Small businesses make up 99.8 percent of businesses in California, and in order to help them thrive, the state wants to make its publicly-funded resources easier to access.

The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) announced that it has launched calosba.ca.gov, a portal for small business owners to seek out critical resources such as permits, financing information, and technical assistance.

“Small business is big business in the state of California and to that end, my department is meeting the needs of the more than 4 million small business owners by making resources easier to find, access, and use. Our new website can be thought of as a gateway to opportunity,” CalOSBA Director Tara Lynn Gray said in a press release.

Additional resources include information on tax and credit, incentives, access to procurement and supply chain programs, as well as a Business Learning Center that “helps business owners navigate the varying stages of the business development process.”

CalOSBA.ca.gov divides its resources into three tabs: start-up, manage and grow. Each tab contains a multitude of guides and resources that help small business owners start with the basics such as making a business plan, manage an existing business with how-tos on training employees, and growing a business with step-by-step on how to establish an online presence.

In addition to those resources, CalOSBA also offers free one-on-one consulting that will help small business owners learn to fund their businesses, enter new markets, and to strengthen their operations.

According to data collected from 2018 to 2020, CalOSBA’s network has helped over 330,000 small businesses and created over 11,000 new jobs.

Prior to the opening of CalOSBA’s new portal, the Office announced three additional rounds for the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program.