71 Entrepreneurs Graduate from RTC’s Community Business Academy

JERSEY CITY—June 4, 2012---During a beautiful ceremony overlooking the Hudson River, 71 entrepreneurs graduated from Rising Tide Capital’s Community Business Academy. Held in the Goldman Sachs building in Jersey City, the graduation was the largest to date for the nonprofit which provides entrepreneurs with resources to start and run a business.

“This all started with a dream- with Alex and I wondering what we could do to make our communities better. We started a class with just 15 entrepreneurs, now look at where we are today,” said Alfa Demmellash, who co-founded RTC with the vision to provide affordable entrepreneurship training in New Jersey.

In their remarks, Demmellash and RTC co-founder Alex Forrester paid tribute to one of the very first Rising Tide Entrepreneurs, the late Harvey George who was best known for his role as founder of the Friends of the Lifers Youth Corp. Calling George, their first friend in Jersey City, Forrester pledged to create an award in his honor.

“The Harvey George award will go towards a business that is not only profitable, but makes the world a better place,” said Forrester in recognition of George’s persistent efforts to improve the community through his work with the formerly incarcerated.

The ceremony also included the launch of The Start Something Challenge, a series of programs beginning May 31st to help entrepreneurs prepare for Rising Tide Capital's biggest pitch competition of the year.

The first class of the CBA was launched in Jersey City in 2006. Since then, it has expanded to three locations in Jersey City and one new location in Orange in partnership with JPMorgan Chase and the Orange Township Board of Education. Due to high demand in Essex County, RTC will add one additional class in Essex County for the Fall 2012 session.

Valued at $3,000 per student, the tuition for the CBA is waived for anyone accepted into the program. For entrepreneurs like recent graduate Antonio Couto, this waiver is critical.

“I made the call [to Rising Tide Capital], concerned about how much [the CBA] was going to cost… but RTC made it affordable for us aspiring entrepreneurs with limited budgets,” said Couto, who had lost his job prior to learning about RTC. He is now the proud founder and CEO of Web Mobile Strategies, LLC.

Over 11 weeks, entrepreneurs in Jersey City and Orange learned the nuts and bolts of what it takes to start a business through homework assignments and interactive activities.

“During one of the very first classes [my instructor] sent us out on Martin Luther King Drive to get information on a local Latin Restaurant… Talk about different!” said Cassandra Scrimmager, founder of Omigashi Sweets, LLC who spoke at graduation.

As new graduates, all 71 entrepreneurs will join Club CEO, gaining access to year around, discounted Business Acceleration Services which include business seminars and one-on-one consultation with RTC’s Help Desk specialists.

“[Rising Tide Capital] is going to continue to work with us even after graduation. No other program does that,” said Scrimmager.

To accomodate the large graduation, Goldman Sachs provided a venue and refreshments for the graduation ceremony.

“I can’t believe the size of this group. I’m proud to say that I’ve been at every Rising Tide graduation to date and that we at Goldman Sachs couldn’t be happier to host,” said Anthony Cammarata, Managing Director for Goldman Sachs & Co.

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Read More about our 2012 Executive Summary Competition winners

Congratulations Spring 2012 CBA Graduates!