Mission Community Services Corporation headquartered in San Luis Obispo may host California’s “best kept secret” in the form of its Women’s Business Centers, but the 28-year-old nonprofit doesn’t turn away anyone who’s looking to uplift themselves.
“In California, we have 22 … a really large number of Women’s Business Centers,” SLO County Program Director Patti Fox said. “We meet twice a month, and we are very aware of trends. We try and support each other and share resources … there’s no charge for our services.”
The nonprofit became home to Women’s Business Center chapters in SLO, Monterey, and Kern counties in 2006 thanks to partial funding from the Small Business Administration.
Through technical assistance business courses, workshops, and individual consulting sessions, the centers focus on women, low- to moderate-income individuals, minorities, veterans, and active-duty military and their families who are aspiring entrepreneurs.
In 2024 alone, the SLO and Monterey counties chapters clocked more than 1,800 hours of business consulting for small business owners and helped launch 24 new ventures, subsequently assisting more than 400 people with the necessary tools to jumpstart their dreams.
Over the years, clients of the SLO County chapter went on to set up Junk Girls, beverage company To Be Honest Bev Co., and Los Osos-based Quick Pickle Kit, among other small-scale businesses.
“We’re structuring our programming to reflect the needs of the clients,” Fox said. “Businesses come and go in SLO, especially restaurants unfortunately. We serve all industries. We have retail, food service … florists, candle shops. We have wineries up in the northern part of the county that are coming to us.”
Potential and current small business owners wanting a new business or marketing plan have more to look forward to in 2025.
On Jan. 14, community members can join a Zoom workshop on how artificial intelligence can be transformative for small businesses. The following week, they can join another online session about Caltrans business certifications. Currently new workshops are scheduled to take place every week through February. Visit mcscorp.org/workshops to register.
The Women’s Business Center also offers consultancy work and mentoring. At no cost, the consultations are conducted by experts in marketing, finance, business strategy and management, and accounting.
Entrepreneurial training courses are available, too. Explore, Design & Launch is 30-hour, 8-to-10-week course, in both English and Spanish, that includes mentoring sessions with an experienced consultant. Clients will develop a business plan, gain financial and marketing literacy, and get additional assistance to make their business plan a reality.
Fox added that the services aren’t a “one-and-done” experience.
“They can keep working with [the] consultant,” she said. “Many of our businesses will work with someone specifically for their marketing and one specifically for their business strategies. We also help prepare businesses to reach out to funders.”
Eighty percent of their clients across the different counties are women, while roughly 42 percent of the total clientele are Spanish speaking. Venturing into support for child care providers is a new initiative for the Women’s Business Center. With soaring child care costs and employers becoming increasingly aware about the need to provide child care help, the center is trying to give such providers training and the support they need to maintain and grow their businesses.
Interested community members can sign up through the website mcscorp.org or call (805) 595-1357 for more information.
“We are open to receiving clients, definitely, because that’s what makes it work—the more people we have,” Fox said.
Fast fact
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of SLO County (BBB SLO) is celebrating Mentor Month and its 30th anniversary. The chapter is hosting an appreciation event on Jan. 16 at There Does Not Exist brewery in SLO. With a goal of obtaining 100 new recurring donors, the agency is asking for community members to sign up as a recurring donor and give $30 per month in honor of the 30 years of service. BBB SLO is also calling for new mentors to join and make an impact on local youth. For more information, call (805) 329-1955. Δ
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Volunteers 2025.