Wells Fargo Donates $15,000 to Help San Mateo County Entrepreneurs

The funding will establish a speaker series and financial education services at the Cañada College Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Wells Fargo has donated $15,000 to the Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunities at Cañada College to establish a speaker and workshop series and other activities designed to help budding entrepreneurs in San Mateo County.

“Small business is the lifeblood of our economy,” said Kay O’Neill, Director of Workforce Development at Cañada. “This generous donation will help us expand our existing CEO services and help us meet the increasing demand from small businesses in the county.”



In addition to the speaker and workshop series, the college will use a portion of the donation to develop a lab space where entrepreneurs can incubate start-up enterprises and meet with business advisers. The money will also be used to pay for consulting services that help business owners in a number of areas including legal, financial, accounting, marketing, and developing a business plan.

Greg Young, Community Development Officer, West Region Community Relations in the Peninsula Market for Wells Fargo, said the company is proud to support the Cañada CEO. “We are delighted to partner with this program and provide the critical support needed to help our next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Since the launch of the CEO in January, Cañada has dedicated faculty and administrative resources to support the development of new start-ups and to assist existing businesses grow and thrive. The CEO has had a direct impact on more than 200 business owners.

“We are eager to partner with Wells Fargo to develop a speaker and workshop series and offer educational services to our diverse student body and business community,” O’Neill said.

The first event in the speaker and workshop series is scheduled for late February. The CEO is partnering with Merrill Lynch to create a half-day financial education seminar to help entrepreneurs understand budgeting, saving, retirement, and estate planning.

Catherine Fraser, a former small business owner is the CEO Program Director. “My role at the CEO is to reach out to the business community and to our entrepreneurial-minded students and assist them with their small business endeavors. I help with coaching, networking, educational activities and more.”

“Wells Fargo is an ideal partner to extend our reach into the local business community,” O’Neill said. “We are poised to connect the resources of the CEO to other programs such as the mobile application program currently funded by the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board. “We want to help high-tech entrepreneurs learn how to position their apps in the market and make a profit. We are also building a program with our Multi Media students to help translate the skills they learn in the classroom into the marketplace.”