Bay Area

Kaiser Supports Small Businesses Recovering from COVID-19 Pandemic

Inner City Capital Connections provides free training, coaching and connection to capital for businesses looking to rebuild and rehire

Published

5 years ago

May 18, 2021

Mia Lane

Many small business owners in underserved communities are still struggling from the economic fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need additional support to rebuild and recover.

Kaiser Permanente Northern California is partnering with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) on a virtual program that offers small businesses a tuition-free, 40–hour mini-MBA program that combines executive education, webinars, coaching and connection to capital.

The Inner City Capital Connections program (ICCC) helps small businesses in underserved communities build the capacity they need to grow and create new jobs. Kaiser Permanente has partnered with ICIC since 2016 providing support to more than 1,700 businesses and creating more than 2,000 jobs. Of the 1,786 businesses that have participated in the program, 66% wereminority-owned and 58% were owned by women.

Businesses selected to participate will complete a training and coaching program. Kaiser Permanente Northern California is sponsoring the ICCC program to support small businesses, spur job growth and improve the health of the communities we serve.

A 2020 Health Crisis survey conducted by ICIC found 71% of business owners who responded experienced revenue loss, 33% laid off employees and 90% received some type of government financial assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kaiser Permanente recognizes how difficult the COVID-19 pandemic has been for many of the small businesses in our communities that struggled over the past year,” said Carrie OwenPlietz, FACHE, president of Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region. “Economic opportunity is a key driver of health. Our communities must be economically vibrant to improve individuals’ health outcomes and reduce health disparities for all residents, including our members.”

Nominations are open for the first cohort of the virtual program, which will be held in July. The program is open to businesses throughout Northern California who meet program qualifications and are selected following an application process. The deadline to apply or nominate a small business is May 28, 2021.

The ICCC program includes an interactive virtual, two-day seminar series that focuses on business recovery strategies and information on capital and technical assistance resources.

The program also includes webinars, one-on-one coaching with distinguished business leaders,and culminates with a conference for program graduates. Participants leave the program with the tools they need to help their businesses survive, recover and grow.

In 2020, ICCC served 1,220 businesses in 17 markets with 74% identifying as minority-owned business owners and 61% as women-owned businesses.

“I would not be where I am today from a strategy and a revenue perspective if it weren’t for the fact that I was exposed to these seminars and webinars,” said Julio Ortiz, business partner for Gaspachos in Sacramento, which participated in the ICCC program in 2019. “Kaiser and ICCC are doing amazing work out in the community.”

About Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)

ICIC is a national, nonprofit research and advisory organization founded in 1994. ICIC’s mission is to drive economic prosperity in America’s inner cities through private sector investment to create jobs, income and wealth for residents. www.icic.org

Mia Lane

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

5 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.