California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

Chevron has contributed $1 million to United Way to help establish the SparkPoint
West Contra Costa Center in the City of Richmond. Created by United Way of the Bay
Area, SparkPoint Centers are one-stop, financial-education centers that offer access
to a full range of services that can help families and individuals achieve financial
stability.

Created by United Way of the Bay Area, SparkPoint Centers are one-stop financial-
education centers that help individuals and families who are struggling to make
ends meet. SparkPoint helps clients address immediate financial crises, get back
on their feet and build financially secure futures. Each center brings together a
full range of services at one convenient location, including job training, career
development and financial coaching, as well as access to higher education and
savings accounts. Every SparkPoint client is provided a coach, who helps create a
step-by-step plan to set and achieve personal financial goals.

United Way also announced that with the opening of the Richmond location, the number
of SparkPoint Centers serving the Bay Area has now doubled this spring – from four
to eight – with three centers opening last month. United Way of the Bay Area’s
SparkPoint program now spans six counties, with centers in American Canyon (Napa),
Bay Point (Contra Costa), Fairfield (Solano), Oakland (Alameda), Richmond (Contra
Costa), San Bruno (San Mateo), San Rafael (Marin) and Vallejo (Solano).

“Chevron is proud to support the new SparkPoint West Contra Costa Center, which will
help families build futures. We view our support as an investment that can ultimately
benefit our entire community,” said Mike Coyle, general manager of Chevron’s Richmond
Refinery. “Chevron is committed to strengthening the communities in which our employees
live and work. We applaud the Richmond Community Foundation for its efforts to bring
this vital program to Contra Costa County, and United Way of the Bay Area for its
leadership in establishing SparkPoint Centers.”

United Way’s SparkPoint model has garnered both national and international attention,
with poverty experts traveling from around the country, and as far as the Netherlands,
to study it. Learn more at www.sparkpointcenters.org.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.