On May 12th Rising Tide Capital, a not for profit helping entrepreneurs and small businesses in New Jersey, hosted the 3rd Local Living Economies Summit in Jersey City. Held in partnership with Saint Peter’s University’s Ignite Institute, the Summit brought together community stakeholders to celebrate the builders of local economies and discuss innovative strategies to support those economies that included an emphasis on inclusiveness.
“The goal behind the Local Living Economies Summit is really to take an ecosystem approach to look at what is happening in our communities with a broader lens,” stated Alfa Demmellash, the CEO and Co-founder of Rising Tide Capital, while opening the Summit. She described the organization’s mission— which is to, “…support entrepreneurs from under resourced communities to start and grow businesses, and tap into the existing entrepreneurial talent that is all around us.”
Demmellash shared her perspective about communities and the day’s event, stating “I can say that my lens is through that notion of entrepreneurship and small business. What does that look like, what does it need to look like?” she posed about entrepreneurship at the local level. She noted that 97% of all net new jobs come from new businesses and that fact forms her lens.
Attending innovators, entrepreneurs and community activists were both local and from around the country. Keynote remarks were given by the Mayor of Jersey City, Stephen M. Fulop and the President of Saint Peter’s University, Dr. Eugene Cornacchia. Etsy.org Co-founder Matt Stinchcomb served as the luncheon guest speaker.
Saint Peter’s University President Cornacchia explained why his institution has placed great importance on being a partner to host the event, “Here at Saint Peter’s University, we are committed to making a positive impact on the community,” stated the President. “One particular example is through our partnership with Rising Tide Capital, which sparked the creation of the Ignite Institute.”
Noting the numerous contributions Saint Peter’s University and the Ignite Institute have made to local economies, the President assured attendees, “There is still a lot more work to be done, the path to further improvement is a challenging one, however, events such as this are exactly what we need to build momentum and drive action.”
President Cornachia joined the President of New Jersey City University, Dr. Sue Henderson, Rev. Reginald McRae, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the City of Jersey City, and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Marcos Vigil on a panel discussion titled, “Effectively Resourcing Resilient, Inclusive Local Living Economies”. The panel was moderated by Shawn Escoffery, Strong Local Economies Program Directory of the Surdna Foundation.
Rising Tide Capital, now its 12th year, has trained over 1,114 entrepreneurs, 70% of them are women, and 90% of them are minority. For 2014 they saw 371 new jobs created from their programs and an over 50% boost in average revenue by participating small businesses.
