The city of Savannah will soon complete the second cohort of your business accelerator program for small and minority entrepreneurs next month.
Launch Savannah is a 12-week intensive, personal course that supports up to 15 local entrepreneurs in developing companies in the early stage. In response to a recommendation in 2020, it was created by the Task Force of the racial capital and leadership of the city.
“About 10% of our companies (in Savannah) are in possession of minorities. Therefore, this program tries to support small companies in local minorities, but it is not exclusive to everyone,” said Marronde Lotson, Senior Director of Economic Development, City of Savannah. “We have no local economy that is currently being built in a sector. This is something that we continue to promote, cultivate and promote, and this is an element of it.”
Using the Kauffman Fast Track's curriculum, selected business owners are taught pricing, financial planning, marketing and the ability to identify access to capital requirements.
According to Loston, access to capital is the biggest challenge of an entrepreneur, and the program teaches the participants how they can withstand the ebbs and rivers of the business landscape.
“Our economic landscape is constantly changing, so that these entrepreneurs need the most relevant information for the success and vitality of their business,” said Lotson.
Companies that have been selected for this year's cohort range from a learning center to a landscape construction company and a custom -made embroidery.
Zelonia Williams opened patches Custom Sticky Works three years ago and although she had no formal training as a company, she thought she had everything together.
The Business embroidery offers tailor -made, inexpensive ironing areas, buttons and pens for companies and organizations. Girl scouts, biker clubs and local companies can create special goods that you can share with your members, employees or customers.
But shortly after the start of Patches Custom Sticky Works, Williams found that she needed a mentor and applied for the start Savannah program.
You and 13 others were selected to take part in the Business Accelerator program that started in early July and meets every Tuesday.
As a single parents and full-time business owner, Williams was nervous, as the 12-week course in her already full schedule fit, but she decided that if she really had thrown her embroidery, she had to go.
“Because I know what I want, it makes things much better. I literally go to a mode in which I cannot be stopped,” said Williams. “It's my passion.”
Since the beginning of the course, she has been able to develop a better understanding of new markets and ideal customers that you can address, such as the Savannah Bananas, the effects that a lawyer can mean on retainers for a company and recover after shooting the shopping center in Oglethorpe.
Williams' Storefront is located in front of the shootout on July 7th, she said, and the business has not recovered over a month later.
“Nowhere in my business plan I found out how I can recover from a shootout,” said Williams. “If I started with my far -open poor Savannah after the incident, the world means for me.”
Jennifer Gogo, a local entrepreneur from the first cohort of the city's Business Accelerator program, said she was also welcome after completing the program last year.
Your business, only security training, trains companies that comply with the OSHA regulations that use virtual reality headsets to create a practical learning environment.
“We are committed to their success,” said Lotson. “We just don't cut you off.”
Since the end of the program, Gogo said that their business has grown and the networking opportunities that Savannah offer have supported this success.
“It's not so much about what you know, but who you know,” said Gogo. “You may not get the contract, but knowing who the most important players are is very important because people speak for them if they don't even know it.”
These connections can prove to be an important aspect of expanding a company, since access to capital is one of the biggest problems for small business owners.
In a report by Goldman Sachs in 2025, it showed that new entrepreneurs who have applied for a business loan or a credit line within last year made 81% accessible.
In order to alleviate part of the pressure to the participants, entrepreneurs were employed by a scholarship package of 50,000 US dollars for support services such as accounting, marketing and legal advice.
“Savannah grows and we see many well -known companies that come in like Hyundai,” said Gogo. “And we support the area when our taxpayers return to the community. So why no longer return to our apartment?
Ansley Franco is an intern at the Savannah Morning News that cover public security and general tasks. You can reach them at afranco@gannett.com.