During the past legislative session in Sacramento, state Sen. Curren D. Price Jr. (D-Culver City) once again demonstrated that he is committed to working for small businesses and deserves his reputation as one of California’s strongest advocates for new opportunities for small business enterprises.
Earlier this year, the Small Business Exchange weekly wrote, “The small and minority business community as a whole, have no greater friend than Sen. Price.” The newspaper noted that Sen. Price — who is up for re-election tomorrow — has consistently worked toward making the state a more pro-active member in encouraging and implementing full diversity in its procurement and business contracting practices.
Sen. Price brings to office a knowledgeable and innovative background as a small business owner and a small business consultant for the Small Business Administration responsible for helping businesses develop business plans, secure financing and implement marketing strategies in pursuit of domestic and international business opportunities.
Throughout his political career, the senator has worked consistently to create policies that spark economic growth, encourage innovation, open the doors of opportunity for all, create jobs and stimulate our state’s economy.
This past year Sen. Price authored SB 1155, legislation that increases opportunities for small businesses to compete for state contracts and offer incentives for creating new jobs.
Gov. Schwarzenegger recently signed Senate Bill 1155, streamlining, the state’s Capital Access Company law to make it easier for small businesses to access capital for business expansion. The complexity of the current law has prevented companies from taking advantage of it.
To further open up the process to small businesses, Sen. Price convened an informational hearing in July covering all of the various certification processes that are employed to verify the eligibility of small, minority-, women- and veteran- owned businesses to participate in procurement programs.
In attendance were representatives from local, state, federal and private certification programs to discuss their certification processes and the regulatory requirements. Representatives from the various under-represented groups took advantage of the hearing and learned how to navigate the procurement process.
Also signed by the governor was SB 1341 related to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This bill creates additional procurement provisions applicable to the MTA relative to preferences in contracting for small business enterprises. Additionally, SB 66 restored $8.3 million in loan guarantees available to small business owners seeking loans through the Small Business Loan Guarantee program. These funds are to be used for expanding operations and hiring new employees in order to boost local economies statewide.
Sen. Price’s email address is (currenpricejr.com) and his website is (info@currenpricejr.com)
