Press Coverage

The key to getting some of what you want.

Compromise is the art of reaching an agreement wherein you and the other party get some, but not all, of what you want. When you’re at a stalemate, compromising can help a conflict move forward. While it might not lead to 100% on your end, ideally you end...

“When you invest in a woman, a woman invests in the women around her, a woman invests in the community around her.”

This is the philosophy Sarah Bondzie, associate investment and loan officer at The Enterprise Center (TEC), has been repeating to herself as the West Philadelphia hub works toward...

The Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia has completed construction on a new community resource hub that was built entirely using the services of minority contractors.

The new three-story building, which had been in construction for over two years, is the result of a new approach taken by the...

After more than two years in development and construction, a new Community Resource Hub has opened at 277 South 52nd St. The grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by state and local officials, like State Sen. Vincent  Hughes and City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, was held on...

Minority entrepreneurs were hit disproportionally hard by Covid-19 and the violence that erupted after George Floyd's murder in 2020. Many Black- and brown-owned businesses that survived the pandemic are still trying to recover and lack sufficient resources to grow. During the Business Journal’s...

Local businesses can get direction, mentoring at Kroc Center.

The Enterprise Center, Mom Your Business and the city of Philadelphia announced that they have opened the application process for minority-owned tech businesses looking to participate in a new pitch competition whose winner will receive up to $80,000 in funding.

The organizations released the...

A joint venture between the University City Science Center and Drexel University is providing its second round of funding to four minority-founded, Philadelphia-area startups ranging from fintech to health care.

The Raynier Seed Fund focuses its financing on up to four underrepresented...

The Enterprise Center recently announced a regional call-for-applications for diverse owners of tech businesses to participate in a new pitch competition.

This is the first-ever ‘Most Diverse Tech Hub’ (MDTH) Pitch Competition is in partnership with Mom Your Business and the City of Philadelphia...

The Enterprise Center has invested a total of $500,000 in two minority-owned businesses selling their food and beverage products in the Philadelphia region.

Enterprise Center Capital Corp,, the community development financial institution of the Philadelphia-based Enterprise Center, made two $250...

In Round 2 of The Citizen’s Ultimate Job Interview of Philadelphia candidates for mayor on Monday night, retired 6abc Anchor Jim Gardner laid out a few unfortunate facts about Philadelphia. We have:

• 26 percent of our population living in poverty, the highest rate of the 10 largest cities in...

Democratic candidates for mayor faced a panel including Jim Gardner for the Philadelphia Citizen's forum on how they will grow jobs and build a pathway to the middle class.

West Philly voters will have a chance this week to meet some candidates for the City Council’s At-Large seats and mayor at two community forums. Both events will take place on Thursday, March 16. Here are some more details about each event.

The Enterprise Center (4548 Market St.) is hosting a...

Mayoral candidates to talk buildings, tourism, business, more

There are at least four chances to see and hear candidates for mayor this week:

• BUILDPhilly Mayoral Forum at the Kimmel Center (8 a.m. Tuesday, RSVP to attend)
• Mayoral Candidates Forum on Hospitality & Tourism at the Pa...

The MBE Equity Multiplier project will work with businesses at their current stage to navigate the equity investment process and ecosystem to increase access to equity and venture investment and investors. The equity project’s services include developing investment packages, reviewing financial...

The six organizations funded in the PHL: Most Diverse Tech Hub initiative's third year will connect talent, convene tech companies, fund underrepresented startups and record impact.

In the third year of the PHL: Most Diverse Tech Hub (MDTH) initiative, the City of Philadelphia’s Department of...

With the opening of a new community branch in West Philadelphia, JPMorgan Chase provides community members with valuable information and resources.

Khaliff Young, a longtime Philadelphia resident, spoke about buying the house his family rented in South Philadelphia for 25 years with the help of a loan officer .

“She spoke to me in language that I could understand,” Young said of Tanyika Rickard, the lending officer at a Chase branch near...

Situated at 15 S. 52nd St., at 6,000 square feet the branch is more than three times the size of a normal Chase store. It occupies the former home of an original Philadelphia Savings Fund Society location.

It is also located in the commercial spine of West Philadelphia, which has been plagued by...

The Enterprise Center

The Enterprise Center (TEC)  has promoted racial and economic equity since 1989 by supporting the growth of diverse small businesses and partnering with West Philadelphia communities on revitalization strategies. Their mission is to cultivate and invest in minority...

