If you ask Bloom's owner, Alisha Crutchfield, what life has been like since Graduate of Quinnipiac University – ConnCORP Entrepreneurship Program.He has an easy way to sum it up.
“Very busy and amazing in every way,” Crutchfield said.
She owns a community gathering space, a bakery and a flower shop called Bloom.
More than a dozen minority, veteran and women-owned businesses participated in the nine-month-long program to help boost their businesses. They learned from Quinnipiac professors and community business leaders about marketing, finance, business planning and grant writing.
“We recognize that many small business owners and entrepreneurs have their passion and are working in their field, but the background of things gets a little confusing for them,” said Jahkeeva Morgan, business program director. training at ConnCORP.
“Working with the Quinnipiac faculty and staff has been simply fantastic. Professors from different areas of expertise have given them the content they need to really lay the foundation for their business,” Morgan added.
The program is funded by a two-year, $406,000 federal grant from the Small Business Association.
“The business we're in today is a great example of what we can do, what the SBA can do with the community to help entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses,” said Catherine Marx, district director of the SBA's Connecticut District Office, in Bloom in the Westville neighborhood of New Haven.
Marx and Sen. Richard Blumenthal met Thursday with Crutchfield and fellow graduate Evelyn Massey, owner of Noir Vintage Clothing.
“He basically helped me with my business plan, which I knew nothing about,” Massey said. “And basically just running a brick-and-mortar store.”
Massey was able to open his store last summer shortly after completing the program. It sells vintage clothing designed between the 1920s and 1950s at the front of the store, and a more up-to-date section at the back features clothing from the 1980s to 2000s.
The second group of 20 business owners are now in the program, but the grant ends in May.
“There needs to be more federal funding for this type of program because there is a lot of talent, a lot of good ideas, a lot of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities,” Blumenthal said.
Morgan said ConnCORP is raising funds in hopes of running a third cohort next year.
Crutchfield hopes the free program continues for others because she says it's an invaluable resource.
“That in itself is all the more reason why many more, especially black and brown business owners, should get involved.”