Civil Labs is 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 Oakland-based business is developing a food community center that provides space for after-school youth programming and commercial kitchens for area food entrepreneurs.
HauteButch opened in April 2012, offering their customers a line of masculine and gender-neutral clothing and footwear designed for women’s bodies.
The Waffle Experience offers a large menu for breakfast and lunch, all centered around waffles. If you’ve never tried a burger on a waffle or a salad with a waffle base, these guys have you covered.
Bernal Cutlery offers several classes that cover breaking down fish and vegetables with Japanese techniques, everyday Western knife skills, and Japanese Whetstone sharpening.
In 2008, Jen Garrido was exclusively working as a fine artist in several galleries. When the recession hit, everything stopped. Jen has always been business-driven and created work for herself, so she got creative about other ways to use her experience as an artist to make money.
Ed’s business works passionately to support their clients and their families to plan and pay for long-term care. His $50,000 Main Street Launch loan helped upgrade their technology and systems, so they could spend more of their time with clients, and less on arduous record keeping.
Kingston 11 is truly a part of Oakland, and their business employs 30 people from the community. Nigel notes, “Oakland is a diverse city, and we want our restaurant to reflect the community. From our management team to our customer service approach, we reflect Oakland.”
Richard Santana first read about the benefits of fresh roasted coffee while on a plane. Thirteen years later, he now owns a successful coffee roasting business in Oakland.
Rocio Navarro wanted to start a business to be her own boss. In June 2015, she took over Artesanias Mexicanas El Sol from her sister, and now she runs the business largely on her own.
Mauricio Simbeck was inspired to open Milagros de Mexico, a health and wellness retain chain, because of his desire to bring resources to an underserved community in Oakland.
