As part of the Tustin Cares program, the City of Tustin is offering a four-week Main Street Digital Training and Grant Program (Main Street Digital Program) in partnership with the Orange County Inland Empire Small Business Development Center Network (OCIE SBDC). The Main Street Digital Program will provide training and funding to retail businesses, home-based businesses, and nonprofits (collectively, “Business or Businesses”) seeking to increase their social media presence and/or revenue. All eligible Businesses are invited to apply. While Businesses who have participated in previous Main Street Digital Programs are not eligible, Businesses that have previously received alternative sources of funding such as the City of Tustin Small Business Emergency Grant, the City of Tustin Non-Profit Recovery Grant, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) or Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan are eligible to apply. The program is based on the availability of funds, program guidelines and submission of all required information and supporting documentation. Businesses with a minimum of two (2) employees — which may also include owner, and a maximum of twenty-five (25) employees (full or full-time equivalent combination) may be eligible to receive a digital marketing grant of one thousand dollars ($1,000). The grant must be used for a paid digital/online advertising campaign, developed during the training program and in conjunction with an OCIE SBDC consultant.
Due to the success of the City’s previous small business training and grant programs funded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the Tustin City Council budgeted additional City funds to continue providing opportunities to expand small business training and grant programs. The City’s Economic Development Department will be responsible for oversight of the Main Street Digital Program and disbursement of funds will take place through the City’s Finance Department. The City’s Program Partner, the SBDC, will be responsible for program administration, application processing, training, one-on-one consulting, and for review and approval of financial and business documentation for disbursement. City staff is obligated to fulfill the terms and conditions of the funds as established by the program guidelines.
The OCIE SBDC created a virtual training program aimed at assisting Businesses with “Creating a Digital Presence” for their business. Each Business will learn how to set-up an online profile through Google, will reach out to customers for a Google review and will learn how to create and send Facebook or Instagram posts. The program will highlight how to use paid and non-paid advertising to generate leads that turn into sales and/or increased community awareness. The program will culminate with Businesses receiving a small grant to put towards digital/online advertising that will generate customer traffic and/or community awareness. The program will consist of building a digital presence over four (4) weeks. All sessions will take place in a group format and will be coupled with individual one-on-one consulting with SBDC consultants. The program will be conducted in English only.
The training program will cover the following topics:
Each Business will be assigned a OCIE SBDC business consultant to assist them with their paid advertising platform. The OCIE SBDC consultant will provide one-on-one assistance, customized to each Business’ needs. The OCIE SBDC will continue to work with each client through the program and beyond. Every quarter, the OCIE SBDC will track and measure the success of each Business as they deploy their marketing campaigns. The OCIE SBDC will track change in sales, jobs created and/or increase in customer traffic.
The City reserves the unqualified right, in its sole and absolute discretion at any time: (1) to amend or terminate this program with no recourse for any proposing applicant; (2) to choose or reject any or all applications received in response to this program; (3) to modify the application deadlines; (4) to request additional information of the applicants as deemed necessary and appropriate by the City; (5) to conduct further due diligence with applicants or any third party; (6) to modify the City’s objectives or the scope of the program; (7) to modify program requirements, general terms and conditions, or eligible activities; and/or (8) to disqualify any proposing applicant on the basis of any real or perceived conflict of interest that is disclosed or revealed by materials submitted or by any data available to the City.
To be eligible to apply for the Tustin Main Street Digital Program, participating entities must meet certain criteria that has been established by the City of Tustin.
* City employees and elected and appointed officials are not eligible to participate in this program.
The funds must be used to develop a paid digital/online advertising campaign for the purpose of increasing their social media presence and/or increasing revenue (“Eligible Expenses”). Each applicant will need to sign and verify that the use of funds will be spent on a paid advertising campaign, such as expressed above. Any use of funding other than for paid advertising is strictly prohibited. If there is a remaining balance after August 31, 2024, the Business will be required to return the funds to the City by September 30, 2024.
In addition, the applicant cannot use these funds for paid advertising costs that have been or will be reimbursed or recovered through other funding programs.
The City of Tustin and the SBDC shall not discriminate upon the basis of sex, age, race, creed, color, religion, national origin, marital status, ancestry or physical handicap in accepting applications and processing program application.
The Tustin Main Street Digital Program application includes information about the Business, the number of employees, location of the business, amount of time in business, and type of business: retail, home-based or nonprofit. The application and Grant Agreement will require the following Attestations:
The program application will be available at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 22, 2024. Applicants must apply for the training program by visiting www.tustinca.org/businessgrant and submitting the application online.
