Mayor Bob Foster motions toward a small business owner as he speaks during a breakfast meeting Tuesday, where he met with Long Beach entrepreneurs to discuss challenges they are facing and ways in which the city can assist them. Photo courtesy of Dan Yeniz Photography.
4:01pm | The city of Long Beach is making a concerted effort to facilitate the success of small businesses, and it was with this in mind that the mayor met with a group of local entrepreneurs Tuesday morning.
Mayor Bob Foster sat down with the 13 small business owners to discuss the challenges of contemporary entrepreneurship and identify ways in which the city can assist in the continued viability of their businesses.
“During challenging economic times, small businesses are the engine of job growth,” Foster said Wednesday in a prepared statement. “Yesterday’s breakfast meeting was a great way for Long Beach to hear how we can assist our local small businesses.”
The participants in yesterday’s breakfast discussion at Long Beach City College are all either Long Beach residents or Long Beach-based business owners who have participated in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, said Stacey Toda, who works in the Mayor’s Office.
The initiative aims to unlock the growth and job-creation potential of 10,000 small businesses across the United States through greater access to business education programs, mentors, networks and financial capital.
Discussions Tuesday morning focused on the mandatory fees charged by the city’s business improvement districts, pension reform, local bidding, the city’s current request-for-proposals process, local preference, the state of the Enterprise Zone program, the small business enterprise program and ways in which small businesses can compete for larger contracts, Toda said.
The third class of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative is currently being selected and is set to begin in July, Toda said. Small business owners interested in participating in a future class can obtain more information by calling Long Beach City College at 562-938-5054 or by visiting LBCC.edu/10000smallbusinesses. 
From left, Larry Reinhard of Maverick Supply Inc.; Lou Anne Bynum, vice president of the Economic and Resource Department at Long Beach City College; Mayor Bob Foster; Randall Kemner of The Wine Country; Miguel Guajardo of El Camino Construction & Engineering Co.; Charles Key of Able Glass Services; and Vivian Shimoyama, a representative of the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative at LBCC, are among the participants in Tuesday morning’s talks on how the city can assist local small businesses. Photo courtesy of Dan Yeniz Photography.