The Increase Project, PDC’s pilot program to provide minority-owned small businesses with the tools for growth and expansion, recognized its first class of graduates on Tuesday, July 26. The graduation was held at Instrument on North Williams with the awarding of certificates and a congratulatory celebration. Each graduate spent almost 40 hours in class, as well as countless additional hours completing prep work and assignments, engaging in peer-mentoring meetings, and writing individual growth plans. Next steps: implement those plans and take the business to the next level.
Proud friends and families along with City Commissioner Nick Fish, PDC Commissioner Tavo Cruz, and program partner Jean Horstman, CEO of Interise, which developed the Streetwise curriculum used in the Increase Project, joined PDC staffers Tory Campbell (Increase instructor) and Morgan Masterman (project manager) to applaud the graduating participants.
Congratulations to: Michele Sanders, Attic Journals; Jamaal Lane, Champions Barbering Institute; Salud Gonzalez, Don Felipe Products; Jasmine Tran, Essance, LLC; Jamaal Hale, Good Green LLC; Rachel Hestmark, Hestmark Designs; Brandi Webber, Imagination Station Daycare Center; Ro Tam, Tanglewood Beverage Company; Corinne Phillips, Pretty Petals; and Jessica Chan, WinkPens LLC.
