San Francisco – An unprecedented number of small businesses in the Cortland Avenue Corridor are utilizing an important asset in the San Francisco small business community. Working Solutions, a local nonprofit microlender is providing much-needed capital to businesses that need small loans that traditional banks won’t touch. And creating jobs in the process – a total of 17 jobs!
Category: Success Story
Galen Garretson, Town Cutler
San Francisco – Galen saw beautiful sushi-grade fish lose their clean line, vegetables chopped in non-uniform sizes, and butchers turn red because of rough cuts. Finally fed up with this problem, he put down his chef’s hat and replaced it with a whetstone.
Sarah Dvorak, Mission Cheese
San Francisco – Sarah Dvorak knows cheese. Whether it be the sweet and nutty Estero Gold, the smooth and earthly Boho Bel, or the notoriously fragrant bleu cheeses from Northern Califiornia, this cheesehead breaks it down for you.
Chris & Jennifer Saint, Sweet Treats
San Diego – One day at a friend’s party, Chris, Jennifer and some others were reminiscing about the ice cream truck when they were kids – the excitement they had when they heard the music, the breathlessness from running in the house, scrounging for change and hoping you didn’t miss the truck, eating the peanuts off the top of a Drumstick, then the chocolate, then the vanilla ice cream, then crunching on the cone.
Kara McGibben, Perception Construction
Kara and her husband came to CAMEO member Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) in Santa Barbara after a long period of unemployment. The two decided take their economic future into their own hands and launch a business. With a background in project management for construction companies, Kara completed the WEV 2009 Spring Self-Employment Training course and
Ted Sheets, Advanced Signs
Ted Sheets has been making signs in Eureka since 1984. In 2006, he began to look at the possibility of moving out of his garage, which was full to the rafters. Ted wanted to expand his sign business and started looking at sign franchise opportunities. But he didn’t know how to tell if it was
Lucy Ludwig
Lucy Ludwig received a $3,000 microloan from Accion San Diego to launch her law practice.
JJ Lee & Chris Lord, Overtone Productions
JJ Lee and Chris Lord enrolled in the Individual Development Account program with CAMEO member Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) in Los Angeles with the goal of launching a music production company. Upon completion of their required savings and education trainings, they were able to secure capital for equipping their home-based production studio. Overtone
Ginger Elizabeth Hahn, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates
Fascinated with chocolate and its beautiful and complex characteristics, Ginger Elizabeth Hahn had always dreamed of opening her own chocolaterie. A formally trained American chocolatier, Ginger Elizabeth began learning her craft at age 16 at a truffle class in Sacramento at the Learning Exchange. From there, she took classes at the Culinary Institute of America
Elizabeth Pond, Financial Health Services
Elizabeth Pond received training from UCSB to get her small business off the ground, then joined Women’s Economic Ventures in order to help other entrepreneurs.