Marisa Castaneda

Marisa Castaneda is a San Diego native. A creative and lively business strategist, who loves to think outside of the box towards the bigger picture for her clients. With a theater and radio background, Marisa holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Marketing from Humboldt State University.

Having a very diverse background, Marisa is able to help assist a multitude of businesses from inception as well as start-ups, pre-existing businesses, plus aids with business plans, employee retention, administrative and program development, leadership training, strategic business development, and guiding small businesses to reach their full potential.

Marisa is a Certified PSA Grower Trainer, after attending the Business of Farming, a semester-long course; which helps aspiring food and farm entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. She also has experience and expertise in the coffee and restaurant industry including regulatory compliance with local, state, and federal governments.

She managed one of the premier restaurants here in San Diego, and now works full-time for the San Diego & Imperial SBDC Network. Prior to her new role, she worked more fully as an advisor for the South San Diego SBDC, and has worked before for the Northern California (NorCal) SBDC Lead center, the NorCal Economic Development center, and the Governor’s Office for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship out of Sacramento.