Oakland’s independent small businesses — local bars, restaurants, salons, bookstores, and meeting places — are negotiating layoffs, evictions, and permanent closures as a result of the ongoing pandemic. The newly launched #KeepItOakland Fund, administered in partnership by Oakland Indie Alliance (OIA) and Working Solutions will distribute non-dilutive grants of up to $10k to Oakland’s independent small businesses facing hardship, with the goal of preserving the Town’s vibrant culture. “Oakland’s independent small business community is resilient. We are creative. When storefronts are damaged at political demonstrations, Oakland’s small businesses stand with the community. When visitors from all over the world tour The Town, they taste our food, touch our local goods, and dance at our local venues,” says OIA’s executive director, Ari Takata-Vasquez. “We’re the indie business owners, makers, and high road employers that make Oakland so special.” Notably, small businesses employ over half of the local working population. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated economic and racial inequalities we already knew existed. Many of our businesses are ineligible or unable to access federal funding. Historically undercapitalized businesses — those owned by immigrants, Black and Indigenous people, people of color, women — have been severely left behind in recovery efforts,” notes OIA volunteer Jasmine Rashid. Grantees will reflect Oakland’s demographics and diverse neighborhoods, and Oakland based-businesses that have less than 100 employees, owners that reside in the Bay Area, and a business model that adds positive value to community health is encouraged to apply to the #KeepItOaklandFund.

“Data suggests that more than 40% of small businesses may close before this pandemic is over. Our smallest businesses, particularly those owned by people of color and first generation Americans, have the hardest time accessing traditional forms of capital,” says Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “So today the work of the Oakland Indie Alliance is more critical than ever, as they help our independent businesses both weather – and recover – from COVID-19, and provide much needed funding and assistance.”