and instant website development. In 2010, MerchantCircle acquired TimeBridge and the popular Bloglines service to further extend its network offerings. MerchantCircle is based in Mountain View, Calif., and funded by Ron Conway, Rustic Canyon Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Steamboat Ventures and IAC. Learn more at http://www.MerchantCircle.com.
VerticalResponse, Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail services empowering small businesses to create, manage and analyze their own direct marketing campaigns. VerticalResponse and enables small businesses everywhere to get their email marketing campaigns up and running within minutes, regardless of technical expertise. For more information go to verticalresponse.com/smallbizweek.
Kaiser Permanente is the nation’s largest nonprofit health plan in the United States, according to Fortune magazine and serves over 8 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Kaiser Permanente has medical centers throughout the Bay Area including San Francisco, the East Bay, the North Bay, the Peninsula, and the Silicon Valley. The health provider provides an integrated health delivery system, including preventive care, well-baby and prenatal care, immunizations, emergency care, screening diagnostics, hospital and medical services and pharmacy services. For more information go to kp.org.
We help your small business achieve success through special events and project management. By coupling your goals with our expertise, we enhance your capacity to do and think big and ultimately achieve measurable success. Special events and projects are effective tools in reaching your goals – but are often stressful and unsuccessful without the needed resources or capacity. We are proud to support the San Francisco Small Business Week Committee and look forward to engaging you at the many special events throughout the week! For more information go to strausevents.com.
7×7 is the essential lifestyle resource for San Franciscans who seek an insider’s point of view on the city’s culture, style, fashion, restaurants, nightlife and events. With a mix of informative and entertaining content, 7×7 engages passionate San Franciscans-inspiring them to celebrate and share their experience of the city. 7×7 provides the best of San Francisco-hour by hour, day by day, week by week and month by month, in print, online and at events. For more information go to 7×7.com.
The Bay Citizen was founded in 2010 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to fact-based, independent reporting on civic and community issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our newsroom of award-winning journalists covers Bay Area civic and cultural news topics that are under-reported today. We also partner widely with independent media organizations and writers to bring you the best of Bay Area news. You can find our news on this website and in The New York TImes’s Bay Area report, and soon, via mobile applications.
Each week, the San Francisco Business Times provides important breaking news on Bay Area business. The Business Times’ pages are packed with strategies and insights that will help you grow, and tips and leads that will bring you more business. The San Francisco Business Times is the region’s leading business news publication and leading source for local business news.
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco founded in 1966. It has become one of the best-known and most respected editorial and advertising vehicles in the country. It’s the number-one source for cultural, political, arts and entertainment coverage in one of the world’s great cities. The Guardian offers news, insight, and analysis that can’t be found anywhere else to legions of loyal, intelligent, discerning, and sophisticated readers who return to the Guardian week after week to find out what to do, where to go, and how to understand the issues and trends in an ever-changing city.
