Grants: Now in its sixth round, KKR Small Business Builders is here to support entrepreneurs and their small businesses around the world. Hundreds of recipients have already been selected to receive a $10,000 grant as well as mentoring and coaching opportunities with KKR employees. Everyone who applies receives free access to the thousands of curated resources and a community of 400,000+ small business owners on Hello Alice.
To qualify for the grant program, you must: Operate in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan, Ireland, India, Germany, France, England, China, or Australia; Be a for-profit business; Have 5–50 employees; Have generated annual gross revenues in 2019 of less than $7 million; Have a demonstrated need for support; Propose a strong plan for moving forward. Special tip: Although the application asks for the name and email of the KKR employee who nominated you, those questions are optional! Anybody who meet the eligibility criteria can apply. To learn more about the program and submit an application, visit kkr.helloalice.com. Apply now!
The Alibaba.com Grants Program is offering $10,000 cash grants to help U.S. online entrepreneurs bring their innovative product or go-to-market ideas to life. Apply now before the October 21 deadline at alibaba.helloalice.com! Apply for grant
COVID-19 Small Business California Relief Grants- Deadline Approaching (September 30th): Rounds 8 & 9 of the California Relief Grants are accepting applications now thru September 30th. Eligible applicants should submit their applications before these final rounds of the grant program close in 10 days. Relief grants in the amount of $5,000 - $25,000 are still available for small businesses that meet the program criteria. For more information about the program, visit www.careliefgrant.com.
California Rebuilding Fund Loans Available: California's smallest businesses now have access to an additional $56.5 million through the California Rebuilding Fund, which offers flexible, low-cost loans to support long-term recovery through the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the Rebuilding Fund has provided loans to more than 700 small businesses with an average loan size of around $63,000. For more information about the program, visit the California Rebuilding Fund Program Website.
Cases: The county announced 2,023 new infections and 28 deaths on Friday, bringing the pandemic totals to 1,439,011 COVID-19 cases and 25,775 deaths. Authorities listed 1,185 patients hospitalized throughout the county with the virus, with 30% of them in ICUs. L.A. County’s test positivity rate on Thursday was recorded at 1.6%
Pasadena saw 17 newly detected COVID-19 infections and no deaths on Thursday, according to city data. In all, the Pasadena Public Health Department has recorded 13,018 cases of the virus and 359 deaths. The city’s average number of daily infections over the prior week dropped for a fourth straight day, reaching 15.6.
Huntington Hospital officials listed 25 admitted COVID-19 patients on Thursday, with eight of them being treated in intensive care units.
The California Department of Public Health reported 7,360 new infections and 16 deaths on Thursday, bringing the statewide totals to 4,387,926 COVID-19 cases and 67,187 fatalities.
The state’s weekly positivity rate declined by a tenth of a percent to 3.4%, according to CDPH data.
As of Thursday, L.A. County accounted for 33% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 38% of the state’s deaths.
Transmission of COVID-19 among children in Los Angeles County has declined significantly over the past three weeks, even with nearly all of the county’s 1.5 million K-12 students now back at school for in-person instruction, public health officials said Thursday.
After noting an increase in cases among children in mid-July and into mid-August, “over the last three weeks, cases declined in all children age groups by 40%,” according to a statement issued by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
Vaccines: Public health officials reported Tuesday that 94.4% of Pasadenans over the minimum eligible age of 12 had received at least one COVID-19 vaccination, while the rate of those fully vaccinated against the virus grew to 86.7%.
Meanwhile, 12 new infections were detected, and no new deaths were reported, according to Pasadena Public Health Department data. The average number of daily infections over the prior week decreased to 16.
Since the onset of the pandemic, 12,985 cases of COVID-19 and 358 deaths have been documented, records show.
The Pasadena Unified School District reported two infections among students and one among staff during the period of Sept. 10 through Sept. 14.
Since Aug. 1, a total of 104 cases have been detected among students and 32 among staff since Aug. 1, according to PUSD records.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 1,725 infections and 27 fatalities on Tuesday, raising the county-wide totals to 1,435,163 COVID-19 cases and 25,713 fatalities.
