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Pioneer Valley Entrepreneurship
THE WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM
Since George Washington chose Springfield as the site for the U.S. National Armory in 1777, the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts has been a hub of innovation. Agriculture, wood products, rural enterprises, metal and precision manufacturing, and colleges have all made their home in the area. Intellectual, financial, and practical networks have long linked the doers and the makers of western Massachusetts, and in recent years, organizations supporting entrepreneurs have gained traction to help everyone with great venture ideas find the best ways to bring them to life.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR EVERYBODY
The nonprofit EforAll aims to foster inclusive entrepreneurship in communities with the goal of accelerating economic and social impacts. The Holyoke, Mass., site started in 2015 as SPARK, a program of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce; SPARK joined forces with the Lowell-based EforAll in 2018, and last year launched a Spanish-language version of the program, called EparaTodos.
EforAll’s approach is predicated upon the understanding that under-networked and under-funded groups face barriers to entry into entrepreneurship, which impede their success. The organization provides would-be entrepreneurs with the three necessary components for success that they so frequently lack—business know-how, access to capital, and a professional network—by offering a year-long accelerator program twice a year, and four pitch contests. The programs are totally free, thanks to generous funders and corporate and individual donors. These three local entrepreneurs have participated in Holyoke EforAll programs:
Nicole Ortiz, Crave Food Truck & Restaurant: Ortiz (pictured left) is the proud owner of Crave Food Truck, which opened in August 2020. Her delicious tacos and rice bowls made with local fresh ingredients became an instant hit in Holyoke. This business is the culmination of Ortiz’s long-time fascination with food trucks, which led her to culinary school to get her start. Like many EforAll graduates, Ortiz’s first experience with the organization was participating in a Pitch Contest, where she won first prize. In addition to her thriving food truck, Ortiz opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant that now employs 10 people.
Mike Bennion, LifeBooch Kombucha: Like many entrepreneurs, Bennion started his business based on passion (in his case, a love of kombucha) and identification of a market (his neighbors wanted to buy it from him). Bennion and his partner teamed up and started slowly, brewing in a shared kitchen and, occasionally, selling small quantities at farmers’ markets. After completing EforAll, Bennion and his partner moved out of the shared kitchen and into their own 1,200-square-foot custom-built brewery, where they run LifeBooch Kombucha. They also got their wholesale license and expanded their brewing capacity from 75 gallons/month to 600 gallons/month.
Jessika Rozki, Rozki Rides: Rozki was a bus driver for 15 years, but after her baby was born, she wanted to be more present in her daughter’s life. She launched Rozki Rides, a transportation service taking families to and from school and day care, and to medical appointments or sports activities. Rozki was accepted into the Winter 2020 Accelerator Cohort, where she received the support of mentors and lessons ranging from finance to marketing, allowing her to take her business to the next level. After graduating, Rozki expanded her business to work with local foster care agencies and added a second driver to her team.
Find more information at eforall.org
GRINSPOON ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVE
Local real estate entrepreneur Harold Grinspoon developed the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative (EI) in 2003 (a program of the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation) to elevate the importance of entrepreneurship and recognize entrepreneurial excellence among college students.
The mission of the EI is to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the Pioneer Valley by fostering an educational environment among participating colleges and universities that informs, supports, and inspires students, and by recognizing and awarding students who display entrepreneurial spirit.
Grinspoon EI hosts two high-profile events—an annual fall conference and a spring awards banquet—and recognizes outstanding students with Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards.
Grinspoon EI Member Institutions
American International College Amherst College Bay Path University Elms College Greenfield Community College Hampshire College Holyoke Community College Mount Holyoke College Smith College Springfield College Springfield Technical Community College University of Massachusetts Western New England University Westfield State University
VALLEY VENTURE MENTORS
Since its inception in 2011, Springfield-based nonprofit Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) has become the center of a community of entrepreneurial thinkers: small-business owners using its co-working space (pictured above), experienced advisors mentoring startup founders, and people with ideas trying to figure out next steps. The organization, which helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into thriving, scalable businesses, has been the Berthiaume Center’s partner in producing the Collegiate Summer Venture Program since 2019. VVM also holds lively monthly mentorship meetings, where volunteers help startup founders with their pitching skills and discuss solutions to their business problems. The connections made at meetings create vital social capital among entrepreneurs, helping to make western Massachusetts a destination for startups. Chris Lucas, cofounder and CEO of the digital well-being platform Ompractice, describes how VVM’s accelerator program helped his team launch a business based on live two-way yoga classes:
“Without a doubt, VVM was transformative for our company, creating a sense of structure and community at once. The forcing function helped us focus on the right things at the right times, and we got to know an incredibly diverse group of founders, operators, advisors, and mentors! The setup where all companies were invested in the success of each other was—and remains— completely unique to any other accelerator we’ve been part of since.
“Having a free place to gather and co-work proved invaluable early on; and we loved it so much, we signed up for a full office in the new space. It is such a special community hub where people from all stages of a company’s life can swap stories, pitch in with ideas, and get real-time feedback.
“The VVM accelerator eventually led to investments by three local funds. It is no exaggeration to say Ompractice would not exist without the VVM accelerator. We were investable because of what we learned and applied, giving us a huge advantage early on.”
Learn more at valleyventurementors.org
Local Business Groups Foster Innovation
“With the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Improvement District (BID), the Downtown Amherst Foundation (DAF) raised close to $500,000 to support small businesses” during the pandemic, said Gabrielle Gould, who leads both the BID and the DAF as executive director. Gould noted that the foundation gave 65 grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to Amherst businesses and donated $10,000 worth of personal protective equipment.
“Plus, we became experts in grants from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation,” she added. “We helped the Amherst area receive literally millions of dollars in grants, loans, and support.”
Her counterpart at the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, executive director Claudia Pazmany, elaborated on how her organization had supported local entrepreneurs: “We supported local startups like the Yerli,” Pazmany says, referring to an app developed by UMass Amherst students Kevin Cutinella (management) and Avi Benmayor (industrial engineering) that provides a platform where residents—including college students—can learn more about local small businesses. “We also supported local businesses with new product development, such as Amherst Coffee’s delivery option during COVID,” she added.
“Everything we have accomplished during the pandemic has been a direct result of partnership,” Pazmany continued. “Every single initiative was a reinvestment in our small businesses, with a lens of setting them up for success in the future and attracting new entrepreneurs to our local ecosystem.”
