Walter E. Allen, a Navy veteran, started Acumen Building Enterprise in 1994 to help pay for graduate school. That small one-person consulting firm became a corporation in 2002. Acumen now has 40 employees and works with major transit agencies across the country to provide transit and transportation infrastructure development coupled with strategic technology solutions designed…
Irene Parada Quinteros started Emanuel Coffee, a San Francisco café that offers organic food and coffee, in 2015. She was inspired by her mother, and Irene decided that a café would allow her to share her culture and her family’s food with the San Francisco community. Now, Emanuel Coffee includes Salvadorian food and is…
OBDC Small Business Finance believes that our unique partnerships and staff expertise are critical components to connecting our borrowers to the funding, education, and relationships they need to thrive. This year continues to be full of exciting new partnerships and staff contributions…
After moving to California and seeing the lack of Caribbean representation, Nigel Jones, owner of Kingston 11, decided to pursue an idea that had been in the back of his mind for 15 years. He wants to expose people to Jamaican culture through excellent tasting, locally sourced food that is good for you. “Nigel…
Katie Taylor, Main Street’s Assistant Vice President – Communications, interviews Rodney Clayton. Rodney is an entrepreneur himself and recently completed his undergraduate work at UC Berkeley. Click here for Rodney’s bio. 1.In what ways do you think Main Street Launch brings value to our communities? A lot of people don’t or can’t work a…
Bootstrap Kombucha is dedicated to producing ancient recipe kombucha using only the best ingredients. Located in San Diego, Bootstrap Kombucha employees three people, Chef Susan McMillion, James Farnworth, and James’ son Ryen, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran. James knew he wanted his next entrepreneurial endeavor to be centered around kombucha, and he also wanted to open…
In 2016, in partnership with Wells Fargo’s Diverse Community Capital program, Main Street Launch developed additional programs and services specifically designed to support African American small business owners in Oakland and San Francisco. San Francisco Small Business Week Main Street Launch is proud to have partnered with the San Francisco African American Chamber…
We often ask our clients what do you wish you would have known as you were starting that you know now? This month, Kanitha Matoury, owner of Spice Monkey, an Oakland-based, veteran-owned restaurant-market-bar told us: “Some people think that your accounting system comes later as you develop your business, but I recommend establishing it early.…
VIP Grooming is a full-service dog salon. They provide exceptional full-grooming services including bathing, nail trims, and haircuts. VIP Scrub Club is a dog washing and dog social club that offers self-serve tubs and full-service bathing. They host events to teach customers how to bathe their dogs and to offer opportunities for dog owners to…
Main Street Launch launched our Entrepreneur in Residence program in 2016. One of our EIR companies is Civil Labs, a social enterprise with a mission to empower young people to make change in their community and to give them the resources to do so. The most recent youth-focused company Civil Labs is incubating is True Pops.…
