Madison’s Black Business Hub creates opportunities for entrepreneurs | MADISON MAGAZINE

In just seven weeks, Brandon Dimmer went from selling scratch-made items at pop-up events to launching a full catering business called Bee Made It — all because of the Black Business Hub.

Dimmer was one of five entrepreneurs who graduated from the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Black Business Hub’s business accelerator, gBETA, on Feb. 6. The program is a seven-week crash course in entrepreneurship, open to both new and established business owners. Participants took classes, attended mentorship sessions and got to network with leaders across Dane County.

“The amount of information that we learned in that short period of time was mind-blowing,” he says. He entered gBETA with plans to expand his existing product sales; he left with a catering company, a website and a three-year plan ending in a food truck of his own.

The Black Business Hub, located at 2222 S. Park St., opened its doors to the public last August. Dimmer is just one of the success stories since then. The Hub, which is also home to the Black Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, aims to eliminate barriers for entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their small business. In addition to housing these economic resources, the Hub also offers office space, cubicles and a community kitchen for entrepreneurs like Dimmer, who are looking for low-cost ways to bring their product to market.

“The goal is to create a viable destination for businesses that would not likely have the opportunities to grow because of financial overhead and other barriers,” says Shakkiah Curtis, a consultant for the Hub. Curtis is also the owner of Tailer Nicole Wine & Cupcakes, a luxury wine-and-treat bar that will open in the Hub in late April.

The Hub is primarily a center for Black and other entrepreneurs of color to pursue start-ups and expand their existing businesses surrounded by a strong network of support. In 2017, only 40 Black-owned small businesses in Madison employed more than one employee, according to the Hub’s website.

“We want to see a hundred in another two years, and then two hundred, three hundred, and change those statistics,” says Magugu Davis, the Black Business Hub director.

Davis says most of the Hub’s office spaces are already in use — there are only three remaining office spaces available between the Hub’s third and fourth floors — and the open co-working spaces are frequently filled with people, too.

Crucial to the Black Business Hub’s model is the idea of networking, sharing and synergy. Budding entrepreneurs can also rely on dedicated business mentorship organizations like WWBIC and the Black Chamber of Commerce. They also can turn to other businesses at the Hub for mentorship or resources.

“If a person wants to do a podcast, we send them to the second floor. You want to do your nails? We send you to the spa,” Davis says. “We know where to send you, whatever you want to have.”

Tailer Nicole, for example, will serve cupcakes made by a company operating out of the Hub’s community kitchen.

The Hub also elevates Madison’s Black business community through regular educational events. In addition to programming like gBETA, the Hub hosts small business pop-ups, industry-specific trainings and networking nights. Last October, it held a speed-coaching night, where entrepreneurs could speak to tax attorneys, bank spokespeople and successful business owners. For new small business owners, these opportunities provide a vital lifeline, navigating them through complicated processes.

“Coming from corporate America and getting into entrepreneurship for the first time … the Urban League has been really instrumental in building my confidence to push forward and launch my business.” says Gregory Taylor, a gBETA participant.

His company, See My Ears, is dedicated to empowering individuals with hearing impairments to seek help and improve the quality of their lives. Taylor hopes to open See My Ears this July. He is currently looking for space on the first floor of the Hub, but he says the Hub is supporting him for his search for real estate elsewhere as well.

While the Black Business Hub hopes that new entrepreneurs find a space within its walls, it is ultimately a catalyst for the growth of Black entrepreneurs across the greater Madison area.

“We don’t expect people to stay permanently,” Davis says. When the entrepreneurs have found their footing and want to move into a larger space, the Hub will support them. “We allow another group of people with the next generation to come and start from there and grow and move out.

By providing a pipeline — from pop-up to start-up to full brick-and-mortar — and plenty of trainings along the way, the Black Business Hub hopes to create a strong, well-connected web of entrepreneurs.

And for the entrepreneurs themselves —  like Dimmer, who is launching his catering company from the Hub’s community kitchen — the Black Business Hub can turn fantasy into reality.

“It feels like I’m living a dream,” Dimmer says. “I’m living out my dream by accomplishing something that was deep down inside of my brain and bringing it out to see it come to fruition.”

Gabby Shell is an editorial intern at Madison Magazine.

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