County officials also reported 1,224 patients being treated for the virus at hospitals throughout L.A. County, with 30% of them being housed in intensive care units.
The county-wide daily positivity rate was measured at 1.4%.
With the extra-infectious Delta variant continuing to spread, L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer once again urged precautions such as vaccination and masking.
Unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows. The study, which examined 600,000 COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in 13 states from April 4 to June 19 and from June 20 to July 17, "found further evidence of the power of the vaccination," CDC director Rochelle Walensky said in a press briefing Friday, according to CNBC people were over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 and are four-and-a-half half times more likely to contract the virus, according to the study.
The results come just one day after President Biden announced new COVID-19 rules that require private companies with over 100 employees to mandate the vaccine, and federal employees, contractors and healthcare workers to get the shot. "As we have shown study after study, vaccination works," Walensky said during the press briefing, according to The Hil. "CDC will continue to do all we can do to increase vaccination rates across the country by working with local communities and trusted messengers and providing vaccine confidence consults to make sure that people have the information they need to make an informed decision," Walensky added. Currently, 75% of U.S. adults ages 18 and older have received at least one shot, while 53% of the nation is fully vaccinated, according to The New York Times.
Public health officials at the state level announced 11,851 new infections and 97 deaths on Tuesday, which brought the state’s pandemic totals to 4,372,806 cases of COVID-19 and 66,813 fatalities.
The statewide weekly positivity rate remained at 4.4%, as was reported Monday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
As of Tuesday, L.A. County accounted for 33% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 38% of the state’s deaths.
The LA County Board of Supervisors supported Dr. Barbara Ferrer's recommendation to move forward with the vaccine mandate. Attached is the presentation from the Public Health Dept, with the recommendations on the final page (page 17).
- Require vaccine verification or a negative test <72 hours prior at outdoor mega events for participants and employees
- Require vaccine verification for customers and employees at indoor portions of bars, wineries, breweries, nightclubs, and lounges (establishments with either no restaurant permit or a low-risk restaurant permit)
- Strongly recommend vaccine verification at indoor portions of restaurants
- Maintain indoor masking requirement
There were no objections from any of the supervisors.
From the New York Times: Major religious traditions, denominations and institutions are nearly unanimous in their support of Covid-19 vaccines. Nevertheless, many Americans say they are hesitant to get vaccinated for religious reasons.
Their attempts to secure exemptions from the country’s rapidly expanding vaccine mandates are creating new fault lines, pitting religious liberty concerns against the priority of maintaining a safe environment at work and elsewhere.
Some vaccine-resistant workers are sharing tips online for requesting exemptions on religious grounds; others are submitting letters from far-flung religious authorities who have advertised their willingness to help. In California, a megachurch pastor is offering a letter to anyone who checks a box confirming the person is a “practicing Evangelical that adheres to the religious and moral principles outlined in the Holy Bible.”
For many skeptics, resistance tends to be based not on formal teachings from an established faith leader, but on an ad hoc blend of online conspiracies and misinformation, conservative media and conversations with like-minded friends and family members.
The Economy: Pasadena posted an 8.2 percent unemployment rate according to the latest available preliminary data, higher by about three percent compared to the national average but significantly lower than Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate. City Treasurer Vic Erganian presented the local unemployment statistics as part of the quarterly investment report that he presented last Monday at the meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee. Erganian’s presentation showed 6,400 were unemployed in July in Pasadena, out of a labor force of 78,100.
In Los Angeles County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased over the month to 10.1 percent in July and was well below the rate of 17.2 percent a year ago.
California leads the nation in poverty among its residents, but it’s also seen the biggest drop in its poor, according to new Census Bureau data released Tuesday.
An average 6 million Californians had incomes below poverty levels from 2018 to 2020, the highest count in the U.S., according to the bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure. That count was down 704,000 from 2017 to 2019 — the nation’s largest drop.
This relatively new survey by the Census Bureau dates to 2009 and is adjusted for the varying cost of living among the states. Texas had the second-most-impoverished population at 3.6 million, followed by Florida at 3 million.
