REEDLEY – Staying true to its word, the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) at Fresno Pacific University returned to Reedley to host a financial literacy workshop for small business owners.
In collaboration with the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce, the CCT invited specialists from Access Plus Capital to Reedley on Jan. 27 to provide community members with an overview of how to manage their business finances. Whether individuals were interested in starting their own business or already had one, the workshop offered a chance to connect with free resources and expand their financial knowledge base.
To start off the workshop, Access Plus Capital Chief of Operations Pamela Mostert asked those in attendance to think about how, if they wanted to build their own home, they likely wouldn’t do it all by themselves, even if they had all the knowledge they needed.
“Yet, small business owners do it all the time,” Mostert said. “They take on that challenge all by themselves. (You) may make the best tacos in Reedley, but do you understand bookkeeping or record keeping and how to hire employees, how to do payroll taxes? But yet, business owners struggle and do it all by themselves.”
Mostert said the greatest thing that day was that everyone was gathered to learn about the free resources available to them and meet people there to help take them on their business journey so they don’t have to go through it alone.
The idea to offer a financial literacy workshop came out of a small business roundtable hosted by the CCT at the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Global Center in Reedley in December 2024. There, local business owners gathered to reflect on the resources available to them in the area and discuss what they need to be successful.
One topic that came up at the roundtable was financial literacy and that many individuals interested in starting a small business have no foundational knowledge of bookkeeping, taxes, financial planning and so on.
Access Plus Capital is a small business loan fund created by the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (Fresno EOC) in 2008 to provide lending services to low- and moderate-income communities, according to its website. Originally called the Fresno Community Development Financial Institution, the organization rebranded to Access Plus Capital in 2017.
As a small business loan fund, Access Plus Capital offers a variety of loans, including nano-loans, micro-loans, enterprise loans and startup loans. It also has programs available to the public, including its “Ready, Set, Launch” 10-week accelerator program to help entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses.
The organization brought along Mostert, Business Services Specialist Buffie Norby and Financial Literacy Specialist Deborah Davis to provide their expertise to the Reedley workshop. Nearly two dozen people joined in on the workshop and, in addition to hearing from the specialists at Access Plus Capital, shared their own experiences and suggestions for managing their finances.
Norby said that the basis of financial management is understanding the documents that create a business’s finances. The goal of financial literacy is to help a business owner make good decisions on where their business is at and how to get to the next level financially, Norby said.
“When you understand the financial documents, you’re going to understand every step it takes to be able to grow your business, and then also know at the end if you actually need to look into getting capital to be able to expand,” Norby said.
Topics discussed included the four financial documents all business owners need to know — cash flow statements, profit and loss statements, balance sheets and ownership equity — and how to build and follow a budget.
Anyone interested in connecting with Access Plus Capital to utilize their financial literacy resources can fill out a form on the “business services” section of the organization’s website, or keep an eye on their events calendar for future workshops.
Continuing its efforts to bring its entrepreneurial resources to rural communities beyond Fresno, the next CCT community roundtable will be held in Sanger at 4 p.m. on Feb. 19. The roundtable is free to attend, and those interested can register for it on the CCT’s website. Registration is not required to attend.
