On Friday, May 14th, Oaklanders celebrated the people and businesses that make the city great at OneCalifornia Foundation’s 4th Annual Oakland Indie Awards.  Hosted in partnership with the East Bay Express, the annual awards program is a celebration of all things Oakland and an opportunity to highlight the positive social and environmental impact of Oakland’s independent businesses and artists. The program was kicked off by keynote speaker Michael Kieschnick, Co-Founder, President and CEO of CREDO Mobile / Working Assets. 

The 2010 Indie Award Winners Are:

Neighborhood Dynamo: Uptown Body and Fender, a woman-owned body shop that focuses on the emotional well-being of its customers and hosts community events and fundraisers free to local non-profits at its stunning body shop in Oakland’s Uptown district.

Newbie: Snap Judgment, the new Oakland-based NPR program and multi-media company that offers a new voice in storytelling, showcasing Oakland’s diversity and telling stories that “drop listeners into another person’s skin”.

Youth Empowerment: Oaklandish, the extremely popular design and screen-printing company that celebrates all-things Oakland through its apparel and supports the city’s youth through innovation award grants.

Pillar: Peerless Coffee, the 86-year-old family-owned specialty coffee company that provides specialty blends to some of the Bay Area’s most esteemed restaurants, offers scholarships to Berkeley students, helps develop the communities that grow their coffee, and was one of the first businesses to be certified green by the Alameda County Green Business program.

Innovator: Natural Home Cleaning Professionals, the eco-friendly co-op that provides healthy worker-owner cleaning employment opportunities for immigrant women in Oakland and the Bay Area.

Ripple Effect: BayVAN and Compound Gallery, the arts organizations that founded the nationally-recognized Plaid Friday, the independent business’ answer to Black Friday that encourages people to do their holiday shopping at local indie businesses.

Greenie: Ryan Duke, an independent industrial designer that creatively re-uses reclaimed materials to build essential products to improve lives including refugees in the U.S. and individuals in developing countries.

Oakland Soul: Joyce Gordon Gallery, the downtown-Oakland based commercial fine art gallery that seeks to open doors and share the perspectives of the Bay Area’s diverse artist population, as well as those of international artists.

Please visit http://www.oaklandindieawards.com/ for more information about the winners and for pictures!

In addition to seeing the winners being announced and awarded, party guests sampled food, wine, chocolate and beer from as many as 30 food producers and restaurants, explored a selection of locally-made items from over 50 artists and retailers, and thanks to the generosity of DJ Mama L, listened to music from Oakland musicians, past and present. 

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate with us and we’ll see you at the 5th Annual next year!!

As the holiday season approaches, we all want to show how much we love our family and friends by impressing them with gifts on the top their wish list. Yet, I urge you to resist the temptation of spending outside your means. The easiest way to spend only what you can afford- make a budget and STICK TO IT!

Before you hit the stores plan out what type of gift you would like to get each person on your list. Then comparison shop online for the cheapest options. There are many small businesses in the Bay Area that have amazing deals on locally made products. To view over 160 local stores click here. The more planning you do BEFORE you set out to shop, the more likely you will follow your budget.

Here are a couple tips from nonprofit financial literacy site, www.feedthepig.org:

• Many stores offer one-day or weekend money-saving sales during the month. Plan to shop your favorite stores on these days.
• Don’t be tempted to overspend on last minute purchases. Planning ahead could prevent night-before emergency shopping trips.
• Exchange favors as gifts or make handmade gifts such as baked goods and ornaments. A great online gift-exchange site is www.elfster.com.
• Send e-cards. Savings could be significant depending on the length of your mailing list.
• Pay with cash whenever possible. Interest charges accrued by not paying off your credit bill in January may offset any savings you received.

OneCalifornia Bank was awarded the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) from the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund in Washington, DC.  The maximum amount for the BEA grant this year was $700,000, and the Bank was awarded the full amount.  The bank is honored by this recognition as it further validates the work that OneCalifornia Bank is doing in the areas of lending and community development in the Bay Area.  The grant allows OneCalifornia Bank to continue to lend to those often overlooked by other institutions, such as minority-owned or women-owned small businesses.

