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From healthcare to hospitality, cakes to clothing, day care to nighttime entertainment, an extensive range of businesses will be supported with new grants from the Walker Entrepreneurship Program.
Since late summer of 2020, the Harry Lee and Eliza Bannister Walker Entrepreneurship Program has provided four rounds of small business training to several dozen aspiring business owners in the greater Rockbridge area. The program aims to help reinvigorate the long legacy of Blackowned business in the area through classes on finances, marketing, business formation, legal compliance and the like, and to provide start-up or expansion grants and ongoing technical support.
Following training, participants in the program are invited to submit business plans for review by the Walker Program board of advisors. To date, 21 grants have been made, totaling over $224,000. Every dollar in the grant fund has been sourced locally through donations made by individuals, churches, and community organizations.
The six new awardees completed their business training in the spring and are hard at work getting their endeavors launched.
Andreatta Chappell will be putting her years of experience caring for others to use in her new daycare business, Little One’s Daycare. Affordable childcare is in high demand everywhere and Chappell is committed to providing the highest quality licensed care for the broadest population she can.
Delorise Boateng, owner of Del-Licious by Delorise, makes meticulously decorated cakes for all occasions. Her grant will help her expand her reach in the wedding and event industry and to prepare to realize her dream of opening a retail cake shop one day. Kenneth Stuart, a longtime area DJ, is revitalizing a property in Glasgow as a full-service entertainment venue under his new business, Showtime LLC. His vision includes everything from dances to weddings, karaoke nights, food and drink, gaming tournaments and family-friendly pastimes.
Taylor Goodwin’s business, Homegrown Health & Wellness, will fill a growing market need for in-home wellness care with a personalized touch. Unlike most corporatized care, Goodwin services go beyond just traditional assistance with personal physical needs, encompassing such things as pet care or lawn service or errands.
Tiara Stewart’s hope is to recapture the delight of childhood days when the local ice cream truck rolled through the neighborhood. With reasonably priced treats and a long selling season, Tiara’s Frozen Treats aims to bring back the flavor of simple pleasures to our area.
Shaun Stewart’s plan is to expand his current clothing business, Ezekiel’s Wheel Higher Intelligence, adding new products and accessories such as tapestries and skateboards. He will build on the existing community of like-minded customers he has reached to date through social media and at pop-up events, with the goal of one day opening a brick and mortar retail shop.
All of these businesses, along with the previous 15 grantees, will be invited to participate in the second Walker Program showcase later this fall. They will have the opportunity to present their businesses to the public and be celebrated for their achievements. Details on the showcase time and place will be finalized next month.
More information on the program and the participants is available at walkerprogram.com.
