Black Entrepreneurs Survive & Thrive

On the following episode of The BEST Podcast, I sat down with Mitchell Greene, who’s leading the ground efforts with the New Jersey BEST Fund, which includes identifying, screening, and working with black entrepreneurs, in order to get them access to patient capital through our partners.

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On this episode of The BEST Podcast, I sit down with Kristine Smith, CEO/Co-Founder of the InSpira Performing Arts & Cultural Center, a dance and music center for children and adults, currently operating two locations in New Brunswick and Newark, NJ. Kristine started InSpira in 2002 in the basement of a church with 14 kids and now is currently serving nearly 300 students, between her two locations.

To learn more about InSpira Performing Arts & Cultural Center visit: https://inspiraarts.com/

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On this episode of The BEST Podcast, I interview Dr. Suffiyah Web, a Newark Native and Founder of Brilliant Smiles Pediatric Dentistry, a unique dental environment that focuses on total body wellness for children. Suffiyah and I discuss how the pandemic has impacted her business, and how through it all, she’s kept her small team inspired, employed, and still able to serve the community, through her pediatric dental services.

To learn more about Brilliant Smiles, please visit: https://www.brilliantnewark.com/

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On this inaugural episode of the BEST Podcast, I’m joined by Lyneir Richardson to discuss Patient Capital and the NJ BEST Patient Capital Fund. With financial support secured from M&T Bank and the Surdna Foundation, The NJ BEST Patient Capital Fund will deploy $250,000 - $500,000 of non-dilutive capital – specifically, recoverable grants $25,000 to $50,000 – to provide patient capital to black entrepreneurs.

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Introducing The BEST (Black Entrepreneurs Survive and Thrive) Podcast, a show dedicated to highlighting the resilience of black entrepreneurs and the impact of patient capital.

This series is brought to you by the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers Business School, where we integrate scholarly works with private capital, government, and non-profit sectors to develop citywide resources and bring renewed economic growth and vitality through urban entrepreneurship. We promote and foster a new generation of urban entrepreneurs who are actively seeking a socially conscious urban renaissance.

To learn more about how you can support our efforts, visit www.business.rutgers.edu/cueed

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