Fulton, a subsidiary of Fulton Financial Corp., invested the funds in Innovate Capital Growth Fund, L.P., which provides capital and operational expertise to minority- and women-owned businesses.

The investment is part of Fulton Bank’s Commercial Affinity Banking Initiative, which is designed to...

Lancaster-based Fulton Bank, a Fulton Financial Corp. subsidiary, has invested $1 million in Innovate Capital Growth Fund, a Small Business Investment Company focused on providing equity investments in women- and minority-owned lower middle market firms in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Based in...

The Enterprise Center (TEC) is blazing a trail with its $50 million Innovative Capital Growth Fund, demonstrating how private sector investment can be leveraged through the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Small Business Invest Companies (SBIC) program to increase private-equity investment in...

Fulton Bank has put $1 million into a fund that helps businesses owned by women and minorities.

Innovate Capital Growth Fund L.P. provides capital and expertise to qualifying businesses that have annual revenue of about $2 million to $10 million, according to a statement from Fulton Financial Corp...

PHILADELPHIA & LANCASTER, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fulton Bank, a subsidiary of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FULT), has invested $1 million in Innovate Capital Growth Fund, L.P., which provides capital and operational expertise to enable minority- and women-owned businesses to grow.

“We are...

The Philadelphia Tribune and Independence Blue Cross’ Our Community. Our Health. campaign focuses on providing information and resources to the African American community about the major conditions that diminish health and quality of life – like heart disease, diabetes, and COVID-19. New campaign...

The Enterprise Center, Equity Alliance and Drexel’s Nowak Metro Finance Lab have co-created a plan to revive small, minority-owned businesses on Philly’s 52nd Street Corridor. Here’s why it matters.

This year, minority entrepreneurs are getting a boost in the holiday business all thanks to the newest store in West Philadelphia.

The holiday season is here and these Black businesses are helping you crank up the festivities.

The Philadelphia-based organization, The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation, founded in 1989, has opened its first Black Holiday Pop-Up Market in West Philly.

According to The...

Just in time for the holidays, a Black-owned holiday pop-up has opened in West Philadelphia.

The Enterprise Center opens its first Black-owned holiday pop-up market on the historic corridor.

Exc. - The holiday hustle and bustle starts anew, and in that spirit, we’re back at it with our list of where to find unique gifts in Philly this year.

...

Black Holiday Pop-Up: Shop for clothing, books, candles, skin-care products, home decor and more.

Nov. 11-Jan. 15 — 26 S. 52nd St...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- From trendy tees and adorable accessories to natural skincare and cozy home goods. Everything at the Black Holiday Pop-Up indoor marketplace in West Philadelphia comes from a Black-owned entrepreneur. 

"It's like a Black Macy's in here," senior director of The Enterprise...

West Philly’s 52nd Street corridor is a destination for seasonal cheer, thanks to a holiday pop-up market organized by The Enterprise Center.

Featuring products from over 30 Black-owned small businesses, the department store-meets-local market offers everything from art to accessories to apparel...

Shop at The Enterprise Center's West Philly Black Holiday Pop-Up Market Through January 15, 2023 (Tuesdays through Sundays)

More than 30 Black-owned businesses and Black creators set up shop in West Philadelphia’s historic Black shopping corridor during this special holiday pop-up market...

Nov. 11-Jan. 15, 2023, Sun. 11 a.m.-5p.m., Tue.-Thu. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m. -7p.m.

For the first time ever, The Enterprise Center will present a holiday pop-up market dedicated to Black creators. More than 30 different Black-owned businesses and creators will participate selling their...

With the holiday season quickly approaching, The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation has opened their first Black Holiday Pop-Up Market in West Philadelphia.

The holiday pop-up market is focused on highlighting over 30 Black-owned businesses, with a diverse range of products such...

These local power altruists do more than just champion a cause—they revolutionize the world along the way.

As you plan your holiday shopping, be sure to stop by the Black Holiday Pop-Up Market on 52nd Street just south of Market.

Hosted by The Enterprise Center, the market located in a retail space at 26 S. 52nd St. offers everything from art and jewelry to books and skin and healthcare products from...

Honeysuckle Provisions has opened its doors at the Center for Culinary Enterprises in West Philadelphia.

The concept, founded by fine dining Chef Omar Tate, started as a fine dining pop-up and now, is a fine-eating grocery. Tate says he was moved by the lack of representation of African Americans...

