Supervisor Don Knabe announced today that Los Angeles County supported local small businesses with over $100 million in contract awards in the past year.

In 2008, nearly $107 million in Los Angeles County government contracts were awarded to locally-owned small businesses. The contract funding was distributed in over 13,500 separate contracts to 400 different small businesses. Under County rules, a small business has less than 100 employees and gross sales under $12 million a year.

Extensive resources are available to local small businesses interested in working with the County. The Los Angeles County Office of Small Business provides training classes and networking events such as Contracting Connections Workshops, how to take advantage of preference programs specially set for small businesses, how to set up a business, and how to obtain finance. Information on the products and services the County purchases, instructions for bidding on open contracts, and instructions for becoming a certified small business with the County are available by clicking here.

Supporting small businesses across Los Angeles County is crucial to economic recovery, said Supervisor Knabe. This support helps create local jobs at time when we need jobs the most.