Governor Newsom proclaims Small Business Month

PROCLAMATION

California’s more than 4.3 million small businesses – the most of any state – embody our state’s entrepreneurial spirit. Small businesses and entrepreneurs accelerate economic growth and mobility, building generational wealth, solving global problems with innovation, launching future industries, and supporting local communities.
 
Our small businesses, spanning high-tech to agriculture, employ more than 7.6 million people, and our manufacturing firms supply the world with goods including aerospace, computers, and zero-emission vehicles. California leads the nation in business startups, and our businesses received 62% of all U.S. venture capital funding last year. California businesses produce more patents per capita and invest in more research and development than any other state in the nation.
 
As part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the California Office of the Small Business Advocate and the Infrastructure Bank and Economic Development (IBank) support small businesses at every stage and across industries. Accelerate California directly invests in innovation-based businesses and has supported over 29,000 start-ups. The SCALE (Success, Capital Access, and Leadership for Entrepreneurs) program is the most robust small business support network in the country and connects underrepresented entrepreneurs and small business owners to capital, mentorship, and other tools that support competitiveness and resilience. Since its launch seven years ago, SCALE has helped create more than 105,000 jobs, supported the launch of 17,653 new businesses and helped deploy more than $4.1 billion in equity capital. IBank’s Small Business Finance Center features a loan guarantee program that addresses capital access barriers and encourages lenders to provide funds to small businesses to help them grow and prosper – over 480,000 jobs have been created or retained because of this financing. IBank’s Expanding Venture Capital Access program is designed to create a more inclusive venture capital ecosystem, including dedicating more than $250 million to underserved entrepreneurs and business owners.
 
California’s economy – the fourth-largest in the world – is not confined to our borders. Our small businesses export $70.1 billion annually, accounting for more than 40 percent of the state’s total exports. For our economy to maintain its strength, we must ensure that all Californians – no matter who they are or where they come from – can pursue their dreams to start, manage, and grow resilient businesses in this state.
 
This month, we recognize the many contributions of our small businesses, as well as the importance of our ongoing work to support their success and make the California Dream accessible to all.
 
NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 2026, as “Small Business Month.”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 14^th day of May 2026.

GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California

ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State