The original version of this story comes to us courtesy of Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center.
Tana Harris had been in the construction industry for nearly 20 years when she started thinking about starting her own business. In 2013, she attended Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center’s introductory business class. What started as just an idea came to fruition as Harris Hoisting, the only African-American woman owned hoisting company in the city of San Francisco.
Since Tana incorporated in 2015, her business has expanded rapidly. She has won contract work on major projects in San Francisco including Salesforce Tower, the Bay Bridge, Chase Stadium and Park Tower at the Transbay Terminal. As a native San Franciscan woman of color and veteran herself, Tana has committed herself to hiring local residents, people of color, women and veterans.
Through workshops and consulting at Renaissance, Tana learned how to better manage her finances, enhance her operations, market her services and secure capital. Those are all skills and resources that have been vital to the growth of her business.
Renaissance also helped Tana obtain her Woman/Minority Business Enterprise (WBE/MBE), Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Micro Small Business (SB), and Local Business Enterprise (LBE) certifications.