Staff from the Economic and Workforce Development Department are available for appointments at five Oakland libraries this fall. The initiative aims to make it easier for businesses to access city services.
Author Archives: Ricky Rodas
Ricky Rodas is a member of the 2020 graduating class of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Before joining The Oaklandside, he spent two years reporting on immigrant communities in the Bay Area as a reporter for the local news sites Oakland North, Mission Local, and Richmond Confidential. Rodas, who is Salvadoran American and bilingual, is on The Oaklandside team through a partnership with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.
Posted inBusiness
Business improvement districts are all over Oakland, but what are they?
BIDs are an important part of the city’s economic life and often come up in our reporting, so we wrote this explainer.
Posted inBusiness
Oakland’s first city-permitted cannabis fest is happening this Labor Day weekend
Market Daze will take place over three days at Frank Ogawa Plaza in conjunction with Hiero Day.
Posted inArts & Community
East Bay Afghan residents process grief amid rush to resettle refugees
In addition to transportation, immigration, and housing, mental health services are needed by many fleeing the Taliban.
Posted inArts & Community
‘Couldn’t have happened anywhere else’: Chopmaster J reflects on Digital Underground’s Oakland roots
In anticipation of Digital Underground Day, Jimi Dright, Jr. talks about the group’s beginnings, Shock G, and what’s next.
Posted inBusiness
Oakland is hosting free workshops to help small businesses apply for federal relief money
A new round of federal COVID-relief grants—up to $15,000—is available for small businesses in low-income areas. Here’s how to see if you qualify.
Posted inArts & Community
A business improvement district is in the works for Oakland Chinatown
The district would raise money for neighborhood improvements and security, but not everyone is sure it’s needed.
Posted inArts & Community
‘Stop watcha doin!’ Oakland might declare a Digital Underground Day
The city plans to honor the late Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs, founding member of Oakland-based hip-hop group Digital Underground, with an official day.
Posted inArts & Community
‘Retired from the waterfront, but not from the struggle’: Clarence Thomas’ new book on port labor activism
“Mobilizing in Our Own Name: Million Worker March” sums up decades of longshore worker organizing in Oakland and beyond.
Posted inBusiness
Small businesses in Oakland’s low-income communities are eligible for up to $15,000 in federal COVID relief money
Although the money is available through a federal loan program, recipients will not be required to repay either of the two advances they receive.
Posted inBusiness
Scarred but resilient: Telegraph Avenue emerges from the pandemic
Lines around the block for cupcakes and a boom year for a flower shop, but a shoe shop for the stars is calling it quits, one of several COVID-19 casualties.
Posted inBusiness
‘We’re back to being people’: The first night without masks at Oakland’s bars
We captured the scene on Tuesday night at six bars, from East Oakland to downtown.
Posted inBusiness
Hella Plants Market gives budding plant entrepreneurs a space to grow
The pop-up event this Sunday will feature plants and plant-based products from Oakland vendors.
Posted inBusiness
City Council looks to extend Flex Streets, its emergency program for Oakland businesses
The initiative, which led to more parklets, street closures, and outdoor markets during the pandemic, will likely be extended through next spring.
Posted inBusiness
A new Oakland-based incubator helps small businesses step up their game
The Port Product Lab is a free program focused on helping business owners improve their products.
Posted inBusiness
Oakland biz owners can still apply for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund
The fund, signed into law by President Biden, will provide billions in relief to qualifying business owners. The application deadline is Monday, May 24.
Posted inArts & Community
Oakland’s Black Liberation Walking Tour will use oral history to root a community in place
Tour organizers hope to prevent further gentrification and build support for a new library in Oakland’s Hoover-Foster neighborhood.
Posted inBusiness
Chef Reign Free launches the Black Culinary Collective to support Oakland entrepreneurs
The owner of Red Door Catering will be sharing a 5,000 square foot commercial kitchen in West Oakland with other Black-owned food businesses.
Posted inBusiness
Trader Joe’s reduces ‘thank you’ pay for some Oakland employees
Oakland’s grocery worker hazard pay law doesn’t cover TJ’s Lakeshore location, but Rockridge workers will keep an extra $5 per hour.
Posted inBusiness
Low-wage workers in Oakland and across the state say they feel unsafe at their job
A survey of Asian and Latinx food-service and domestic workers found a high number were exposed to unsafe workplaces.