Chico workshop helps small businesses explore AI tools

Chico workshop helps small businesses explore AI tools

CHICO, Calif. — Artificial intelligence is becoming a more common tool for businesses, but small-business owners in the Chico area are at different stages of AI adoption.

That was the focus Wednesday at the “Empowering California Businesses with AI with Meta” workshop at The Westport Event Venue in downtown Chico.

The free workshop was hosted in partnership with ChicoSTART and the California Office of the Small Business Advocate. Meta experts provided hands-on training aimed at helping small-business owners use AI to improve efficiency, operations and growth.

Jim Cullinan, a Meta spokesperson, said the company has been holding similar small-business AI training sessions across California, with Chico hosting its 33rd training session. He said small businesses have traditionally been slower to adopt new technology, while AI is developing rapidly.

He said AI can assist with tasks such as reviewing resumes, developing interview questions, writing marketing materials and answering customer service questions, and that AI tools are increasingly being integrated into areas such as inventory management and accounting.

“That can help small businesses here in Chico reach outside, not just Northern California or throughout the state, but around the country and even outside of the US,” Cullinan said.

Local business leaders said adoption is mixed. Eva Shepherd-Nicholl, executive director of ChicoSTART, said the local business community is roughly split between those embracing AI and those who are still hesitant.

She said common concerns among business owners include not having enough time to learn the technology, the cost of AI tools and privacy.

The workshop attracted business and technology participants from multiple Northern California counties, including Butte, Glenn, Tehama, Plumas, Placer, Nevada, Siskiyou and Sacramento counties. Shepherd-Nicholl said bringing those communities together creates an opportunity for businesses to learn from one another rather than relying solely on technology companies to explain AI.

“There's one thing to have, Meta, who builds AI tools, to come and say, ‘Oh, these are the greatest things since sliced bread.’ But there's another thing altogether to say, ‘This is how I'm using these tools in a practical sense,’” Shepherd-Nicholl said.

For some business owners, Wednesday’s workshop was their first significant exposure to AI. Thomas Hightower, owner of Pita Pit in downtown Chico, said it was his first real opportunity to learn about using AI in his business.

“This is gonna be my first taste of it,” Hightower said. “But I'm ready to see where it's gonna take me because, again, I wanna grow with the times.”

“I wanna go ahead and be ahead of the curve,” he said. “So, my door is open to see what AI is gonna do for me and my business.”

For businesses that have already incorporated AI, some leaders said the conversation is shifting from whether to use the technology to how to use it responsibly. Nicholas Hastings, acting regional director of the Sac Tech Consortium, said AI has become difficult to separate from modern business and technology.

“Everybody's using AI these days,” Hastings said. “You can't separate technology from AI, and these days you can't really separate business from AI these days.”

Hastings said AI has helped businesses produce more and work faster, but he believes businesses now need to consider how they can remain responsible while adopting the technology.