California''s Advocate

In late May, Marty Keller, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's small-business advocate, toured California to educate small-business people on what kinds of resources the state government might offer them. During his trip, he hosted roundtable discussions with entertainment company officials to share information.

"Hollywood certainly has its specific needs, but at the same time, there are certain things that are generically true for all small businesses, and one of those is how to find capital," he told millimeter in May, during a break from a roundtable at Renegade Animation in Glendale. "There is no question that the entertainment business is a key part of the California economy. What many people in that business don't know is that in California, a small business is defined as 100 employees or fewer, averaging $12 million or less in annual sales over the preceding three years. The startling statistic is that 98 percent of all firms in California meet that definition, including many entertainment companies. Helping them is essential to the [state] economy."

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Keller talked to industry representatives about a host of issues, including specific California funding and training programs, as well as how small-business people in that state can stay informed about how federal stimulus money is being distributed in California. He urges small-business people in California to use the state website, www.recovery.ca.gov, to monitor the availability and distribution of those funds, and he encourages industry professionals to monitor his own Business Advocacy website, www.sba.ca.gov.

But perhaps the most compelling point Keller made is that the entertainment industry has no organized, powerful lobbying effort in Sacramento, other state capitals, or in Washington, D.C. He says that now might be the time to launch such an effort.

"There are many important but fractured organizations in Hollywood, but there is no one organization that represents the entire industry," he says. "The groups go and fight on their own, but they don't join forces and fight together. There is no one, clear voice on that, and maybe there should be."

Watch forums.millimeter.com/forumdisplay.php?f=291 for more information on the California Small Business Advocate's office and its effort to spread information to the entertainment community.