Gurbax Sahota, President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED), has been appointed to the 2022 California Entrepreneurship & Economic Mobility Task Force. Tara Lynn Gray, Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), which is part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), announced the appointment this week. The 34-member Task Force’s mission is to propel inclusive entrepreneurship by recommending policies and programs to ensure that all California small businesses have access to the resources they need to grow and scale. 

“I’m honored to be invited to participate in this important effort and grateful to Director Gray, CalOSBA and GO-Biz for providing this opportunity to share experience and practical tips from economic development professionals engaged in this work,” said Ms. Sahota. “California has a rich history of implementing entrepreneurship programs as part of state and local economic development strategies.”

Sahota has led CALED, California’s largest economic development association, for the past 10 years. CALED’s 750+ members include economic development practitioners in cities and counties, nonprofit organizations with an economic development focus such as economic development corporations and chambers of commerce, business councils and alliances, economic development consultants, educational institutions and other key stakeholders.

“The California Entrepreneurship & Economic Mobility Task Force members bring diverse perspectives and valuable expertise to the table in addressing how best to help entrepreneurs take their business concepts from an idea to becoming a thriving business in the Golden State,” added Sahota. “California creates businesses – it’s what we do, and this is a great opportunity to use that expertise to assist our residents with economic mobility. I am very pleased that CalOSBA is giving CALED’s membership a voice in this process as the Task Force works on effective strategies to drive economic mobility through entrepreneurship, support equitable access to capital, and diversify the innovation economy.”

Since its creation in 1980, CALED has led the way in teaching economic developers, local elected officials and state representatives the value of economic development and how it is used to grow businesses, generate revenue to expand the local economy and pay for the services that residents require.

“I look forward to sharing with the Task Force — and our state policy-makers — practical examples that demonstrate how local economic development professionals are using entrepreneurship, innovation and other tools to strengthen local economies and provide business ownership as a viable path for economic mobility,” said Sahota. “We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this Task Force and its important work to help build strong, thriving communities through intentional economic development.”

For more about CALED, visit caled.org.

About CALED

The California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) is California’s premier economic development association and one of the largest economic development associations in the nation. CALED’s 700+ members include economic development managers and staff in local government agencies at the county and city levels, local economic development corporations, nonprofit organizations with an economic development focus, local chambers of commerce, business councils and alliances, economic development consultants, educational institutions and key stakeholders. Since its creation in 1980, CALED has led the way in teaching economic developers, local elected officials and state representatives the value of economic development and how it is used to grow businesses, generate revenue to expand the local economy, and pay for the services that residents require. For more information, visit caled.org.