Tim Sanchez, a decorated Navy veteran, formed his love for coffee during his time as a tech startup co-founder in 1999. “I told my wife that when I grow up I wanted to open a high-end cafe featuring really great coffee,” remembers Tim. After his most recent deployment in Afghanistan, Tim decided it was time…
Katie Taylor, Main Street’s Assistant Vice President – Communications, interviews Mike McGrane. Mike has extensive experience understanding comprehensive business goals and solutions needed to assist in business lending and over 26 years of experience in the banking and credit industry. Click here for Mike’s bio. In what ways do you think Main Street Launch brings…
CivCom, a new veteran-owned organization that prepares service members and their spouses for civilian jobs after their military service, recently launched a survey to collect veterans’ experiences about their transition from military-to-civilian careers. Click here to read the full analysis of the survey. Nearly everyone reported they wished they had started planning earlier,…
When Kanitha Matoury, Air Force veteran, started Spice Monkey, a restaurant and bar in Oakland, she followed her passion for food and her desire to have a bigger impact in her community. Since it opened doors in 2008, Spice Monkey has grown to be a truly community-focused business, living their mission by operating in an…
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…
According to the official website, the LGBT History Month was established in 1994: In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders. They selected October because public schools are in session…
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…
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.…
Veteran Launch is an affiliate of Main Street Launch. Veteran Launch’s mission to to increase the number of successful new veteran businesses and reduce the number of veteran business failures relating to financing. Veteran Launch is now also working to help connect veterans with employers. Learn more at www.veteranlaunch.org. Veteran Launch’s Yulee Newsome is…
Running a small business is expensive, and meeting the obligations of vendors, employees, and paying yourself can make benefits like retirement savings seem too much for your expense line. We know that small business workers have the least access to retirement plans than any other employed group. There’s a solution that will now allow small…
