Budding Jersey City entrepreneurs hoping to get their business ideas off the ground attended an orientation on Jan. 27.
The orientation was held at the office of the Urban League of Hudson County on Martin Luther King Drive for candidates looking to get into the Community Business Academy, a 10-week course starting this weekend.
The academy is the brainchild of Rising Tide Capital, Inc., a Jersey City-based non-profit organization formed in 2004 by Alfa Demmellash and Alex Forrester (both Harvard University graduates). Both Demmellash and Forrester live in Jersey City.
providing business training and consulting along with technical assistance and access to capital for low and moderate-income entrepreneurs. Rising Tide’s office is also located on Martin Luther King Drive.
The academy will have 18 students meeting for four hours every Saturday from Feb. 10 to Apr. 14 where they will receive information and training on how to create and operate a successful small business The mission as listed on the website (www.risingtidecapital.org) is “to serve low and moderate-income women, minorities, ex-offenders, disadvantaged youth, immigrants/refugees, and individuals with disabilities.”
To be eligible for the academy, the students – or “current and future CEO’s” – as they are called at the academy, have to be at least 16 years old, have a distinct business idea, and meet certain income criteria. Also, the business cannot harm the community it serves.The orientation
Demmellash along with Jay Savulich, a Rising Tide associate with 20 years experience in the restaurant business in New York City led the orientation, which informed attendees on the academy and what happens after graduation from the academy.
Rising Tide plans to hold the academy four times a year, with the next round of classes taking place in late April.
“So often you meet people who may have a brilliant idea for a business but may not have the capital or the knowledge on how to do so,” said Forrester. “This academy is about getting people to the next level with help in order to succeed in business.”
The course cost is $850, but those who are chosen for the academy will receive a full scholarship that is covered by a corporate sponsor, which Forrester said for the current round is financial firm Goldman Sachs. Getting down to business
About 30 people came out for the three-hour orientation where they were first given an introduction to Rising Tide Capital. That was followed by speakers from various non-profit groups who addressed issues of getting business loans and tax advice.
Then attendees took parting exercises where they first did an assessment of their life plans and next an action plan to achieve their business goals.
One of those looking to get into the academy was Karrisell Smart, a Jersey City resident and young mother who brought her infant child to the orientation.
Smart hoped to get the business training needed to open a 99-cent store.
“I want to operate a business so that as my baby gets older, I can have enough money for school, and I can show that you can open your own business,” said Smart.
Harvey George is the founder of the Friends of the Lifers Youth Corporation in Jersey City, an organization to help young people getting out of jail to find jobs and re-establish their lives outside prison. George said the benefits of the academy are tremendous to the recently incarcerated.
“Ex-offenders are a group that is largely forgotten by society, and that makes it more difficult to get a job never mind try to open a legitimate business,” said George. For more information, call Rising Tide Capital at (201) 432-4316. Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com