Shop Local hosted its annual South Bay Business Mavericks Event last week and it was another great gathering. Founder Heidi Butzine has brought fantastic panelists together for the last 3 years. This year included Nick Arquette (Walk With Sally), Laurie Brandt (Red Car Brewery), Stefanie Dacy (3V Signs & Graphics), Kyle Ransford (Chef’d) and Jed Sanford (Blackhouse Hospitality) discussing challenges they’ve faced and how they overcame those obstacles. They also gave insight into what it takes to run a business in their industries.
Another part of the event is the Shop Local Grants given away each year. Local businesses can apply for the grants which range in the amounts of $500, $1000 and $2000. To qualify, a business owner must be a for-profit company, complete the application, create a video, and have at least 25 people like the video posted to the Shop Local site. Once all those are done, a judging panel rates the businesses and selects the top 3 applicants.
Because of the difficulty of tracking CA sick pay accruals and hours worked for ACA reporting, I looked into purchasing a new payroll software. The cost is quite high to purchase the necessary modules including the actual payroll processing, direct deposit, printing on blank check stock, and a few more. After looking at the high cost to acquire this software which would make our reporting easier, I decided to apply hoping to receive funds to go toward the cost of acquiring this software. I am very grateful to announce that Affordable Bookkeeping and Payroll Services won a grant!
This grant will allow me to keep my payroll prices closer to the current cost of processing, rather than having to increase to cover the expense of the software purchase. I am thankful to Shop Local and the South Bay Business Mavericks event for giving grants to local businesses, and for choosing me as a finalist.
Be on the lookout for this event next year at www.shoplocal.us or their Facebook page South Bay Business Mavericks. You won’t want to miss it! And if you are a South Bay business, apply to win a grant. You just might be going home with funds to help your business grow too!
