Editor’s note: This article was edited for brevity and clarity.

On Thursday, June 18, Gov. Gavin Newsom came to Oakland to talk about small businesses and the “largest small business relief program in the nation.” Dubbed California Roars Back, it’s the governor’s $100 billion “comeback plan”.

Newsom toured Beastmode Barbershop and Graffiti Pizza, both Black-owned businesses and held a press gaggle with the business owners, local politicians and community business leaders.

The Post News Group was granted an exclusive one-on-one sit down interview with Newsom. 

Post:  “Thank you for your time. Why was it important for you to come to Oakland to talk about the comeback plan?”

Newsom: “ Oakland has been described by some of my  San Francisco friends as what San Francisco used to be. It’s a compliment(since) many aspects of San Francisco have been lost to sort of a universal same-ism in certain neighborhoods where you see the same eight nine chains, and the neighborhoods begin to lose their sense of community.

“You come to Oakland, and you see this thriving small business network, just remarkable diverse creative artists who happen to be entrepreneurs, literally in some cases, not just figuratively. 

“And so for me it’s really .. the manifestation of a vibrant small business community. It’s also a manifestation of what we want to highlight, which is, while the economy in the macro is recovering from a GDP perspective in the aggregate, we don’t live in the aggregate. There are people who have been disproportionately impacted.

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“I want to make a point that we have your back, we want to be there for you when the lights turn off (and) the cameras go away. When we turn the page (on the pandemic), we want to make sure we’re there for the medium- and long-term so everyone’s back on their feet.”

Post: “ I heard you speak earlier about not only helping the businesses that have been struggling, but what about the businesses that have gone out of business. What are your plans for them now that we have reopened?”

Newsom:  “We’re working on the final proposal of a billion dollars in grants that allow people to utilize the training dollars to make entrepreneurial investments, meaning to actually use the money in a way where they can start up their business again. 

“We’re trying to be very creative. . ..  I read this case study about a model, … tripartite agreements of labor, business, and the Singapore government, and there’s these portable accounts that they created, tax free accounts that can be used across the spectrum. 

“They also have partnerships with business and small business loans and credit enhancements, and people are able to leverage (them) on the basis of their own skills and where they are in terms of their own workforce development. 

“We took a version of that idea. And that’s now currently in the final phases of negotiation with the Legislature. In addition, we’re waiving fees for new startups. We are providing opportunities in terms of loans and grants and credits.

“We have a new credit capacity of close to a billion dollars…. We’re doing micro loans, not grants, for those that have no access to credit or traditional banking institutions. We call it the California Dream fund, emphasis on ‘dream,’ because it also doesn’t regard your immigration status. 

“We’re writing these micro loans and grants across the spectrum for that subset of our entrepreneur population. We’re trying across all these spectrums to create more support.

“We have all these regional Small Business Centers, 86 of them that are fully staffed, fully functional, more engaged, more dynamic than ever. . .  and supporting a lot of the Black chambers.”

Post:  “I understand why (you picked) Oakland. Thank you for taking time to speak exclusively with the Black press. But why was that important to you to specifically speak to the Black press and reach out to Black businesses in particular?”

Newsom:  “I think, one of the things that kind of ticked me off a little bit –  I don’t know if that’s not gubernatorial language, but it’s more personal – I’m sick of the picture that’s painted on some of the networks around the BLM Movement, around the Black community generally, the exploitation, and it doesn’t tell any story. It’s not even interested in telling a story. It connects to manufactured reality.

“And so for me, this is also an opportunity to counter that (artificial) reality and talk about the entrepreneurial spirit. Yes. talk about creativity, talk about just the culture identity and the competency. What makes life worth living is that diversity of expression, output and insight and meeting needs that you didn’t even know existed. 

“I think it’s just incredibly important we talk about Black entrepreneurs.  Democrats need to do that. I say, I’m a small business guy. We have such a divided country It’s not just do the right thing for Black-owned businesses in Oakland because, you know, we have a disproportionate number of Black-owned businesses in the Bay Area, but it’s also part of a larger national trust.

“I’m just sick and tired of what I’m watching on the national news. And I want to highlight what I think is really one of the most under-expressed and under-communicated stories in America, like innovation, like entrepreneurship. 

“Black excellence (exists) across all spectrums, it’s not just about criminal justice reform, it’s not just about police.  There are other things we need to include in that conversation without neglecting our responsibilities to solve those issues. “

Post: “And what importance does the Black press have in all that?”

Newsom:  “I’ve been so inspired by how Black press perseveres. Talk about resiliency. We have gone to great lengths in the pandemic to support Black press in terms of our COVID efforts, testing efforts or vaccination efforts. 

“(We have) partnerships in terms of trusted messengers and outreach. But we can always do more. I know right now, particularly in the Black  press, there’s some anxiety that we’re moving from the investments we made in partnership with the federal government, CDC, because of the pandemic. And how are we going to be there now post-pandemic, and so we’re trying to work that through as well.”

Christy Price

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