Santa Barbara hosts workshop for Spanish-speaking business leaders

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara city leaders hosted a workshop Thursday morning to help Spanish-speaking business owners through economic hardship.

Officials led owners through forms, questions and other concerns they might be having. Some of those questions included, how to reopen, how to apply for PPP loans and how to keep their businesses safe for their customers and employees.

Julina Ramirez is an advisor at Santa Barbara's Economic Development Collaborative. She said, “The fact that there is still [PPP] funding available, tells us that not everybody has gotten a hold of that information. So having a workshop, a drop in workshop like this for small business owners helps them to know that there is help available. That they’re not alone.”

If you missed Thursday’s workshop, there are similar weekly online workshops you can attend. The Santa Barbara Economic Development Collaborative hosts one on Zoom on Wednesday. To sign up visit their website.