Online Resources to answer you business questions:

General Fortuna information:

SunnyFortuna.com — contains information on the City of Fortuna & Chamber of Commerce along with photo galleries, web cameras and historical data.

DiscovertheRedwoods.com — Fortuna Chamber of Commerce's tourism web site, information on events, activities and attractions

ncwx.com — Northcoast weather online. Run by sunnyfortuna.com's Hans Koster

redwoods.info — the web site of the Humboldt County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, information on tourism, lodging and restaurants in Humboldt County. Invaluable event calendar for the county.



Business reference sites:

northcoastsbdc.org — North Coast Small Business Development Center's site. Listing of the organizations classes, counseling and other offerings for existing and start-up businesses.

northcoastsbdc.org — a list (PDF) developed by SBDC and FBID for starting a business in Fortuna

CA Board of Equalization — for state sales tax questions, getting a sellers permit and other info.

CA State Taxes

irs.gov — Fed Taxes, self employment taxes, income tax questions, knowing the difference between independent contractors and employees and more.

edd.ca.gov — employment Issues, CA EDD

calgold.ca.gov — guide to business permits in California

bizstats.com — Want to know national benchmarks for your business with your gross sales? How does your business' per square foot sales match the national retailers? This and a lot of other useful stats.

sba.gov — the Federal Small Business Administration. Invaluable resources on training, planning your business, funding sources and more. A big site that takes some time to learn how to navigate.

sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html — the Small Business Administration's business plan primer. A really good starting point for any business' plan.

co.humboldt.ca.us/health/envhealth/ — Humboldt County Environmental Health Dept; the County department responsible for issuing permits and enforcing regulations on business and restaurant health issues. Not much on their site having to do with food safety, permits or business needs, but does have contact info.

rredc.com — Redwood Region Economic Development Commission - One of two intermediary SBA lenders in Humboldt County. Also administers other funding sources like the Headwaters loan funds. A "gap" funding lender that makes loans to businesses with economic development potential that cannot get all their needed funding through traditional lenders.

aedc1.org/pages/about.html — AEDC Arcata Economic Development Corporation. Despite their name, AEDC lends to businesses in Humboldt County and five other northern counties. Another SBA intermediary lender.


Business Community reference Sites:

Mainstreet.org — National Mainstreet Center. FBID uses many of the principals developed by Mainstreet, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Excellent information for businesses interested in working as a group to revitalize their shopping and business area, great book list, training possibilities and more.

californiadowntown.com/ — California Downtown Association. An organization of (mostly) California business improvement districts. Great information on how BID's work and training avail bale for businesses and BID Boards.