Applications must be submitted online and will only be accepted from 9:00 a.m., Monday, April 22, 2024 to 11:59 p.m., Sunday, May 5, 2024. The applications period will close promptly at 11:59 p.m. on May 5, 2024. Applications received online after this due date and time will be considered late and will not be accepted.
The City will disburse twenty (20) $1,000 grants, a total of $20,000, to twenty (20) businesses. The City anticipates the number of applications will exceed the amount of funding available for disbursement. As a result, the City will implement a lottery system for all eligible Businesses.
Upon pre-approval and selection for the program, Businesses will be required to submit the following documents by June 3, 2024, for review and verification in order to receive the grant:
In addition, SBDC will provide the selected Businesses with the following documents to complete and submit by June 3, 2024:
Although selection is not guaranteed, Businesses should begin to collect the required documentation in order to expedite the approval process in the event they are selected.
The application will be reviewed by the OCIE SBDC to determine application completeness and preliminary eligibility. The application must be complete by the application submittal deadline date of May 5, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.
The City of Tustin is expecting theMain Street Digital Program to have an overwhelming number of applications. If the number of applications far exceeds the amount of funding that is available for disbursement, the City will implement a lottery system for all eligible Businesses. Once applications and eligibility have been approved, they will be assigned a number and entered into a lottery. Potential program participants will be contacted by email, phone and/or letter starting May 15, 2024.
Upon pre-approval and selection, the OCIE SBDC shall request the applicant submit all required documentation for review and verification for grant approval. OCIE SBDC will assign a consultant to work with each individual grantee to assist with completing all required documentation. Grantees documentation will be submitted directly to OCIE SBDC on a secured site. If the grant request meets the criteria for program funding, all required documentation must be submitted by June 3, 2024, by 10:00 p.m. to remain eligible.
After each Business recipient submits a complete set of required documentation and attends the first two to three weeks of the training program, the documents will be reviewed and verified, and funds will be disbursed to the individual Business. The City will award grant funds in a single disbursement. All grant funds shall be expended on a digital/online paid advertising campaign by no later than August 31, 2024. Any portion of the grant funds not expended on Eligible Expenses shall be returned to the City by no later than September 30, 2024.
Eligible Expenses are considered necessary expenditures that provide economic support in connection with the COVID-19 public health emergency. In the event a Business does not expend the entire grant amount, the Business will be required to return the remaining balance by September 30, 2024.
The Business recipient shall keep documentation evidencing use of the Grant Funds. The City may request to evaluate the Business’ compliance with the Grant program. If it is determined the Business did not expend the funds consistent with Eligible Expenses, it may constitute an Event of Default under the Grant Agreement.
The OCIE SBDC will continue to work one-on-one with each grantee, throughout the next twelve (12) months. If contacted by the City or OCIE SBDC, all awardees will be required to update the City on their Business and if additional employees have been hired or employees retained. A twelve-month report will be created by the OCIE SBDC and the City of Tustin to document the success of the program. By acceptance of the grant, the Business agrees to comply with City information requests that may include use of photos or business logos.
Complaints concerning the Tustin Main Street Digital Program should be made to the City of Tustin Economic Development Department. If unresolved in this manner, the complaint or appeal shall be made in writing and filed with the City Manager’s Office.
For additional information regarding the Main Street Digital Program, please contact the following:
City of Tustin
Economic Development Department
300 Centennial Way
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 573-3117
TustinEconDevDept@tustinca.org
For questions about the guidelines and application or assistance in completing the application and to set up a one-on-one consultation (at no cost), please contact the SBDC at:
Manal Richa, Director
CSUF SBDC
15375 Barranca Parkway, Suite A111
Irvine, CA 92618
(657) 256-3874 (office)
Manal.Richa@ociesbdc.com
Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Funded in part through a grant with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
Mike Daniel is the network director of the Orange County Inland Empire SBDC Network, which assists aspiring entrepreneurs and current business owners throughout Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Mike was formerly the director of the SBDC office at Long Beach City College. As business owner and entrepreneur himself, he started his career as the owner of a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory location in Manhattan Beach and went on to open a second location in Long Beach in 2001. In 2007, Mike sold the Manhattan Beach store for an above-market offer then invested in several additional locations as a minority shareholder. Mike further expanded his candy empire with venture located in Shoreline Village in Long Beach called Sugar Daddies Sweet Shoppe, based on fill-it yourself candy options.
Mike has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fullerton.
