Cal State San Bernardino has been awarded three separate grants, totaling $75,000, from Wells Fargo. Each grant, worth $25,000, is being used to support a variety of university programs, including the Veterans Success Center, Coyote First STEP, the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center (IESBDC) and the Women’s Business Center (WBC).
 
“Wells Fargo continues to be a strategic philanthropic partner to CSUSB,” said Annya Dixon, senior director of corporate and foundation relations. “The company’s support of Coyote First STEP and now the Veterans Success Center is a wonderful opportunity for our students’ educational growth and development. Wells Fargo’s longtime support of programs in Jack H. Brown College’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship has also made significant impacts for students and professionals in the areas of business and entrepreneurship.”
 
The first $25,000 grant supports two educational components: Coyote First STEP (Student Transition Enrichment Program), and the Veterans Success Center’s Financial Literacy program and STARS (Skills, Time management, Academic success, Responsibility and Self-discovery) seminar.
 
For Coyote First STEP, a summer early entry program for incoming students to increase academic success in mathematics, the grant will be used to offer five full program/six-week scholarships totaling $7,500, 10 partial/four-week scholarships totaling $7,500, and $1,150 in reserve for individual emergency housing/food/transportation for a student in need. A minimum of 15 students will be given scholarship assistance.
 
The remaining amount of the first $25,000 grant supports the Financial Literacy and STARS programs at the Veterans Success Center. The Financial Literacy component was recently launched to offer courses that prepare students to manage debt, create a budget, plan for long-term purchases, and understand financial tools and resources. The grant is being used for a student intern who serves as a case manager for the attendees of the Financial Literacy workshops, assisting them with maintaining confidence about progress toward their degree, financial prospects, financial goals and employment options upon graduation.
 
The Veterans Success Center’s STARS seminar series, launched in 2013, provides students with information about academic success, teaches them interpersonal skills, and offers open discussions on various topics, such as stress management and basic research methods. The grant supports nine STARS seminars throughout the 2019-20 academic year and also includes hospitality services and equipment rentals.
 
The second $25,000 grant was made to the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center, a program under the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship. The IESBDC provides technical assistance to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs, including no cost, extensive, one-on-one, long-term professional business advising, low-cost training and other specialized services.
 
The grant is being used to support minority and veteran business assistance. It also supports business workshops, such as How to Start a Small Business, and a variety of other business consulting options and trainings related to planning and marketing.
 
The Women’s Business Center, also a program under the Jack H. Brown College’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship, received the third $25,000 grant to support the programs and trainings at both the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley WBC, such as Writing a Winning Business Plan and Vendor Pop-Up: Creating A Unique Experience for Your Customers.  
 
The WBC program promotes the growth of women-owned businesses through mentoring, business training and business counseling services, and assists women business owners with management issues, business startup, gaining access to capital, federal contracts and more.
 
Visit the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship website for more information about the Women’s Business Center and the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center.
 
Visit the Coyote First STEP website to learn more about the program.
 
Visit the Veterans Success Center website for more information about its programs.