Originally published September 2020 at https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us.
Juan Velasco and his wife Anastasia stand inside their hair salon, Slight Edge, which is a popular go-to for locals in South Oceanside. Courtesy photo.
A few years ago, Juan Velasco and his wife Anastasia took a leap of faith when they bought a struggling hair salon, Slight Edge. They worked hard to turn the tides, and the risk paid off. Today it’s a staple of South Oceanside.
“We took something that wasn’t working and turned it into something positive,” Velasco said. “The community helped us build an anchor here, and we were on a strong upswing.”
But all that came crashing down in early March as COVID-19 shuttered businesses across the nation. For mom-and-pop shops like Slight Edge, the pandemic has put them in peril.
“Looking my staff in the eyes to tell them they no longer have a place to work was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do,” Velasco said. “We’re like a big family, so it was devastating.”
The salon would have been forced to shut down permanently had it not been for a small business grant from the City of Oceanside through the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce. Velasco said the aid has been nothing short of a lifeline.
“We were days away from closing our salon permanently,” Velasco said. “This grant has given us a fighting chance to stay open.”
The grant money is available thanks to emergency aid from the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ( CARES Act). In August, the Oceanside City Council approved a spending plan for the federal funds, which included $100,000 for grants to small businesses and a promise of more aid to come.
“Our local businesses have been hit hard by this pandemic with regard to closures and modifications to their operations,” said Scott Ashton, CEO of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, which has been administering grants for local eligible businesses.
According to Ashton, the majority of applications received by the Chamber have been from restaurants, salons, barber shops, health care professionals and other personal service businesses. More than half of those applicants reported a revenue decline of at least 50 percent when comparing the first half of 2019 to the same period in 2020.
MainStreet Oceanside has also been administering the grants, focusing solely on helping downtown Oceanside businesses-such as Northern Pine Brewing, a craft beer brewery and taproom that was fast becoming a local favorite before COVID-19 hit.
“We went from regularly selling out of beer, to being completely shut down for months,” said co-owner Anne Ortega, who launched the brewery with her husband Aaron and business partner Bobby Parsons in 2017.
After moving here from Idaho, Ortega said Oceanside was the perfect place to realize their dream of brewing craft beer.
“Downtown Oceanside has always felt like home to us,” she said. “The people here are so downright friendly. Even though this is a confusing and scary time, the community has rallied around us. We’ve never felt closer to our community.”
That silver lining gets at the heart of why small businesses are such a critical piece of Oceanside. Aside from driving revenue, they collectively give Oceanside its distinct draw.
“MainStreet Oceanside has worked hard over the years to create a downtown that would be an attractive destination for residents and visitors alike. Our downtown businesses have played a large part in this effort,” said Rick Wright, the Executive Director of MainStreet Oceanside.
Aaron Ortega and his wife Anne turned their love of home brewing into a booming craft beer business, Northern Pine Brewing, in downtown Oceanside. Courtesy photo.
Ortega said the grant has “meant the world” to her and husband, who are also Oceanside residents.
“We’ve talked to business owners in other cities, and the support is not there to the same level, so we’re incredibly thankful to be here in Oceanside,” she said.
The City of Oceanside also has a COVID-19 Small Business Loan Program. For other resources and Oceanside-specific COVID-19 information, please visit the City’s COVID-19 webpage. For information on temporary relaxed business regulations, please visit the City’s Planning webpage.