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About Urban Solutions

Mission

Our mission is to foster the well-being of disadvantaged communities by helping to increase neighborhood commercial vitality, strengthen small businesses, create jobs and encourage diversity.

Overview of Programs

From our offices in the South of Market and the Western Addition, Urban Solutions offers a comprehensive range of economic development services, free of charge, to our clients.

• Small Business Consulting: Our small business consulting program offers clients one-on-one counseling on loan packaging, business plan development and financial projections.

• Series of Free Workshops: We host an ongoing series of free workshops for entrepreneurs covering a variety of topics including marketing, legal and tax aspects of small business ownership.

• Business Attraction: We work to revitalize the Sixth Street corridor by attracting community-serving businesses that also create jobs. Urban Solutions works as a free broker, working with property owners and tenants throughout the leasing process.

• Façade and Tenant Improvement Projects: We work together with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency on façade and tenant improvement projects for the Sixth Street Economic Revitalization Program, helping property and business owners renovate their building facades and retail spaces.

• Green Business Initiative: Urban Solutions offers on-site consulting and public workshops to help new and existing businesses identify money-saving opportunities that conserve environmental resources. During individualized consultations, we evaluate small businesses and provide customized recommendations to reduce the environmental footprint. We strive to help small businesses find solutions that are practical, cost-effective and good for business.

• Organize Merchants: We created and continue to support the South of Market Business Association (SOMBA), an organization of businesses from throughout the South of Market neighborhood.

• Youth Entrepreneurship Training Program: We offer "Buzz on Biz" in collaboration with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship for disadvantaged teens in the Western Addition. Urban Solutions teaches youth fundamental business skills in the classroom while using guest speakers and fieldtrips to give the students real-world business experience.