Pumpkin painting, art market on tap
6th Street Studios and Art Center, 64 West Sixth St., is hosting a pumpkin painting event on Oct. 31 from 3-4pm.
Pumpkins and paint will be provided.
All ages are welcome, with the event geared toward children ages 3-12. Admission is $10 per person. To sign up, visit 6thstreetartstudios.org.
6th Street Studios and Art Center will also host its monthly Art Market on Oct. 30 from 10am to 4pm, and will be a participating venue in the Dias de los Muertos procession. The procession starts in front of the studios and proceeds to the Aztec Calendar mural on Horlein Court.
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos
The Gilroy Downtown Business Association will host its second annual Dia de los Muertos celebration on Oct. 31 from 2-6pm in Gourmet Alley between Fourth and Fifth Street.
The event will feature a performance by Mariachi Santa Cruz.
Veterans Day ceremony downtown
The American Legion Gilroy Post #217 will commemorate Veterans Day on Nov. 11 at 11am.
The ceremony, open to the public, will take place at the Veterans Memorial Building, 74 West Sixth St.
Gilroy printing company leverages financing program
Bay Area Development Company completed a funding program for The Printing Spot in Gilroy.
The 504 financing, through the Small Business Administration, allowed the printing company to create two new jobs and to refinance the mortgage on its 5,200 square foot property located at 501 First St.
Husband and wife Laurence and Dina Kwong founded The Printing Spot in 1979. What began as a small print and copy shop has grown to provide a wide range of printed products, including signage, trade show displays, annual reports, catalogs, promotional products and more. Its clients include utility companies, schools, churches, nonprofit organizations, seed industries and contractors.
Over the years the company has grown to a staff of seven and counts the City of Gilroy and Gilroy Unified School District among its accounts.
The Printing Spot has operated from the same location since 1989. When the balloon payment came due on their property, they worked with California Bank and Trust and Bay Area Development’s Joe Lampe to leverage the SBA’s refinance program. Doing so allowed them to shift from a high interest rate loan to financing with much more favorable rates and terms, saving the Kwongs thousands of dollars each year, according to Bay Area Development.
Founded in 1981, Bay Area Development Company is an SBA licensed lender that works with banks and the SBA’s 504 program to provide small- and mid-sized companies with long-term commercial real estate financing.
Gilroy Police receive funding for traffic enforcement
The Gilroy Police Department was awarded a $90,000 grant from the Office of Traffic Safety.
The funds will be used toward additional programs including DUI checkpoints, enforcement operations focused on drivers in violation of the hands-free cell phone law, community education on traffic safety, officer training and more.
“Impairment, speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors jeopardize the safety of other people on the road,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. Mike McMahon. “This funding allows us to provide necessary traffic enforcement measures with the goal of reducing serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads.”
The grant program will run through September 2022.
