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UCR Extension offers free business-stability services to Riverside County firms; Coachella to help with outreach
Summary
UC Riverside Extension outlined a grant-funded Business Stability and Retention Program that provides free assessments, consulting and training to Riverside County businesses with 10+ employees; applications of interest are due June 15 and the current contract cycle funds five businesses.
UC Riverside University Extension presented a new, grant-funded Business Stability and Retention Program to the Coachella City Economic Development Planning Subcommittee on April 2, offering free consulting, tailored action plans and workforce training to help Riverside County businesses avoid layoffs.
Daisy Iniguez, corporate education and custom programs manager at UCR Extension, told the committee the program targets existing businesses in Riverside County with 10 or more employees and is designed for “layoff aversion support for County of Riverside businesses.” She said services include business assessments, strategic action plans, workforce development and individualized consulting across topics such as project management, marketing, AI, leadership, human resources and accounting.
“In this contract cycle,” Iniguez said, “there’s five businesses that can take advantage of this opportunity,” and she added that additional funding opportunities could appear after the current contract ends. She also clarified the program offers no direct financial grants to participating firms; instead, services and consulting are provided at no cost to qualifying businesses through a county-funded grant.
Committee members asked whether the program assists current employees or only new hires; Iniguez said it serves existing businesses that are at risk of layoffs. The presenter also said the program’s June 15 timeline is an expression-of-interest deadline rather than a full application and that language needs (for example, Spanish workshops) would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Mary Rodriguez, the city’s grants manager, introduced the presentation and Iniguez said she shared outreach materials with city staff for distribution. Chair Delgado and other members encouraged staff to identify and refer Coachella firms that meet the 10-employee threshold and to post the flyer and program details on city channels.
Next steps: staff will circulate the UCR Extension flyer provided by Iniguez, identify potential qualifying businesses in Coachella and refer them to the UCR Extension contact information provided.
