The April 2021 issue of the Habitat for Neighborhood Business newsletter features the founder and Board Chair for Habitat for Neighborhood Business, Doug Brown, a former Enterprise Rent a Car executive. Doug’s vision and determination made HNB a reality to ultimately bring more commerce to underserved St. Louis city neighborhoods. This month we also feature two HNB entrepreneurs, Dorise Robinson, owner of Cardinal Healthcare Services, LLC, and Travious Brooks, owner of Brooks Family Entertainment, LLC. Read about their products and services.
The March 2021 issue of the Habitat for Neighborhood Business newsletter features the new Dean of the Chaifetz School of Business at St. Louis University, Dr. Barnali Gupta. Dr. Gupta supports the HNB program and we look forward to her expertise as HNB continues to collaborate with SLU resources to benefit HNB entrepreneurs. Welcome, Dr. Gupta! This month we also feature two HNB entrepreneurs, Felicia Pulliam, owner of Create Community, LLC, and Brigitte Hamilton, owner of Fancy Girl, LLC. Read about their products and services. Also featured is a recent Post-Dispatch interview with HNB entrepreneur, Jeanetta Hawkins, who discusses how she, with the help of HNB, kept her business open during the pandemic. Lastly, mentoring is also an important component of the HNB program, and featured this month is HNB Mentor Michelle Dix, who owns Urban Focus Planning & Design, LLC. Michelle mentors an HNB entrepreneur who owns a real estate development company.
HNB recently received a grant from the Pettus Foundation to increase the visibility of the program in the St. Louis area. This issue of the newsletter features an HNB interview on KWMU with HNB Executive Director Linda M. Jones and HNB entrepreneur Leslie Christian-Wilson, owner of Diversity Gallery. HNB is also recruiting business mentors to mentor the small business owners in the HNB program, recognizing the special issues impacting small business owners due to the COVID pandemic. If you have an interest in mentoring an HNB entrepreneur, contact Gladys Smith,PhD, at 314-341-0868
2020 has been a year like no other. The HNB board and staff are so proud of how our entrepreneurs fought to survive and, in few cases, have even prospered during this difficult time. We remain deeply appreciative for the assistance of our supporters and volunteer mentors. With a new year, HNB is moving forward in 2021 to assist more minority businesses in the under-served areas of St. Louis city. See the list of the HNB businesses in this newsletter.
In last fall’s newsletter we reported that our Habitat for Neighborhood Business program at Saint Louis University had achieved its most significant growth in our 12-year history by increasing service to more than two dozen entrepreneurs. We continued to press ahead throughout the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and will end this year with almost 40 minority owned businesses in St. Louis City under-served neighborhoods.