Quinnipiac/ConnCORP entrepreneurship grads praise the business program, as organizers search for funding

If you ask Bloom owner Alisha Crutchfield what life has been like since she graduated from the Quinnipiac University – ConnCORP entrepreneurship program, she has an easy way to sum it up.

“Crazy busy and amazing in all ways,” Crutchfield said.

She is the owner of a community gathering space, bakery and flower shop called Bloom.

More than a dozen minority, veteran and women business owners went through the nine-month program to help boost their businesses. They learned from Quinnipiac professors and community business leaders about marketing, finance, business planning and applying for grants.

“We recognize that a lot of small business owners and entrepreneurs, they have their passion and they’re working in their field, but the backend of things kind of gets a little blurred for them,” said Jahkeeva Morgan, the director of entrepreneurial program trainings at ConnCORP.

“Working with Quinnipiac’s faculty and staff has been simply amazing. Professors from different areas of expertise have given them the content they need to really nail down a foundation of their business,” Morgan added.

The program is funded by a two-year federal $406,000 Small Business Association grant.

“The business we’re in today is a prime example of what we can do, what the SBA can do with community to help entrepreneurs start and grow their own business,” said Catherine Marx, district director of the SBA Connecticut District Office, at Bloom in New Haven's Westville neighborhood.

Marx and Sen. Richard Blumenthal met Thursday with Crutchfield and fellow graduate Evelyn Massey, who owns Noir Vintage Clothing.

“It basically helped me with my business plan, which I didn’t know anything about,” Massey said. “And basically, just run a brick and mortar.”

Massey was able to open her store last summer shortly after finishing the program. She sells vintage clothing styled from the 1920s to the 1950s in the front of the store, and a more updated section in the back features clothes from the 1980s to the 2000s.

The second set of 20 business owners are in the program now, but the grant ends in May.

“There has to be more federal funding for this kind of program because there’s so much talent, so many good ideas, so many opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurship,” Blumenthal said.

Morgan said ConnCORP is fundraising with the hope of running a third cohort next year.

Crutchfield hopes the free program continues for others because she says it’s an invaluable resource.

“That in itself is more reason why many more, especially black and brown business owners, should participate.”