MERCHANT TOOLS & RESOURCES

Need help? Our Ambassadors are on the job!

The Laurel District Association was awarded a grant from the City of Oakland Violence Prevention Department to launch a pilot AMBASSADOR PROGRAM in 2022 that supports businesses along MacArthur Boulevard within The Laurel, Bret Harte, and Dimond. Our goal is to deliver the technical, financial, and human support available in the region directly to business owners, bridging the often vast gap between the two.

Invest time working on your business
instead of in your business

When you’re a business owner, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. Continuing your education is an excellent way to get unstuck, to grow your business, save time and money, and stay motivated to do the work that you love. It can help you:

  • Perform necessary business functions yourself or to train up team members without having to outsource to expensive consultants.

  • Learn to spot and overcome unproductive patterns in your operations or even in your thinking.

  • Identify new opportunities for growth and create business plans to keep you on track.

  • Avoid costly mistakes and potential liabilities, like hiring the wrong people or not training them properly.

  • Stay motivated and excited about your business, while learning what your limits are.

  • … and so much more!

Ongoing education — no matter your field of work — is a life-long endeavor.

FIND WORKSHOPS

Our Ambassadors are scouring websites for business workshops that we believe would be helpful to our small business community. These workshops are both local and elsewhere in the country (online). Most of them are free!

ONLINE / IN-PERSON / RECORDED / OTHER LANGUAGES / OFTEN FREE

SEARCH FROM THE SOURCES BELOW

BUSINESS RESOURCE DIRECTORY

SELECT YOUR GENERAL AREA OF NEEDS BELOW

 
 
 
 
 
 

FULL DIRECTORY OF
BUSINESS SUPPORT PROVIDERS

FULL DIRECTORY OF
COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROVIDERS

QUICK LINKS TO
Government RESOURCES

OAKLAND | ALAMEDA COUNTY | CALIFORNIA | FEDERAL

LAUREL DISTRICT ASSOCIATION SUPPORT

ASK OUR AMBASSADORS

We’ve tried to offer a complete resource directory on this website, but we understand it may not list your specific need or it may be easier to just ask us for help. Send us a note about what you need help with, and we’ll get to work to find resources (NGOs, government, workshops, videos, toolkits, etc.) to help. Contact us.

HELP US PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

SUBMIT AN UPCOMING EVENT — OR — UPDATE YOUR LDA BUSINESS LISTING

Submit an upcoming event or update your business listing, including photos, descriptions, addresses, or contact information. We like to promote our businesses online, through e-newsletters, and social media posts. Contact us.

HAVE A TRAFFIC INCIDENT IN THE LAUREL?
Help Us Improve Public Safety — FILL OUT THE REPORT!

The Laurel District Association collects information on traffic incidents in The Laurel to develop an empirical understanding of traffic and safety conditions within the District. Know of an accident? Tell us about it. Complete the form.

SMALL EVENT GRANT FUND (SEGF)

The Laurel District Association hopes to bring more community activities to the district. To do so, the LDA created a fund to incentivize merchants in The Laurel to host more events and activities at their businesses, to keep the buzz about the district in the air, bring new visitors to the Laurel, and to bring others back more often.

The LDA’s SEGF Program provides up to $200 as a financial sponsorship to Laurel businesses to host events in 2022. Events can be centered around music, art, education, craft, food, or… you name it! Make it fun and inviting to enhance the customers’ experiences of the Laurel District. If sponsorship is granted, the Laurel District Association asks to be acknowledged as a sponsor in text and/or with logo placement where appropriate. The LDA may be able to help with permits, if needed, and upon request.

*Please submit your application three weeks prior to the proposed event date. For an event series, funds may be available for each event within an event series. Please provide the series information and funding request for each of the individual events.

*We endeavor to keep information current in the merchant toolkit, but it is ultimately your responsibility to find the most current and accurate information available. Email us if you would like to add, remove, or update a listing.