Bay Area Development Company

As a Small Business Administration finance lender, Bay Area Development Company has provided more than 1,400 Northern California small and midsize companies with more than $2 billion of commercial real estate financing., “We pride ourselves on helping businesses get control of their own destiny and helping them grow,” says Founder and CEO Jim Baird.

This philosophy of helping people build their dreams is a key part of the company’s mission, and it also directs their philanthropic focus. Jim’s company has been supporting Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland since 2002. Their generous support of the Children’s Hospital School Program for the past two years makes them members of Children’s Circle of Care, the prestigious, internationally recognized society of leading benefactors of children’s hospitals.
 
Children’s School Program makes sure that educational continuity is an important component of the recovery plan for every school-age child hospitalized at Children’s. The School Program has group and individual classroom and bedside instruction for grades K–12, a media center, a computer lab, and frequent visits from guest lecturers. Because of the personalized instruction the program provides, our patients often find their grasp of curriculum increases during their hospital stay.

“I am so impressed with the work done by the teachers at Children’s,” explains Jim enthusiastically. “So many patients are in the hospital for several months, and they have unique needs. The School Program at Children’s is a perfect example of how amazingly creative solutions can be crafted to meet the unique challenges the children at pediatric hospitals face.”