AtiyaOla's Spirit First Foods has been bringing vegan, vegetarian and raw foods to West Philadelphia for more than a decade. You can go for comfort foods like falafel burgers, mild or spicy vegan sausage and vegan cheesesteaks.

There are two soups of the day, one of which is always the coconut...

Della Clark & Regina Hairston

WORK TO DO: As two of the leading voices for Black entrepreneurship in the city, Clark (the Enterprise Center) and Hairston (the African American Chamber of Commerce) are tasked with tackling one of the most pressing questions we face — in a city with climbing property values and booming venture capital, how do we ensure that all Philadelphians partake of the prosperity?

Chefs Omar Tate and Cybille St.Aude-Tate's grocery store with takeout food focuses on nourishment and reclamation of Black food traditions and cultural aesthetics.

The Afrocentric grocery and café on 48th Street in the Walnut Hill neighborhood in West Philadelphia offers “Black-made, -owned and –grown food” with the goal of “expanding the idea of Afrocentricity in food by redefining the limits of a restaurant,” per the organization.

An Afrocentric grocer and café comes to West Philadelphia

The equity minders

When it comes to business services, these impactful women remain must-knows in the city: The Enterprise Center’s Della Clark and the African-American Chamber of Commerce of PA, NJ & DE’s Regina Hairston.

“As two of the leading voices for Black entrepreneurship in the city...

After more than two years in planning, this will be the first full week of business for West Philly’s highly anticipated Honeysuckle Provisions, a market and cafe from husband-and-wife chefs Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate that aims to forward Black culture. Expect groceries, hoagies, salads...

Gilbane Building Company is pleased to announce that Craig Campbell has joined the team as economic inclusion manager for the Philadelphia and New Jersey business units. Campbell will be responsible for developing and fostering relationships with external stakeholders, conducting outreach with small...

IKEA South Philadelphia has designated The Enterprise Center and The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey as recipients of a $50,000 Black Business Initiative (BBI) grant funded by the IKEA U.S. Community Foundation. Each organization received a $25,000 grant, which will support Black...

Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Acting Secretary Neil Weaver and the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) announced today that $5 million through the Diverse Leaders Venture Program has been approved for two Philadelphia-based venture capital firms that will...

Cybille St. Aude-Tate quickly corrects herself when she talks about the folks who shop at Honeysuckle Provisions, the new Afrocentric grocery and café set to open this Saturday, Oct. 29 near 48th and Pine.

“Not customers … neighbors,” said St. Aude, an accomplished Haitian-American chef who runs...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined regional leaders in West Philadelphia Thursday to discuss ways to include minority business owners in potential transportation contracting opportunities.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in Philadelphia Thursday. He's visiting the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia to talk about potential contracting opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses.

Secretary Buttigieg is also expected to detail transportation investment...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday took part in a Philadelphia conference focused on expanding the number of Black and brown contractors in the region.

Speaking at the event, Della Clark of the Enterprise Center noted there are many subcontractors who could grow if they had...

The Enterprise Center has paid $12.5 million for a stretch of land it will look to develop in West Philadelphia, part of a broader effort by the nonprofit aimed at revitalizing the area in and around the 52nd Street commercial spine. Clark said the Enterprise Center, a community development...

"I learned about making simple food by working at some of the most exciting restaurants in Philadelphia and New York. Now I’m trying to bring some of that simplicity to a new West Philly grocery store." - Omar Tate, Owner Honeysuckle Provisions

I was 5 years old the first time my mother sent me...

The Philadelphia Inquirer provided readers with tips on how to get a small business loan, offering a step-by-step explanation on the loan securement process and answering common questions, as well as directly mentioning lending organizations and community-based financial institutions in Philadelphia...

An award ceremony took place to kick off the 2022 Philadelphia MED Week, honoring diverse small business owners making a positive impact to the city.

Philadelphia’s leading domestic violence service provider and advocate — is teaming up with the city of Philadelphia Office of Domestic Violence Strategies to launch Domestic Violence Awareness Month with its 15th Annual iPledge Campaign. The 2022 iPledge Campaign, Take the Lead, as a call to action...

As a chef–organizer–entrepreneur, Evans highlights the stories of incarcerated individuals through food, storytelling, and—most importantly—empathy.

In the days leading up to Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Philadelphia, Women Against Abuse launched its 15th annual iPledge® campaign.

At the Philadelphia City Hall courtyard on Wednesday, Sept. 28, Philadelphia’s largest domestic violence provider, held an event hosted by Iola Harper...

