Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch

Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

Friday, December 6, 2019

You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Black entrepreneurs grow businesses with help from Dream MKE

Black entrepreneurs grow businesses with help from Dream MKE

April 17, 2014 by Rick Brown 1 Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Executive Director Derrick Johnson of Dream MKE aims to help minority entrepreneurs grow with a new fellowship program. (Photo by Rick Brown)

Executive Director Derrick Johnson of Dream MKE aims to help minority entrepreneurs grow with a new fellowship program. (Photo by Rick Brown)

For Nkosi Brown, a business began with a game.

Founder and president of Cleverhouse Games & Toys, he created his company in 2011 on the back of Chess King, a game he devised while incarcerated. Brown has overcome many challenges in building his successful business, but expanding has proven a different game altogether.

“One of the things that I’ve learned is that the [business community] is almost a club,” Brown said. “If they don’t know who you are, you’re not getting in.”

With the help of Dream MKE, Brown found his way into that community. Dream MKE is an online-based nonprofit that hopes to foster growth in minority businesses and start-ups in Milwaukee, according to Executive Director Derrick Johnson.

“We want to foster an alliance between the underserved communities in Milwaukee and existing organizations to create opportunities for minority entrepreneurs,” Johnson said.

0

Founded in December 2012, Dream MKE connects entrepreneurs with business assistance through partnerships with organizations such as the African American Chamber of Commerce, according to Johnson.

The organization also offers consulting and seed loans to minority business owners. Through one-on-one mentoring, Johnson said, he aims to help entrepreneurs implement best practices to remain viable and become better integrated into Milwaukee’s business community.

(Photo by Rick Brown)

(Photo by Rick Brown)

“Our goal is help businesses implement the protocols necessary to remain viable, be successful and create jobs,” Johnson said. “We help them discover how they can expand and how organizations such as WWBIC or the Chamber can help them.”

For businesses such as Cleverhouse, that assistance has been important. Dream MKE’s consulting has helped Cleverhouse expand into new venues, marketing its products at business events  at locations such as the University Club and Italian Conference Center that it might “not have been able to get into so fast” otherwise, Brown said.

For many entrepreneurs, the main difficulty is not knowing how to expand and build connections, Brown added. “We need more outlets and platforms to help small business entrepreneurs that may not know the different routes to go,” Brown said.

Since mid-2013, Dream MKE has offered small loans, or “milestone capital,” of approximately $2,500 to product-oriented entrepreneurs in Milwaukee to help them expand their businesses, Johnson said.

Andre Jones, founder of AJ Investments, has benefited from the organization’s assistance. A business owner and real estate agent with CENTURY 21 Affiliated, he built his company and real estate practice “from the ground up” after a period of unemployment.

Jones said the financial consulting and investment he received from Dream MKE has been “critical.”

“After establishing AJ Investments, I was still unable to capitalize on some opportunities due to lack of funding,” Jones said. “[Dream MKE’s] help has allowed me to stay afloat and become a successful realtor.”

Dream MKE hopes to expand its reach to start-ups through a new fellowship program, according to Johnson. Having secured $50,000 in donor funds, the organization is aiming to gain matching funds from a state or local organization to start a $100,000 grant program for expanding minority enterprises, Johnson said.

The $5,000 grants will provide the “first round of financing” for businesses in high-growth sectors such as technology and consulting, Johnson said.

“We’re focusing on employer-based businesses to create a social impact through jobs,” Johnson said. “We haven’t seen too many high-growth minority enterprises in Milwaukee, and we want to build them.”

According to Johnson, the fellowship program should be finalized within the next two months, when the organization defines its program criteria and selects a partner agency.

Dream MKE is also involved in fostering greater African-American interest in technology. The organization is working to prototype and eventually pilot a “Kids MBA” program to work with teens ages 13-18 to learn business skills and become comfortable with technology, according to Johnson.

“In terms of African-Americans, the educational system hasn’t been great at honing us to do great things,” Johnson said. “Business and technology are a part of that. Many of our children know about the term ‘CEO’ but not ‘founder.’ We want to teach them that, and the concepts to become one.”

Your neighborhood. Your news. Our community.

How to reach us: Email is highly effective. We can be reached at  info@milwaukeenns.org. Our newsroom phone number is (414) 604-6397.

Here’s how to get your news published on our site.

HELP US HELP YOU: As a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to telling your stories, we need your help. Make sure you and your friends SUBSCRIBE to our daily newsletter. And DONATE. Every little bit helps.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Carousel, Economic Development, Home, Neighborhoods, News Tagged With: business, dream mke, Economic Development, entrepreneur, fellowship

About Rick Brown

Comments

  1. Webster Williams says

    October 9, 2019 at 9:19 am

    Hello,
    My name is Webster Williams and I’m trying to start my food truck business. I graduated from a culinary arts program where I learned different and more efficient ways to create, master, and prepare different types of cuisines. I’ve worked in a lot of different types of restaurant from fine dining to assisted living facilities, and everywhere I’ve worked, I learned and adapted. My resume may impress some people, but I’ve always felt like I lacked in experience. One can only get better with time and repetition.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
NewsMatch 2019

NewsMatch starts NOW! Double your investment today.

Starting now — through December 31 — NewsMatch will match your new monthly donation 12x or double your one-time gift, all up to $1,000. We can earn up to $20,000 in matching dollars, which means Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service can raise $40,000 in total. 

Most Popular

  • NNS Spotlight: ‘He doesn’t want to be king but he’s a kingmaker’: Meet the man behind Coffee Makes You Black NNS Spotlight: ‘He doesn’t want to be king but he’s a kingmaker’: Meet the man behind Coffee Makes You Black
  • South Side neighborhood where acid attack occurred finds itself in uncomfortable spotlight South Side neighborhood where acid attack occurred finds itself in uncomfortable spotlight
  • Help for the holidays: Places where you can get free meals Help for the holidays: Places where you can get free meals
  • ‘They think it’s a game’: Residents weigh in on reckless driving ‘They think it’s a game’: Residents weigh in on reckless driving
  • NNS Spotlight: ‘God is not through with me’:  Willie Brisco and his continued fight for social justice NNS Spotlight: ‘God is not through with me’: Willie Brisco and his continued fight for social justice
Advertisement

How To …

Crisis energy assistance: How to keep your utilities on

Here are ways to find emergency and non-emergency energy assistance if you are in need.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

5G Cellular Network Could Be In Milwaukee For Democratic National Convention

Wisconsin Public Radio

Omar Reda, M.D. Addresses Refugee Trauma in Series of Milwaukee Workshops

Wisconsin Muslim Journal

Warming rooms open throughout the City of Milwaukee — here’s a list of locations

WDJT-Milwaukee

Rosa Parks honored with seat tribute by Milwaukee’s public transit system

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Millions could lose access to food stamps under Trump proposal, study finds

The Guardian

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2019 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2019 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in