I am a fan of Baltimore Community Lending, a federally certified Community Development Financial Institution that has made loans in parts of Baltimore where the big banks refuse to invest. BCL’s involvement in the project described below — to train and prepare new food growers and other food and beverage entrepreneurs for the post-pandemic world — makes it worth a shout-out and call-out.
Cureate is offering a free 10-week small business accelerator program for food and beverage businesses, including growers, a project supported by BCL. The effort results from a 2.3 million grant from University of Maryland Medical System to create more locally-sourced food systems. BCL received $630,000 of the grant.
Businesses must be based in Baltimore City or County, Prince George’s County or Charles County. A simple online application is open now: http://cureate.co/courses-md. Applications must be received by September 12.
Cureate is a for-profit, woman-owned small business that is building food and beverage supply to meet local consumer demand. “This grant will provide valuable training and technical assistance to entrepreneurs to help their businesses thrive and provide jobs and fresh food to the community,” said Kim Bryden, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cureate.
Dan Rodricks 