Richard Foreman Jr., the second-generation owner of longstanding Dynamite Pest Control, gave The Enterprise Center and our partner Wells Fargo a nod in a recent interview conducted by Billy Penn in response to improvements made to his storefront as a part of the Hope, U.S.A. campaign:

"...Foreman...

PHILADELPHIA- The Enterprise Center has announced it will be holding a Black Holiday Pop-Up Market in West Philadelphia this fall. This pop-up event will take place from November 1, 2022, and run until January 15, 2023. The market will be held in the very heart of the historic Black business...

When Poorva and Rajus Korde moved to the Philadelphia area with their new baby, shipments of homemade food followed from Rajus’ parents, Arvind and Vijoo, who were living in Michigan. “My mother and my mother-in-law grew up treating food as a way to nurture, to heal, to comfort,” said Vijoo Korde, a...

After 30 years at the Enterprise Center, Della Clark says her work is just getting started.

For most, that’s an unusual sentiment. After decades of work, thoughts of retirement begin to take hold. But for Clark, a champion of Philadelphia-area women and minority business owners for the past three...

An amazing opportunity for a young baker, as she will sell her goods inside some local grocery stores. It’s all thanks to a special program designed to give young entrepreneurs the leg up they need to get their businesses started.

"I’m making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Right now, I’m making...

...

In Philadelphia, many turned to The Enterprise Center, which became a hub for loan activity. Iola Harper – senior executive vice president at the Center – said they were already working at a deficit when COVID hit.

So, the organization positioned itself to distribute funds, to help keep...

...

When Guzman visited Philadelphia last summer, she met with officials from The Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia. Since that time, The Enterprise Center launched a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) that will provide growth equity capital to local “standout” minority- and women...

There’s no shortage of advice from experts and entrepreneurs to help you start up a business. Have a business plan, they say. Make sure you’ve accumulated enough capital. Put together a team of advisers. Watch your overhead. Be prepared to spend a lot of time.

All of that advice is true. But what...

Honeysuckle Provisions (310 S 48th St., mid-September). What chefs Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate’s call their “Afrocentric grocery cafe” is reaching the finish line after two years. Omar Tate says the small grocery will sell produce from local Black farmers (including themselves — they operate...

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia hopes to improve health outcomes for kids by repairing the homes they live in, thanks to a $1 million investment from Bank of America. CHOP will select more than 100 homes in West and Southwest Philadelphia — where one-third of children live below the poverty line...

Funding aims to reduce health disparities for patient and families living in West Philadelphia, extending CHOP’s overall community impact.

[Della Clark]'s leadership throughout her 30-year career at the Enterprise Center, which offers financial services to minority and women business owners, has made her an invaluable asset for many in the Philadelphia community. It is for those three decades of work, as well as her dedication to...

A new agreement between the city of Philadelphia and SEPTA is designed to promote diversity in contracting and supply the transit agency with the materials it needs to move into the future.

Deputy Managing Director Mike Carroll, who is also a SEPTA board member, said the Equity in Infrastructure...

This Sunday, June 19, is Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The date marks the day in 1865 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were finally told of their freedom, more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

A recent...

The funding will aid The Enterprise Center, and is a continuation of Wells Fargo’s pledge to support small businesses in a variety of ways.

The 52nd Street business corridor in West Philadelphia will be receiving an extra boost!

On Monday, June 13, Wells Fargo announced that it will provide...

The 52nd Street business corridor will get improvements ahead of Philadelphia’s Juneteenth Parade and Festival, thanks to funding received as part of Wells Fargo’s “HOPE 2.0” initiative. The $250,000 in funding, presented to The Enterprise Center today, is a continuation of Wells Fargo’s “HOPE, USA”...

Shelby Turner, the administrative assistant to Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Food Service Director Anthony Avalone, keeps an ever-growing list of entrepreneurs in and around West Philadelphia who might like to sell their products to staff, patients, and caregivers at the hospital...

Who's who in the local technology and business community? These Philadelphians are opening doors and bringing others together in another challenging year.

If you wanted to join the Philly tech community today and hit the ground running, who should you meet? Who would help you on your way? It’s a...

The Enterprise Center in Philly pioneers a new idea to fill in the equity gap by getting private investment fund managers to invest in more women- and minority-led businesses.

The Enterprise Center’s new Innovate Capital Growth Fund is specifically seeking out minority- or women-owned businesses...

