Opportunity Center of the Coastside (OCC)

OCCOpportunity Center of the Coastside

 The Opportunity Center of the Coastside (“OCC”) is a new program and service center intended to serve the broader Coastside and located in Downtown Half Moon Bay. It will serve job seekers, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and visitors to the Coast.

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center transforms lives and communities through entrepreneurship. Our mission is to empower and increase the entrepreneurial capacities of socially and economically diverse individuals and thereby strengthen our communities through the creation of sustainable new businesses, new jobs, and financial self-sufficiency.

Here is a list of the programs that Renaissance provides (all programs and services are offered in English and Spanish for free or low cost):

  • Small Business intensive training classes
  • Programs for women
  • Customized one-on-one business guidance
  • Empowering financial growth
  • Access to markets
  • Advanced skill workshops
  • Industry specific workshops
  • Technology and digital marketing training
  • Legal assistance
  • Networking
  • Business incubation

Job Train 

JobTrain is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and training institution accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Each of JobTrain’s programs combines vocational training, academics, and essential skills development, preparing students to turn their lives around—from unemployment and poverty to success and self-sufficiency. Strong partnerships with employers ensure that students receive the training they need for employment so that businesses can find motivated workers who are well trained for their jobs.  Since 1965, JobTrain has been adapting to meet current employment needs.  Since its inception, more than 190,000 low-income individuals and their families have benefited from JobTrain’s programs.

Programs offered include:

  • Career training
  • Online Classes (clases de ingles, digital literacy classes, technology)
  • Job Readiness Workshops 

Coastside Venture Studio 

Founded in 2024, the Coastside Venture Studio (CSVS) fosters startups dedicated to solving urgent resiliency challenges in a changing world. It is the only incubator-through-accelerator program in the nation dedicated entirely to resiliency tech, or “res-tech.” 
 
Located in the heart of downtown Half Moon Bay, California, the CSVS is a vibrant entrepreneurial epicenter for young, scalable companies that can contribute to an equitable, thriving Coastside community. 
 
 Operated by the American Energy Society, the CSVS supports high-potential pre-seed and seed-stage startups in three primary res-tech sectors: agriculture, water, and the build environment. In addition, startups outside those sectors that have a particular benefit to the local community will be included. 

What Participating Startups Can Expect

Each year, the CSVS invites a new cohort of startups to participate in-person or virtually. Cohorts will consist of three or four startups in each sector, for a total of twelve to fifteen. Every startup receives:

  • Office space and business amenities.
  • Mentors aligned with their specific needs to provide a wide range of support.
  • Integration with local and regional businesses and organizations to explore proof-of-concept, stage pilot tests, and undertake customer discovery in real-life conditions.
  • Access to nearby world-class research universities and subject matter experts.
  • Opportunities to network with early-stage venture investors in Silicon Valley and beyond.
  • Hosts who help participants integrate into the Coastside community and ease transitions.
  • Formal programmatic resources that help founders launch their startup, from incorporation filings and stock option agreements to proof-of-concept and customer discovery.