Last week, we were honored to have U.S. Small Business Administration’s Southeast Region Deputy Administrator John Rich, and the SBA South Florida District Office’s Clem Garcia join City of Cocoa, Florida Institute of Technology's Dean of the Bisk College of Business Theodore Richardson, and weVENTURE Women's Business Center's Liz Llinás and Amanda Allen for a tour of two of our UpStart Cocoa businesses.
Our first stop was with new grant recipient,Zeleck Ruiz of Mighty Hands Boxing. Zeleck is a local veteran building a community based boxing gym, empowering individuals to grow stronger mentally and physically. He highlighted how quickly he is growing and the amazing community work he is doing to support youth in Cocoa.
Next, we headed to meet Alisa Otto of trekALLa, in their final year as a grant recipient of UpStart Cocoa. Alisa founded a microfactory that focuses on sustainability, size inclusivity, and the love of learning to sew. Trekalla has continued to grow as Alisa expands to support workshops and a microfactory.
We are so happy to be a part of Zeleck and Alisa’s business journey through UpStart Cocoa! Through our partnership with the City of Cocoa with Samantha Senger and Greg Browder we are able to collaborate and grow our thriving community of entrepreneurs!
What if your business could keep thriving even when you're not involved in every decision?
Join us on Thursday morning, November 5th for Strong Coffee Strong Women and hear from Wendy Romeu, President & CEO of Alluvionic Inc., as she shares practical strategies for building a resilient business that can run without relying on its owner for every task.
The rules are simple: • Complete any three squares in a row and win a Strong Coffee Strong Women ticket • Complete the entire board and win tickets to all 2027 Strong Coffee Strong Women events • Submit your completed card by email or social media using #weVENTURE20
Do you know how to help create a safe workspace for your employees who may be experiencing domestic violence? October is domestic violence awareness month and you can help- here is a webinar recording:
