Lompoc Lends Helping Hand to New and Existing Businesses

The process of starting your own business from scratch is hardly ever a cakewalk. But the city of Lompoc is pitching in to make it as painless as possible by offering a helping hand.

David Goldy is the owner at Wild West Pizza in Lompoc. Just 9 months ago, Goldy turned the location into his own. But with all the permits and code requirements it took to make it happen, it turned out to be a lot harder than he expected.

“There’s a lot of stuff that you don’t know about going in that you kind of discover as you’re trying to do it,” said Goldy. “It’s not a quick process.”

That’s the general consensus when speaking with a small business owner, especially in California where it’s relatively expensive to do business compared to other states. Lompoc has made it it’s mission to put an end to that belief and make it easy to pursue business opportunities within city limits.

The city recently formed the Development Assistance Team. The idea is to help people who want to start a business or make their existing business grow.

“We are set up to be able to help businesses either new to Lompoc or expanding their business in Lompoc or other development projects, to be able to get off the ground and get rolling,” said Patrick Wiemiller, Lompoc City Administrator.

The Development Assistance Team is made up of city staff members that will help answer key questions about the process and lay out requirements to do so. All meetings will be free.

“We just want to be able to do that outreach and be able to be business friendly,” said Wiemiller. “We certainly are welcoming to new businesses that are interested in Lompoc. It’s a great place to do business and we want to make it as easy as possible for them to do so.”

Appointments can be made with the Development Assistance Team every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month.

Appointment times are at 9:30a.m., 10 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. To make an appointment with the Development Assistance Team, please call the Economic & Community Development Department at 805.875.8213.