MCC Students Receive $50k in Funding to Help Launch Businesses

Middlesex Community College students enrolled in the Launch Your Business Now program, an innovative applied-entrepreneurship certificate program designed to encourage students to start or grow a business, just wrapped up an intensive semester and had the opportunity to pitch for seed funding to the Everyday Entrepreneurs Venture Fund (EEVF). The EEVF committee gave out $50,000 in seed funding on December 19 at an awards ceremony in downtown Lowell.

Student businesses invested in include:

• $10,000 invested in Body Fuel Café, a nutritious snack and café concept founded by Jessica Salani of Burlington.
• $10,000 invested in The Sweet Spot, a sustainable clothing, jewelry, gifts and home goods store in downtown Lowell founded by Hilary Clark of Lowell.
• $9,000 invested in Beautiful Psalms, a spiritual gifts ecommerce company founded by Dali Diaz of Lowell.
• $8,000 invested in Barber on the Run, a mobile barber service founded by Juan Cintron of Lowell.
• $8,000 invested in Natural Journey's, a natural and kinky hair boutique founded by Alison Njoroge of Lowell.
• $5,000 invested in Good Wood Restoration, a restoration construction company founded by Dave Clark of Lowell.

Students will use this seed funding for operations as they continue to grow their businesses over the course of 2019. Students receiving funding will also be paired with 3 mentors who will check in with them throughout the first year of operation.

MCC’s new 16-credit Launch Your Business Now certificate program was developed for entrepreneurs who have an idea for a business they want to launch – or scale up – within four to 12 months. “Someone who is naturally entrepreneurial just wants to get started,” said Stacie Hargis, MCC’s Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator. “This is why we’ve designed the program to be completed in one intensive, action-oriented semester. It’s a great way for students to work solely on developing a business concept.”

Students who complete the Launch Your Business Now coursework are encouraged to pitch their business idea to the funding committee of the EEVF, who can award seed money in the form of competitive grants (ranging from $1,000 to $20,000) to support student businesses and help start-ups get off the ground.

MCC is looking for students who already have an idea for a small business, or are looking to grow a business that they have already started. Students will learn how to evaluate market opportunity, validate assumptions about their business, and set up all the systems required to launch a successful small business. This program is ideal for students with innovative and conventional business ideas, such as main street, community-based businesses like retail stores and food products, as well as consultants, bookkeepers, caterers, plumbers, yoga-studio operators or personal trainers.

For more information about MCC student businesses, MCC’s new Launch Your Business Now Certificate Program, or the Everyday Entrepreneurs Venture Fund, visit: www.launchatmcc.com or contact Stacie Hargis at [email protected].

To register for MCC spring-semester courses, visit: https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, we educate, engage and empower a diverse community of learners. MCC offers more than 70 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses – on our campuses in Bedford and Lowell, and online. Middlesex Community College: Student success starts here!