Rancho Santiago Community College District and OC Market Place Team Up to Help Orange County Small Business Owners

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are invited to learn about new program at informational meeting on January 20. ©iStockphoto.com

In December, the national unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, down from the previous month’s 9.8 percent. With 15.1 million unemployed individuals nationwide and limited employment opportunities, many people are launching their own small businesses. According to research by the U.S. Small Business Administration, only two-thirds of all small business startups survive the first two years and less than half of them last four years.

“What we hear from many of our small business clients is that they struggle to find customers so necessary for their success,” said Enrique Perez, Rancho Santiago Community College District’s assistant vice chancellor of educational services. “For many new businesses, opening a storefront is not feasible, but access to new customers will make or break an enterprise.”

Thanks to a partnership forged by Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) and the Orange County Market Place (OCMP), small businesses and entrepreneurs will be offered access to 25,000 potential new customers every weekend. RSCCD is hosting a free informational meeting to introduce the new program on Thursday, January 20, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the RSCCD District Offices Board Room, located at 2323 N. Broadway in Santa Ana. Registration for this event will begin at 1:30 p.m.

The program is tailor-made for businesses that offer products and services that are commonly used and have a reasonable gross profit margin. The OCMP offers face-to-face sales and marketing opportunities, as well as the opportunity to test market new products. The launch program includes:

• A range of pricing options for vendor space at the OCMP.
• Operational support, including set-up and tear-down assistance, premium locations, booth design, and more.
• Business workshops providing practical tips to guide small businesses to success, and one-on-one confidential business consulting offered at no charge by the Orange County Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Business & Entrepreneurship Center—economic development programs of RSCCD.
• Each participating new company referred to the OCMP through the RSCCD program, will receive a $1,000 scholarship in the form of a credit towards the company’s first months space rent. 

Interested individuals are encouraged to register by contacting Martha Payan Hernandez at (714) 564-5218 or e-mail payan_martha@rsccd.edu.

Digital Media Center Incubator Adds New Resident Business

The Digital Media Center is helping launch new ideas and grow the economy.

Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Digital Media Center (DMC) Business Incubator has announced one new resident company at its Santa Ana facility. The new resident is Wildflower Technologies, Inc., making smart electronic modules that are easy to use for non-technical designers. These components can be readily integrated into everyday products and venues, including cakes, furniture, artwork, interactive displays, theaters, homes, and more. With its addition, the DMC Business Incubator is at capacity with nine resident digital media companies.

“Our company’s name stems from the idea that when anyone looks at a flower, they see something that is very pretty, but flowers are actually highly functional. And this is what we aim to do, to help people create beautiful things that are also functional and sophisticated,” said Mark Merlo, president of Wildflower Technologies.

Merlo, who is working on his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine, (UCI), describes his emerging technology company as a spinoff from UCI.  In fact, the four partners in the enterprise have all been colleagues at UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

“Our team includes experts in embedded electronics, microsensors, microdevices, wireless networks, and software development with years of experience integrating technology into non-technical projects,” said Merlo.

The applications for Wildflower Technologies’ smart modules are countless. For example, the company’s smart modules will assist a Los Angeles-based artist in creating a puppet show. By simply connecting a smart module to the puppets, the smart module can control the opening and closing of the puppets’ mouths to the tune of “Happy Birthday.” The smart modules will allow artists with no technical background to create works that are responsive and interactive to environmental stimuli, such as sound, temperature, motion, and light.  

According to Merlo, the DMC is a perfect location for their emerging company. “Artists and designers come here every day,” he said. “The location, facilities, and lower rent are all great, as well as access to creative people.”

Uniquely hosted by a community college district, the DMC affords businesses a close connection with the Santa Ana College’s educational programs in digital media arts, television and video, business, and digital music. In addition to Wildflower Technologies, the DMC Business Incubator includes Abroadcasting, CouponEx, DesiYou, Just Enjoy, MelRoK Corporation, Nuvolo, Reazon Systems, and Topgallant Power & Locomotion.

For more information about the DMC Business Incubator, call (714) 241-5836 or visit www.dmc-works.com.

Digital Media Center Business Incubator Adds Four New Residents

The Digital Media Center Business Incubator is now full.

Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Digital Media Center
(DMC) Business Incubator has added four new residents. The new emerging digital media businesses are JUST ENJOY, LLC, developer of an award-winning new mobile application for the hospitality industry, and Nuvolo, LLC, developer of full-service digital signage solutions. There are now nine digital media companies housed at the DMC.

In addition, two companies offering financial services to the business community have joined the DMC Business Incubator family. They are ProFormance Capital, Inc., a hybrid venture capital investment bank, and Private Capital Network (PCN), an angel investor association.

According to JUST ENJOY President and Co-founder Juan Guevara, their patent-pending mobile phone application opens the door to social dining. “The DMC offers the benefits of a business incubator without the drawbacks,” said Guevara.

Nuvolo President Calvin Chan is enthusiastic about the company’s move to the DMC. As with JUST ENJOY, Chan was looking to interact with other entrepreneurs. Nuvolo’s core business is helping businesses promote themselves via streaming video over LCD monitors in large retailers and trade shows.

According to Executive Director and Founder Doug Pennington, PCN is Southern California’s fastest growing angel investor group. “We invest in early stage companies with a proven track record and product, existing customers and a need for capital to fund expansion,” he said. PCN plans on offering monthly talks, webinars, and boot camps at the DMC.

Likewise, ProFormance CEO Brian Jue said that he has set up shop at the DMC to assist the companies there with the funding process. “We want to make sure that they understand the different kinds of funding available to entrepreneurs,” he said. Beginning in January, ProFormance plans on offering weekend boot camps at the DMC.

The DMC Business Incubator, an economic development program of Rancho Santiago Community College District, is a dynamic workspace for emerging digital media companies offering a full range of amenities and business support services.

“Thanks to the overwhelming interest in the DMC Business Incubator, we have reached capacity,” said Gustavo Chamorro, DMC director. “In early 2010, we will unveil a new affiliate program for emerging digital media companies.”

For more information, call (714) 241-5836 or visit www.dmc-works.com.