Accelerator Program Boosts 16 Newark Small Business Owners

NEWARK, NJ — A group of 16 small business owners in Newark recently got a leg up on their competition with the aid of an ongoing training program. On Thursday, Invest Newark celebrated the graduation of 16 small business owners from its “Executive Business Accelerator Program” during a ceremony held at Newark City Hall. The seven-month program, which uses Interise’s StreetWise ‘MBA’ curriculum, provides established small business owners with more than $100,000 in annual revenues (and at least one other employee) with practical training in areas like strategic planning, marketing, financial management, procurement and sales. Graduates are also eligible to compete for Business Development Grants, with $15,000 in total grant money available for each cohort. To complete the program, graduates must develop and present a customized three-year growth plan for their business. Graduates of the 2024 cohort include the following businesses: Among the graduates, 19 percent identified as Hispanic or Latino, 81 percent as Black or African American and 70 percent represented women-owned businesses. According to Invest Newark, the program has supported more than 60 Newark-based CEOs across industries such as hospitality, construction, food manufacturing and accounting since 2020. It’s working, the group says. Data collected in 2023 – following...