The BEA Program, among other things, allows “FDIC-insured banks and thrifts to increase their provisions of loans, such as opening new savings accounts, providing mortgages or investing in local small business.”  The BEA Award reflects growth in specific lending categories that are geared towards community development.

The bank was certified as a Community Development Financial Institution by the national CDFI Fund earlier this year.  Soon after certification, the CDFI fund awarded the bank its first grant in the form of a Technical Assistance (TA) grant for $100,000.  Gaining certification and two awards in less than a year’s time reflects on OneCalifornia Bank’s commitment to community development and its dedication to Oakland and the greater Bay Area.

OneCalifornia Bank continues to be a leading lender to local non-profit organizations with its recent loan to Lighthouse Community Charter School.  This loan, by helping hundreds of Oakland students over the next several years, will have a long-term impact on the community of Oakland.

Founded as a charter school in 2002 with just 92 students in its K-12 school, Lighthouse started out with a goal of preparing a “diverse K-12 student population for college or a career of their choice by equipping each child with the knowledge, skills, and principles to be a self-motivated, lifelong learner.”  Of its current student body of 650, 80% is low-income, 72% is ESL (English as a Second Language), and 90% is from families where no one has gone to college.  But in just seven short years, both the school and its students have come a long way.  Lighthouse Community Charter School is sending all 21 members of its first graduating class–which graduated this past June–off to college in the fall.

As Lighthouse’s student body continued to grow, so did its need for a larger space.  Its K-6 and 7-12 campuses have become too cramped over the past few years.  Moreover, the high rents for these spaces have drained valuable program dollars; Lighthouse is a charter school and a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and charges no tuition, meaning its source of revenue comes from donations. 

Instead of continuing to rent a small place, Lighthouse took on an $11 million renovation of two existing warehouse and office buildings off of Hegenberger Road.  OneCalifornia Bank is providing a $2 million loan to aid Lighthouse Community Charter School in its undertaking.  This loan will help Lighthouse undertake its renovation project, which will provide ample classroom space, as well as science and media labs, art studios, a library, and outdoor recreation space.

On June 10, 2009, Opportunity Fund and Kiva joined forces to bring online micro-lending to the Bay Area. Kiva, founded in 2005, is a person to person micro-lending website through which individuals with PayPal accounts can make small dollar loans to poor entrepreneurs. When Kiva began, the lending was restricted to individuals in developing countries. Opportunity Fund, California’s largest non-profit microlender, has become a local field partner of Kiva and thus can expand its current micro-lending functions to even more individuals. Opportunity Fund is a Bay Area based microfinance company that offers “financial education, microfinance loans, matched savings accounts, and affordable housing financing.” Now, through its partnership with Opportunity Fund, they have begun lending to Bay Area entrepreneurs through Bay Area residents. Through Kiva, individuals can go online and make loans to Bay Area entrepreneurs. Individuals can lend as little as $25 or as much as $1,000 to fellow Bay Area residents and while there is no financial return (other than the principal lent out); the social return can be enormous.

For example, Carl, who lives in the Bay Area, has washed windows for over 20 years to supplement his primary income and make ends meet. During this time, he often had to wake up at 3:00AM in order to work the jobs that allowed him to support his family. His wife has also served as his bookkeeper since day one, so his is a family run business. About five years ago, he decided to go into window washing full time and in June he needed to hire an additional employee and do some advertising. With his $5,000 loan from Opportunity Fund and Kiva, Carl was able to expand and promote his business. Carl’s loan was fully funded on July 17, 2009 and he has already paid 6% of it back. All those who participated in lending to Carl have helped him to support his family and pursue his dream of working for himself.

Kiva has a low 1.65% default rate and is attempting to alleviate poverty through small business funding. Opportunity Fund’s businesses have a high survival rate of 85%. This means that the majority of loans made on Kiva are paid back and the majority of Opportunity Fund’s clients are successful small businesses. Kiva interest rates are reasonable, but higher than those offered with traditional loans because of the high transaction costs involved in this type of lending. Kiva’s field partners, such as Opportunity Fund, take the time to get to know the small businesses that are put on the website to be eligible for loans. Because of this, the recipients of the loan are more apt to pay the funds back because they have cultivated a relationship with Opportunity Fund (or another non-profit micro-lender). To learn more about the relationship between Kiva and Opportunity Fund, click here.

