LiveStories: Connecting Local Businesses to Resources in Your Community

The COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous and unprecedented strain on our local small businesses and micro-enterprises. In response, thousands of safety-net programs have become available through a multitude of federal, state, and local agencies. But rules can change frequently, new programs come online, and application deadlines pass – it’s difficult for a business to keep up. To help, the non-profits and agencies that support our small businesses have stepped up to help connect businesses to resources and are doing incredible work to help our local economies recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.

Join us for a panel discussion about how communities across Washington State are supporting our local economies and connecting small businesses and micro-enterprises to resources.

About the Presenters:

Adnan Mahmud, CEO of LiveStories

Mr. Mahmud is the founder and CEO of LiveStories a venture-funded, private company, which provides data tools that help local governments to collect, explore, and present program and impact data. Mr. Mahmud is passionate about using data and technology to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. LiveStories has worked with over 200 customers around the world and has been featured as a Gov100 company every year since 2016. Prior to founding to LiveStories, Mr. Mahmud worked for over 8 years at Microsoft, where he managed the company’s largest data pipelines and received multiple patents in data analysis, visualization, and management. In addition, Mr. Mahmud is co-founder of Jolkona, a non-profit that provides mentorship and training for social entrepreneurs.  He earned his MS degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

Tamsin Bell, Economic Development Manager at Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County

Ms Bell is an Economic Development Manager with a demonstrated history of supporting local business expansion, retention and attraction. She is a collaborator who focuses on cultivating financial independence for all in any community through job growth and access to opportunity. She is a strong community and social services professional with a Bachelor’s Degree focused in Environmental Health Sciences and Ethnic Studies from Salisbury University.

Josh McDonald, Executive Director of Washington Wine Institute

Mr. McDonald brings to the job 12 years of Government Affairs work at our state capitol in Olympia. In his previous role with the Washington Restaurant Association (WRA), he built their local government program from the ground up, providing restaurants with a voice and influence within city hall and their city and state agencies. He also carried several issues for WRA in Olympia, including tourism, food safety, immigration, the environment, and business taxes and regulations. Mr. McDonald also has 6 years of campaign experience, running successful campaigns for city, state, and congressional candidates. He is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound and lives in Tacoma with his wife Chelsea Levy and his two boys Liam and Eli.