Small business incubator in the heart of Pike Place makes it easy for Seattleites to support local businesses owned by women, people of color, and immigrants this holiday season.
SEATTLE—2020 has been a challenging year for local small business owners, especially for entrepreneurs of color, women, and people from low-income backgrounds. But despite the pandemic and resulting economic crisis, local businesses have joined together to show that small business ownership can still propel communities to long-term financial stability.
“This year has been really daunting and I had to cancel a lot of things,” said Gail Thompson, owner of Junebug’s Sauce. “The re-opening of the Ventures Marketplace will help us showcase our product.”
Ventures Marketplace is a unique small business incubator and retail space that provides a place where entrepreneurs can test their products, receive essential start-up loans, and grow business plans with coaching from experts. By helping women, people of color, immigrants, and individuals with low incomes start their own businesses, the Marketplace provides a much-needed launching pad for a post-pandemic recovery. Over 75 local businesses have hometown holiday gifts for sale, including jewelry, art, housewares, and more.
“Small businesses are the key to our recovery,” Said the Executive Director of Ventures. “When you shop at the Ventures Marketplace re-opening, you are ensuring your holiday spending will benefit people working hard to improve their lives through small business ownership.”
Featured local businesses include Brown Angel Skin & Hair, a Black woman owned organic glamour brand who were able to use start-up support from Ventures to get their products sold in PCC, and El Jibarito, a jam and sauce company started by a former police officer from Puerto Rico.
Ventures Marketplace will open its doors with a special event from November 13 through 15. To keep customers and staff safe, they have set up a scheduling tool that allows customers to pre-book a time to visit. No more than six people will be allowed in the store at a time and customers can also shop with the featured local businesses online. The Ventures Marketplace will remain open for the rest of the year.
ABOUT THE VENTURES MARKETPLACE
The Ventures Marketplace is an eclectic gift shop in the heart of Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market featuring jewelry, art, body care products, housewares, food pantry, and more. The Marketplace carries hundreds of unique gifts at affordable prices, handcrafted by more than 75 talented local artists and craftspeople who are working to improve their lives through small business ownership. Since we opened in 2011, the Ventures Marketplace helped vendors take home over $1,104,241 in revenue.
ABOUT VENTURES
Ventures is a Seattle-based nonprofit that empowers individuals with limited resources and unlimited potential to improve their lives through small business ownership. Ventures accomplishes this goal by providing low-income entrepreneurs with access to business courses, industry-specific coaching, incubation, and capital to help them grow their businesses. Since its founding, Ventures has provided nearly $1.2 million in loans to help low-income entrepreneurs launch more than 2,400 businesses across Washington State. The typical Ventures client supports a family of two on $22,267 upon enrollment, and 63 percent of our clients move out of poverty within two years. Our vision is that all individuals who seek to succeed as small business owners will have access to the tools and resources that they need to achieve their goals.
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