The bureau’s three-year poverty metric includes government assistance programs as part of a household’s income, along with affordability factors, which are key reasons why high-cost California often is ranked at the bottom.
Southern California bosses added 68,200 jobs in August — the biggest hiring spree in four months — despite a resurgent coronavirus. State job figures released Friday, found bosses had 7.36 million employees last month in the four counties covered by the Southern California News Group. This staffing level was up 0.9% in a month and 6.7% in a year, according to a survey of employers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Here are the highlights … History: Last month’s hiring reversed a July slide that cut 27,900 jobs. The region has added 460,400 over 12 months. Hiring has averaged a 43,300 monthly pace in the recovery from 2020’s lockdowns.
ull recovery? Despite a noteworthy rebound from the iced economy of spring 2020, total employment is still 93% of February 2020, the last time the economy wasn’t shackled by the virus.
That’s 526,400 workers short of pre-coronavirus employment.
Inflation hit a 13-year high in Los Angeles and Orange counties in August thanks to surging gas prices, according to the Consumer Price Index. Local inflation ran at an annual pace of 4% — the highest O.C.-L.A. rate for an August since 2008. Yet the local cost-of-living jump is slower than the nation’s 5.3% pace for August.
L.A.-O.C. had the fifth-lowest inflation rate, when you look at the latest inflation reports for the 23 metropolitan areas tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Inland Empire: Inflation was up 6.5% two months ago, the latest bi-monthly reading of overall inflation for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Other metros in the West: Bay Area inflation rose at a 3.7% rate in August while Seattle was up 5.2% and Phoenix up 5.1%. Extremes: Highest? Atlanta, St. Louis, and Tampa at 6.6%. Lowest? Denver at 3.5%.
Details
Inside the L.A.-O.C. report for August, we see in the CPI math for the last 12 months … Fuel: Gasoline cost 35.7% more. Household energy costs were 12.3% less. Food: Groceries rose 3.9%, and dining out was 4.2% pricier. Housing: Overall, this expense rose 1.8%; rent was 1% pricier. Medical: Hospital and doctor bills were 0.6% costlier. All local services: 2.2% pricier. Apparel: Clothing was 2.7% costlier.
Big-ticket items: The cost of “durable goods” (such as appliances and furniture) was 9.3% higher. Vehicles: New? 8% pricier. Used? 31% pricier.
Bottom line: Imagine the local inflation rate when the housing slice of this inflation index catches up with what’s been a summer for big rent hikes. And what will happen to interest rates if inflation continues to jump?
Migration out of urban California has created the nation’s biggest rent gains in Golden State counties far from the coast as bargain seekers move inland.
ApartmentList data on rents for the 50 most populous U.S. counties found a curious split among the 10 California counties on the list. San Bernardino, Fresno and Riverside topped the renthike rankings, with Sacramento at No. 9. Meanwhile, in the six counties closer to the coast — Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara — rents have, at best, moved sideways. What’s behind this divide?
Remember, the pandem-ic’s business limitations cost many tenants their jobs. Such economic pressures forced certain households to move to cheaper and less dense communities away from the coast.
Others sought new living arrangements such as doubling up with family or roommates. Some apartment dwellers with solid finances became homeowners, taking advantage of historically low interest rates. And yes, an eviction moratorium kept another group in place — without paying the rent.
Glass half-full
California’s inland counties long have been seen as an economic value, providing more affordable housing options.
One big hurdle of inland relocation — the long commute to work — has been shortened in the pandemic era thanks to work-fromhome policies embraced by many employers.
Let’s look at 12 months of rent, the renewal period for most tenants. My spreadsheet shows us that inland landlords charged an average $1,610 a month over the year, versus an average $2,054 in coastal counties. Clearly, bargains are farther from the Pacific. Those significant inland discounts, mixed with the initial economic chill of the pandemic, altered the state’s rental market. In the 12 months that ended August 2020, rents averaged a 3.5% gain inland versus coastal’s 0.1% dip, a relatively modest change as renters were just beginning to rethink housing.