Secretary Of Commerce Rep. Shontel Brown Visit GlenVillage, Promote Upcoming Grants For Minority-Owned Business Support!

FEATURED PHOTO: CONGRESSWOMAN SHONTEL BROWN D-11TH DISTRICT

TheLandCle.org, By Mandy Kraynak, Posted February 13th 2023

When U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was preparing to go on a trip to Cleveland with Rep. Shontel Brown, the two leaders asked entrepreneur LaRese Purnell, a managing partner of CLE Consulting Firm, to point them to a Black-owned coffee shop and other Black-owned businesses in the area. 

Purnell, the operations manager of a business incubator called GlenVillage, suggested a tour of the incubator space at 1400 E. 105th St., which is home to multiple Black-owned businesses. On Jan. 18, the secretary of commerce and representative visited GlenVillage, meeting with Purnell and the business owners at the space. 

“They really are concerned with how small businesses are being treated and how much funding is available for us to keep going, for us to be able to stay afloat because a lot of small businesses are struggling,” said Mary Johnson, the owner of Vitiman Kandie, one of the businesses at GlenVillage. 

During the visit, Purnell learned about the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)’s Capital Readiness Program, which is giving $93.5 million in grants to organizations across the country that provide support to minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. Later that day, the secretary of commerce and representative, along with Rep. Emilia Sykes, spoke about the grant program at a roundtable with business owners and leaders at Greater Cleveland Partnership’s offices.

Raimondo shared a photo of herself with Vitiman Kandie owner Johnson at GlenVillage on Instagram on Wednesday, Jan. 25. “We’re going to fund innovative programs like these across the country,” part of the caption reads, referring to the GlenVillage incubator, which plans to apply for the grant. 

The Capital Readiness Program grants will go to incubators, accelerators, and other organizations that provide technical assistance, training, and resources to underserved small business owners. Organizations can receive up to $3 million over four years for their proposals. The deadline to apply is Feb. 28. The program is funded by the Department of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, according to a press release from the MBDA. 

What is technical assistance, and why is it important for improving access to capital?

Lack of access to capital is a barrier for many entrepreneurs of underrepresented backgrounds, including people of color and women. The racial wealth gap and biases of lenders and investors contribute to this barrier. 

Capital itself is just one part of the equation, though, Purnell said. Incubators and accelerators can help entrepreneurs start and grow small businesses by providing technical assistance, including help with human resources, marketing, and accounting. 

Technical assistance helps small businesses build capacity, setting them up for success with financing opportunities. 

“I think making sure that (small businesses) have good foundations and strong financial foundations in place is imperative to their future success. We can give money, but with no structure, it doesn’t have longevity, and it’s not sustainable,” Purnell said.

The $93.5 million in grants from the MBDA will help ensure incubators and other organizations have the resources they need to provide these services, said Marco Grgurevic, state director of the Ohio MBDA Business Center. They’ll allow accelerators and incubators to continue to hire people with expertise and connections in the ecosystem who can help “connect the dots” for entrepreneurs, he said. 

“A lot of times the organizations that are providing the services, they’re struggling too, just like the small businesses,” Purnell said.

How incubators and accelerators support small businesses

Beyond providing a physical space for small businesses, GlenVillage connects entrepreneurs with other business support and employment organizations in the community, such as JumpStart, the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI), the Urban League, and Ohio Means Jobs, to help them access capital and find employees. 

GlenVillage is one of several incubators in Cleveland that offer technical assistance to small businesses. At GlenVillage, businesses receive training and mentorship over a two-year period before moving on to their own locations. 

The incubator, which describes itself as Cleveland’s Black-owned business marketplace, is part of former Mayor Frank Jackson’s $65 million Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. It’s currently home to several businesses: House of B Jewels, Premier Barber Lounge, Pipe’N Hot Grill, Vitiman Kandie, Squash the Beef, and Zanzibar Express. The owner of one of the businesses, I Specz Eyewear, died in August. JDL Treat and Flower Shoppe will be moving into the vacant space in early February. Purnell’s accounting firm, CLE Consulting Firm, will also have a space at GlenVillage starting this week.

Since GlenVillage’s opening on Jan. 31, 2020, just weeks before the pandemic shutdown, a total of 11 Black-owned businesses have taken up residence at the space over the years (not including CLE Consulting and JDL Treat and Flower Shoppe). One of the businesses, clothing brand Living Rich has moved to a new space at 740 Richmond Rd. in Richmond Heights. Johnson, the owner of Vitiman Kandie, is running a space at GlenVillage while gearing up to open a second location in MidTown. Cleveland Cold Brew, which closed its space at GlenVillage in November, is focusing on placing its products with large retailers and also sells bagged coffee online, with plans to offer catering and office service in the future. Former GlenVillage tenant Black Box Fix, which Purnell co-owns, opened its second location at Easton Town Center in Columbus. (It also has a spot at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst.)

GlenVillage receives approximately 1,000 to 1,500 customers each week, Purnell told The Land in an email. The space sees a higher number of customers when it hosts events, and average attendance is 150-300 people, he said. 

Grgurevic of the Ohio MBDA Business Center said there’s not a standard way of measuring the success of incubators and accelerators. Applicants to the Capital Readiness Program grant will be tasked with creating individual value propositions about their impact, he said. 

“I think that’s what’s gonna make this particular grant process special, is that everyone’s gonna come to the table and say, ‘This is what we offer. This is the type of impact we can make if we are awarded X dollar amounts,” Grgurevic said. 

Aside from GlenVillage, other examples of incubators in Cleveland include the BOXSPOT at 8005 Kinsman Rd., the Central Kitchen incubator at 2800 Euclid Ave. #150, Ingenuity Cleveland’s Ingenuity Labs at 5401 Hamilton Ave., and Sears think[box] at the Richey Mixon building at 11201 Cedar Ave. 

Accelerators also provide mentorship and support to entrepreneurs, but they’re typically programs aimed at helping already-established businesses grow and don’t usually involve a physical space for small businesses to get off the ground like many incubators do. Examples of accelerator programs in the area include the SEA Change Northeast Ohio cohort and JumpStart’s Small Business Impact program.  

The GlenVillage incubator has provided a sense of community, as well as a wider reach to potential customers in the area, said Kurtis Williams, who opened Squash the Beef, which sells vegan comfort food, at GlenVillage earlier this month.

“When you have these incubators, it’s a community. It’s a family,” Williams said. “Everyone works together. Even though we all have our own personal business, we’re all looking to thrive together.”