Governor Newsom Proclaims Small Business Month

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring May 2024, as “Small Business Month” in the State of California.

The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below:

PROCLAMATION

California’s more than 4.1 million small businesses – the most of any state – embody the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the economy of the Golden State. Small businesses and entrepreneurs accelerate economic growth and mobility in California, creating two-thirds of net new jobs, building wealth, innovating to solve global problems, launching future growth industries, and defining main streets across our local communities.

California’s small businesses account for more than 98 percent of total businesses in the state and employ more than 7 million people – nearly half of the state’s private sector workforce. Our state leads the nation in business startups, and our businesses receive more than 50 percent of the nation’s venture capital with more than $104 billion invested in California in 2022.

California businesses produce more patents per capita and conduct more research and development than any other state in the nation. Our state is the center of manufacturing output in the U.S., with more 1.2 million Californians employed in this space. Our manufacturing firms have created new industries and supplied the world with manufactured goods spanning aerospace, computers, electronics, and zero-emission vehicles.

Our state is leveraging federal funding to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in navigating the funding landscape and successfully accessing the capital they need to start and grow their business here in California. California received more than $1.1 billion in funds for its existing capital support programs from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Separately, the Treasury granted $26.3 million to California to launch a new Technical Assistance for Capital Readiness Program. California has been approved to receive more federal investment through SSBCI than any other state.

For our economy to maintain its strength, we must ensure that all Californians – no matter who they are or where they come from – can pursue their dreams to start, manage, and grow resilient businesses in the Golden State. Further supporting diversity and equity, AB 2019 codified the state’s procurement spending goal of 25 percent to small businesses.

The Small Business Technical Assistance Program, which was made permanent in 2022, helps small businesses and entrepreneurs start, grow, and become more resilient. And through the state’s Accelerate California Inclusive Innovation Hubs, we’re working to expand and diversify the innovation economy by improving access to resources in underserved communities, supporting emerging tech sectors, and catalyzing the creation of high-quality jobs in every corner of the state.

Our small businesses are global leaders in innovation and economic competitiveness and have helped make our economy the envy of the world. This month, we recognize the tremendous contributions of our small businesses, as well as the importance of our ongoing work to support their success and make the California Dream accessible to all.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 2024, as “Small Business Month.”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 30th day of April 2024.

GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California

ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State