Comcast recently officially announced of the latest round of RISE grant funding to be distributed. The Comcast RISE Investment Fund will provide $1 million in grants to support Philadelphia small businesses hardest hit by the pandemic.

The national nonprofit Founders First CDC has announced its second expanded “Job Creators Quest Grant for qualified businesses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The program will total $100,000 and be awarded to 30 minority and underrepresented businesses in the neighboring northeast states. Grant...

In honor of National Small Business Week, Wells Fargo convened a panel discussion of local leaders in partnership with the Enterprise Center, Camden Business Association, Camden Community Partnership, Latin American Economic Development Association and Parkside Business & Community in Partnership...

Councilwoman Cherelle Parker on Monday morning kicked off National Small Business Week with a news conference outside the New Olympia House restaurant, 7242 Castor Ave.

Parker was joined by officials of the Pennsylvania Community Development Financial Institutions Network, city commerce...

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)  today announced that it will host its first-ever Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Diverse and Emerging Fund Manager Forum on April 25. The event will feature the Honorable Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and leaders across the...

Della Clark, president of The Enterprise Center is seeking to raise $50 million for the Innovate Capital Growth Fund to address the capital gap faced by numerous minority and women owned businesses in the mid-Atlantic region.

With the launch of the fund, TEC becomes the first Minority Business...

One of the most prominent non-profit organizations in West Philly, The Enterprise Center, is launching a fund in order to help struggling businesses owned by women and people of color within the Philadelphia, New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic area.

Many up-and-coming entrepreneurs and businesses...

Della Clark, president of the Enterprise Center of West Philadelphia, is raising $50 million for a new, for-profit fund investing in small businesses run by women and underrepresented entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other mid-Atlantic states, the founders said Monday.

Clark’s...

The Enterprise Center, the West Philadelphia-based nonprofit offering business education and capital resources, is officially launching its fund to support investments in women- and minority-owned businesses. Called the Innovate Capital Growth Fund and aiming to cap at $50 million, the plans for the...

The Enterprise Center said Monday that it is launching a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) that will provide growth equity capital to local “standout” minority- and women-owned businesses in the Philadelphia region.

An SBIC is a privately owned and operated company that makes long-term...

Philadelphia-area partnerships between for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations are taking local philanthropy to new heights.

Read the full article here.

At a time when affordable housing and job markets are at a crisis point, one organization in Philadelphia is tackling the challenge head-on — and centering women developers of color in the process.

A $900,000 specialty fund from The Enterprise Center, a nonprofit that supports small and mid-sized...

U.S Congressman Dwight Evans received a $1million grant to renovate West Philadelphia’s 52nd Street.

This money will go towards West Philadelphia’s famous 52nd Street in order to add more businesses and create more jobs, while also revamping the area to give it a makeover.

This new business...

Following the passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan a year ago almost to the day, the Nowak Lab and New Localism Associates created an “Investment Playbook” tool to help cities maximize the fragmented flow of federal funds by strategically selecting geographies of opportunity and...

National League of Cities, an organization comprised of local leaders across the US that are focused on improving the quality of life in their communities, is developing an action guide called A Roadmap to Inclusive Entrepreneurship. And Wilmington leadership is involved.

Wells Fargo has earmarked $420 million to small business recovery efforts for those hardest hit—minority and women-owned businesses.

The Enterprise Center of New Jersey will also house the new Camden Cares Business Center, with funding from the CARES Act. This program will provide technical assistance, training services, and funding application support to COVID-impacted businesses in Camden.

Clients will participate in intake...

JPMorgan Chase announced a $30 billion commitment to advancing racial equality and economic opportunity for people and communities of color over four years. Other institutions have made similar pledges. PNC promised $1 billion to social justice and economic empowerment of Black communities. Wells...

The University City Science Center will recognize four local leaders during its annual Nucleus Awards on September 21, 2021, presented by CSL Behring. This year’s class of honorees includes Max Perelman, Co-founder and Business Lead of Biomeme; Della Clark, President of The Enterprise Center; Tracey...

Community members in Walnut Hill including the Walnut Hill Community Association gathered in a collaborative effort with the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation and The Enterprise Center to rebuild Walnut Hill Park creating a safe and relaxing space for children and families. 

MBC-PA Director James Sanders highlighted the importance of kicking the partnership off by focusing on the importance of how advisory boards assist business development.

“We have looked at our clients that we’re worked with over the past 10 years, and we’ve noticed that the firms that have grown...