JESSE TORRES

PRINCIPAL & FOUNDER, ARROYOWEST LLC

CO-FOUNDER, SMALL BUSINESS FRONT INC.

Jesse.Torres@arroyowest.com Jesse@smallbusinessfront.com 

Jesse Torres is principal and founder of ArroyoWest LLC, a minority-owned management consulting firm in Los Angeles County and the co-founder of Small Business Front Inc., a community building and media startup focused on small business.  

Before starting ArroyoWest and Small Business Front , Jesse served as Small Business Advocate for the State of California and Deputy Director of Small Business and Innovation for Governor Brown’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz).  During his three-year tenure at GO-Biz, Jesse was successful in securing more than $108 million in state general funds to provide match and capacity building grants for the federal small business technical assistance providers operating in California. Jesse also administered a portfolio of high-profile programs including the state’s Innovation Hub (iHub) Network, the state’s defense supplier diversification and cyber resiliency program, CASCADE, the California Cybersecurity IT Health Advisory Board, and the California Cyber Innovation Challenge. He also led small business recovery efforts for GO-Biz following major disasters.  

Prior to joining GO-Biz in 2015, Jesse served as Regional Director for the Los Angeles Small Business Development Center Network, and he is also former Director of Alumni Affairs for the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University.  

Jesse is Board Chair for California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity, Secretary of the Board and Advocacy Chair for Union Station Homeless Services and was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to the City’s seven-member Small Business Commission. Jesse also serves as a member of the board for Associated Students UCLA, Sustainable Economic Enterprises Los Angeles and the Northern California Small Business Development Center Network. He is also the creator and co-host of the podcast, Hack My Business, available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

Jesse is a Southern California native and received his Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California Los Angeles. He and his wife Jennifer and two children, Alex and Ava, live in South Pasadena, California.