Come shop local at Feria Urbana in Temescal at the outdoor area of Pizzaiolo on July 11th and every Second Saturday until October (August 8th, September 12th, and October 10th) from 10:00AM until 3:00PM!  Clothing, jewelry, home accessories, ceramics, fashion accessories, baby items, and more will be available at this special community event.  Feria Urbana will occur every second Saturday of the month until October at the same location. For more information, click here.

Pacific Renaissance Plaza-the location of choice for Oakland Chinatown's new night markets!

Oakland Chinatown is hosting it’s very own night market Saturday nights thru July 25. There will be live cooking demonstrations, food sampling, cultural performances, live entertainment, and much more. The event takes place from 4:00PM until 9:00Pm every Saturday in the courtyard of the Pacific Renaissance Plaza where the OACC is located. Come out and support Chinatown during this first year of night markets! For more information, click here.

Come see exhibits such as this fiery snake at the Fire Arts Festival!

Come join us at this celebration of creativity expressed through fire and art held by the crucible at their new Fire Arts Arena off of West Grand Avenue! This year’s festival will be held on July 15-18 from 8:00PM until 11:59PM. For more information, click here.

Dr. C Diane Howell, former producer of the Oakland Black Expo

This year’s Black Expo will be held at the Oakland Convention Center on July 18-19. There will be a job fair, live entertainment, and college information available at this festival. For more information, click here.

Come taste wine from 15 local wineries at the 4th annual Urban Wine Experience. The event will be held from 2:00PM until 5:00PM on August 8, location TBD. There will also be regional foods and live entertainment! For more information, click here.

Discover new artists and explore the fascinating studios of some of the over 400 artists who open their doors to the public again this weekend.   June 13-14 from 11am - 6pm. The artists welcome guests with food, wine, and sometimes even demonstrations of their processes. Pro Arts Gallery coordinates this fabulous annual event, offering bus tours, galas and a fabulous directory with photos and maps that allow you to take yourself on a self-guided tour. Get the directory at locations throughout the East Bay or download and go. Info available on the Pro Arts website.

Come join us at the 4th Annual Ignite! New Business Expo on Thursday, June 25 from 11am to 3pm at Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.  See lots of inspiring new local entrepreneurs showing off their products and services, and meet other local business supporters!

It’s free and open to the public.  Details here.

Hope to see you there!

The mainstream media might be reporting about how banks are no longer lending to small businesses the way they used to, but clearly they haven’t stopped by OneCalifornia Bank.  Linda Russell, owner of Mugshots School Photography, just received a $300,00 small business loan from OneCalifornia Bank.  You can read her story about the loan process on her blog.  And see the news release posted below from the U.S. Small Business Administration, reporting on a recent client of OneCalifornia Bank and her success story:

Once A Homeless Mom, This Entrepreneur is Highlighting Recovery Act Successes

Oakland, CA - San Francisco SBA District Director Mark Quinn and Linda Russell, owner of Mugshots School Photography, hosted a press conference June 3 at One California Bank in Oakland to highlight how small businesses are taking advantage of the changes SBA made to its loan programs as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The SBA provisions in the Recovery Act were designed not only to help small businesses keep the doors open, but also to help them grow and create jobs. The Recovery Act programs are now reaching the small businesses and beginning to have an impact, helping them retain and create tens of thousands of jobs nationwide.

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The Bar at Awaken Cafe

For OneCalifornia Foundation, all nominees, finalists, and winners at the Indie Awards are winners because their work ties into the work of the foundation: helping to create this vibrant, diverse, and thriving community that is Oakland! We love the work these businesses and artists do, and think it’s great when it just so happens that their work intertwines with ours! This year, the winner of the Greenie Award was Awaken Café–who, besides brewing a mean latte, serving tasty organic treats, and supporting local musicians and artists, sells their coffee and so much more on our online marketplace, Oakland Unwrapped!

Awaken Café opened its doors last year, but it took lots of hard work and conscious community investigating to bring this community-oriented and eco-conscious café to fruition. (more…)

Greenie Award Winners from 2008 and 2009 with OneCalifornia Foundation's Andrea Walker

On May 15th, Oaklanders and Oakland supporters from all over turned out for OneCalifornia Foundation’s 3rd Annual Oakland Indie Awards, celebrating Oakland’s innovative, socially- and environmentally-responsible businesses and artists. The evening was full of Oakland food, drinks, goods, artists, authors, and music, exhibiting all that Oakland has to offer. And, of course, there were the awards themselves!

Inside the Crucible, an industrial arts training center with a warehouse that can be transformed from classrooms to party central over the course of a few hours, local Oakland businesses and restaurateurs set out samples of their wares and tastes of their food and drink for attendees. (more…)