The Financial Planning Association of the East Bay (FPA East Bay) is offering a free financial planning clinic in recognition of financial planning week. The clinic will be held at the Elihu Harris State Building in Oakland on October 3, 2009 from 10:00AM until 4:00PM. California State Controller John Chiang will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers include State Senator Loni Hancock, Assemblymember Sandre Swanson, Mayor Ron Dellums, and even our very own OneCalifornia Bank President and CEO Jeffrey Cheung! If you are interested in attending this event and taking control of your financial future, pre-register by emailing clinicregistration@yahoo.com. For more information on FPA East Bay and its events, click here.

The Just, Alternative, Sustainable Economy Festival will be held from 10:00AM until 4:00PM on September 26 in Humanist Hall in Oakland on 27th Street. This festival will feature a broad array of nonprofits, cooperatives, collectives, volunteers, community-based financial institutions, and more that will be getting together to discuss the new economy. “We are living in scary times. The dominant economy has never served our interests, but now it literally threatens our lives. The creativity that exists within our communities to meet our real, daily needs in very practical ways must be stepped-up. The times call for solidarity, for innovation and for expansion of all our efforts to build a better way of organizing our lives. We must do this ourselves. And with the JASeconomy Festival we believe we can demonstrate what’s possible by showing what has already been accomplished.” Admission is free, so come out and participate in groundbreaking discussions about the new economy! For more informaiton, click here.

Social Capital Conference 2009 will feature 100 speakers addressing the problems that solely profit driven companies have created for our economy. This conference will focus on how having a double or triple bottom line can change America—for the better. “SoCap09 will bring together a unique mix of the world’s top social innovators–investors, donors, entrepreneurs, and thought-leaders, today’s leading catalysts of change from across the globe.” This three day conference will feature “two days of overview plenaries and deep-dive sessions and workshops, followed by a third day of participant-led sessions.” This year’s SoCap Conference will be held at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. To learn more about SoCap 09 and how you can be a part of it, click here.

OneCalifornia Staff

How is a community bank different, anyway?

America’s largest banks can fulfill financial needs for their customers. However, many of these large banks — those deemed “too big to fail” — are often also too big to truly care about the welfare of their customers and the communities in which they sit. Community banks offer a community-conscious alternative.

Ever get charged $80 in fees when you are $5 short on a check?  That’s just one of the hidden ways in which traditional banks often make their money – they process your biggest payment first so that all of your subsequent payments will cause overdrafts and incur fees.  Community banks usually work to avoid these fees for their customers by processing as many payments as they can before you overdraft, and often calling you to let you know you’re about to overdraft before you even do it!  When was the last time a big bank called you to help you save money (especially at their own expense)?  They are also much more transparent about their fees – they tell you what they are instead of hiding them and claiming to have free accounts. Learn more about the fee practices of banks from the California Reinvestment Coalition: http://calreinvest.org/banking-insurance/overdraft-fees

Want to make sure that there are jobs in your community?  Everyone knows that it’s hard for businesses to get loans right now, and it’s especially hard for smaller businesses.  Loans are the lifeblood of many small businesses, and when these dry up, businesses have to start laying off their employees.  Luckily, community banks work hard to make those more difficult loans to smaller businesses, and – by their charter – they make those loans right in the neighborhood. So when you deposit money in a local community bank, you are also contributing to the economic health of your neighborhood.

Community banks do a lot for their clients and communities; but OneCalifornia Bank goes one step further. Because OneCalifornia Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, holds the financial shares of OneCalifornia Bank, all bank profits will be re-invested in local community activities and community development. OneCalifornia Foundation invests in individual and family projects such as financial literacy classes, foreclosure prevention, Acorns to Oaks (a savings matching program for young children),and in small business services such as Oakland Unwrapped, Oakland Business Assistance Center, and the Indie Awards.

Each customer at OneCalifornia not only gets fair and transparent banking services and fees, but also helps to make Oakland and the Bay Area a better place. America’s economic outlook may continue to look bleak, but even in these tough times, community banks throughout the nation are proliferating. According to this article, community banks are “where people come first.” To learn more about the differences between community banks and larger banks, follow this link.