Black Restaurant Accelerator Program lends support to Baltimore's Black entrepreneurs

BALTIMORE -- August is Black Business Month which is a time to uplift and acknowledge Black businesses. 

Greater Baltimore Urban League (GBUL) supports Black entrepreneurs through its Black Restaurant Accelerator Program (BRAP) which has helped dozens of Black entrepreneurs jump-start their businesses and equip them with the tools they need for long-term success.

Greater Baltimore Urban League's Black Restaurant Accelerator Program has provided $240,000 to 24 food-service businesses since its inception.

Business with a passion  

Dante Harrison and Donvenia Jackson have very different businesses.

Harrison is the owner of The Hamilton Sports Bar and Grill on Harford Road in Baltimore and Jackson owns French Toast Connection. 

"Everyone calls me Chef French," said Jackson. 

Both businesses started with a passion. 

"Me and a bunch of my friends, we used to hang in local sports bars," said Harrison. "We would call them watering holes." 

 Harrison wanted to create his own watering hole.

"A place where we can hang, like a community center sports bar," Harrison said. 

But starting a business, especially a sports bar, is hard.

"The biggest issue was obtaining my liquor license," Harrison said. "That was about eight months of putting money in and trying to get started without any money coming in." 

With French Toast Connection, Jackson puts her own twist on brunch classics to sweeten any event.

"Birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries," said Jackson. "We've done a lot of corporate catering recently."

How the program helped

Harrison received a grant through the Greater Baltimore Urban League's Black Restaurant Accelerator Program.

"I was at the end of my finances, so when that money came in, it came at the right time," Harrison said.

The program also provided training and a network of support if he ever needed help.

"They really equipped me with a lot of things to help me be successful," Harrison said.

"We learned so many things that we just wouldn't typically have access to," Jackson added.

Jackson said the Black Restaurant Accelerator Program helped her turn her passion for cooking into a full-blown catering company.

"The grant we received at the end of the program helped us to get our staff trained, different certifications that we needed, branding, marketing, expanding our website," Jackson said.

With continued guidance from the BRAP program, Jackson and Harrison are looking forward to growing their businesses.

"Doing something different and making sure that we bring amazing food and service every time," Jackson said.