新澳门六合彩开奖结果

Habitat for Neighborhood Business at SLU Grows the St. Louis Community by Growing Small Businesses

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Putting entrepreneurs in the room where it happens. Travious Brooks, the owner of Brooks Family Entertainment, said the program (HNB) at 新澳门六合彩开奖结果 connected him with opportunities and mentors without whom he couldn鈥檛 have grown his business.

鈥淗abitat for Neighborhood Business has gotten me in front of people I never would have met otherwise,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淕ladys (Smith, HNB program director) got me mentors from big companies that I could call on a whim, reporters from newspapers to cover my business and she got me to Enterprise Bank to get a credit line to help my business grow.鈥�

Gladys Smith, Ph.D., is the program director of the Habitat for Neighborhood Business program at 新澳门六合彩开奖结果. She started at SLU in 2018 when the program, which already had strong ties to the University, became staffed by the University. It was volunteer-run before 2018.

HNB was founded in 2006 by SLU alum Douglas Brown (CSB 鈥�66), who saw a lack of businesses in economically challenged neighborhoods when visiting cities throughout the U.S. while working at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. With assistance and collaboration from SLU, Brown spent two years meeting with people in local neighborhoods in need of renewal. Armed with this information and support from the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, Brown launched HNB with several fellow SLU alums.

鈥淭he goal is to provide services to minority business owners in the underserved areas of the city of St. Louis and to provide them access to the resources to help them become a success,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淒oug Brown had a passion to make a difference. He saw a need and he went about finding a solution.鈥�

HNB helps entrepreneurs and small business owners return retail and service businesses to struggling urban neighborhoods. The businesses must be located within HNB鈥檚 service area in the City of St. Louis 鈥� the boundaries are Interstate 70 to the north, Interstate 44 to the south, west along Skinker Blvd and east to 12th Street.

鈥淭he thing that I think is most important is we鈥檙e not really in the job creation business, we are in the career creation business,鈥� Brown said. 

Participants in the program have access to an advisory board of established businesspeople from the community, access to an industry-specific mentor when available, discounted or pro bono accounting and legal services, help with web design and hosting and access to reconditioned discounted equipment and software. 

鈥淧articipants have done the work to start 鈥� our main focus is to mentor and help them grow their business,鈥� Smith said. 

Mentoring is done now through regular forums among the cohort. The group mentoring sessions grew out of necessity during the pandemic. 

鈥淲e changed the model a bit when we couldn鈥檛 get together and we鈥檝e found that the small group format is even better than a 1:1 model,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭he cohort gets to network with their peers while still keeping that close mentorship going.鈥�

Undergraduate students at SLU, through one of their first courses in the Chaifetz School of Business, get the opportunity for service learning by helping program participants with business and marketing plans. 

鈥淚鈥檝e gotten to work with so many SLU students and they always bring a lot of ideas,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淏eing from a younger generation, they鈥檝e helped me with some fun ideas as well as practical items.鈥�

Emma Gude has been involved in HNB since her sophomore year. The SLU senior served as a marketing intern for the program, sending out a monthly newsletter and sitting in on mentoring sessions.

The finance major said she appreciated getting to work with the entrepreneurs.

鈥淚t was so rewarding to see how the work I did to inform people with the newsletter was appreciated,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not an expert 鈥� I鈥檓 just a student, but my input was valued. I learned as much from them as they have from me.鈥�

Brooks said a recent group of students worked on ways for him to pitch his business to local colleges and universities for their events.

Participants in the program who want a deeper dive into the long-term feasibility of their business plans are paired with a student enrolled in Strategy and Practice, a capstone course within the school鈥檚 Professional MBA program. Students are put into teams and spend the semester working with their partners to strengthen their businesses. 

It pays off to put yourself out there and work in service of a cause you believe in.鈥� 

Emma Gude, SLU senior

HNB participants who complete the consultant study receive $2,500 towards implementing their plan at the end of the review.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great collaboration between the School of Business and HNB,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭he students get to establish relationships with the business owners and see their passion and commitment to making it work. The students buy in and get a taste of what makes a business work.鈥�

Smith said the University recently received a grant from a SLU alum who donated $100,000 to support the service leadership connection.

鈥淭his funding will keep us going for a while 鈥� it鈥檚 a real commitment to the students and their work,鈥� she said.

HNB participants range from new entrepreneurs to those with years of experience looking to grow their ventures.

Gude said she benefited from seeing what problems business owners face, especially from seeing the HNB participants struggle with work/life balance.

鈥淪o many people start their businesses as a mission, and it starts as just them,鈥� Gude said. 鈥淎s it grows, they have to find employees who are the right fit and who respect what they are doing.鈥�

Brooks owned a costume jewelry store before looking for something he could do with his children. He started Brooks Bounce Houses five years ago by renting bounce houses and running them at events. is now a full-fledged event services company, with a game bus, 360 photo booth rental, and table and chair rental. 

He credits a meeting with Smith at an Urban League event to changing the trajectory of his business.

鈥淚 was down at the (Edward Jones) Dome for this Urban League thing when she came up and gave me her full spiel,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 followed her over to her booth and she and Linda had me hooked before I left.鈥�

Linda M. Jones is the executive director of HNB.

Smith said that the key to HNB is mentoring and collaboration. 

鈥淚t is our intention to build relationships,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want participants to build relationships among themselves and with the seasoned business owners who serve as mentors. We want to help them network and promote their business.鈥�

Brooks said HNB reinforced the fundamentals of what he knew about operating his business while bolstering his confidence. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a big deal to start a business,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always hard and you never get to the end. There are always hurdles, but being a part of this group makes me want to say, 鈥榣et me see what I can do.鈥欌��

Finding the Right Fit

Habitat for Neighborhood Business works with a variety of businesses in St. Louis. Smith said HNB cohorts have included retail, barber shops, event planners, real estate and service-oriented businesses.

鈥淭he entrepreneurs run the gamut 鈥� we have auto tire shops, construction, hair salons, hair products, an entertainment company and food that goes from fast food to gourmet,鈥� she said.

Smith said each application is reviewed to ensure that it is a business that will enhance its surroundings. 

鈥淲e want the businesses to add value to their neighborhoods and not be detrimental to the area,鈥� she said. 

The mission of HNB is to make sure its participants are grounded in the components of running a business.

鈥淥ur entrepreneurs can stay with us as long as they鈥檇 like,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭hey can continue to meet with their mentoring group and reach out with their needs. This is creating a community here that helps one another.鈥�

Smith said the participants sell HNB better than any marketing campaign could.

鈥淭hey refer their friends and family because of their experience in the program,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is a privilege to be a part of this work sharing the resources and helping underserved communities.鈥�

Gude, who will be heading to SLU Law this fall, said the Jesuit commitment to service drew her to SLU and to the work of HNB.

鈥淚t pays off to put yourself out there and work in service of a cause you believe in,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was hesitant when I first started because I didn鈥檛 feel qualified as a student to be working with business owners, but it is good to stretch into work where you aren鈥檛 fully confident.鈥�

Success Stories

Lavinia McCoy, HNB entrepreneur and owner of , was featured in a soul food showdown on Good Morning America on Feb. 1. 

McCoy is an Air Force Veteran with over 30 years of experience in program management and a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu, College of Culinary Arts.

About the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business

Founded in 1910, the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business at 新澳门六合彩开奖结果 has shaped the future of industry for more than a century. As one of the oldest business schools west of the Mississippi, the Chaifetz School has built a reputation as a leader in business education committed to innovation, inclusion and impact and recognized with eight undergraduate and graduate programs nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

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