At a lively event filled with the familiar faces of the Kalamazoo-area entrepreneurship community, the newly graduated fourth cohort of the
Black Entrepreneur Training Academy (BETA) celebrated their achievements. In keeping with the academic theme, the eleven present graduates wore gray sweaters emblazoned with BETA’s logo as all present were treated to dinner Nov. 6.
BETA, a collaborative effort between
Black Wall Street Kalamazoo and
Sisters in Business, is a free five-month, cohort-based program for Black entrepreneurs. Over the course of six virtual modules, students learn entrepreneurial skills from expert facilitators and new graduates participate in a pitch competition for up to $5,500. It’s an ambitious program, and graduates say it’s working.
“You’re coming out of here with the knowledge to make it in the marketplace,” says Lyonel LaGrone II, a 2024 graduate and the husband of Sisters in Business co-founder Alisa Parker-Lagrone.
LaGrone is the founder of
Michigan Ambulatory Services, which provides non-emergency medical transportation in West Michigan.
Accomplishments motivate others
Having long been familiar with BETA, LaGrone decided to join after being impressed with the program and how its graduates fared. He cites in particular the accomplishments of Doreen Gardner, owner of
Papa’s Brittle, as having enticed him to join the program.
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Courtesy of Eyesopen Photography LLC.Commemorative BETA pins for the 2024 graduates.Gardner’s success story speaks both to BETA’s utility and to the interconnectedness of the Kalamazoo entrepreneurship community. A 2021 BETA graduate, Gardner joined
Can-Do Kalamazoo — then called Can-Do Kitchen — which provided her with the tools to make her peanut brittle. She won the 2022 Catalyst University Makers’ Mart, an event organized by
Southwest Michigan First, and rode that momentum to receive
the NAACP Powershift Grant, a national competition that came with personal mentorship from
Shark Tank’s Daymond John.
LaGrone describes BETA as all-encompassing, providing students with a “360-degree approach from conceptualization to realization.” He says the programming “demystifies” entrepreneurship, helping graduates find a “realistic entry point into the market” and a plan to expand from there.
Alongside learning skills like financial planning, marketing, establishing an LLC, and an entrepreneurial mindset, students have free access to professional bookkeepers and business coaches.
But the program doesn’t end at graduation. BETA leaders check in with graduates for a year after graduation, with resources remaining available to graduates. A private Facebook group also helps students and graduates stay connected, both to each other and to opportunities in the community.
Collaboration and connections are key
That connection is key to BETA. “Collaboration is key, especially when we’re trying to create solutions,” says Sisters in Business cofounder Nicole Parker. The program is dedicated to ensuring Black entrepreneurs have equal access to resources: “If we can get into that (private) room and be a bridge, be a voice… that creates equitability,” says Parker.
As a joint venture between Sisters in Business and Black Wall Street Kalamazoo, collaboration is intrinsic to BETA, and the event recognizing graduates itself served as a reminder of the Kalamazoo area’s interconnected entrepreneurship community.
Among many recognizable faces was Carl Brown, the executive director of Kalamazoo-based startup incubator Startup Zoo. Brown says BETA graduates often are part of Startup Zoo’s Pitch Nights, in which local entrepreneurs compete for funds, and that Aaron Gibson, a BETA graduate, participated in Startup Zoo’s 2023-24 residency cohort. Startup Zoo and BETA also partner with Can-Do Kalamazoo, an incubator and official Small Business Support Hub as designated by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
BETA’s presence in the community has also assisted outreach efforts. Tanisha Pyron-Clay, another new graduate, says she found out about BETA through Facebook and applied immediately. Pyron-Clay, an artist, photographer, and theater performer, describes BETA as “transformative” to her business,
Black Genius Black Famous.
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Courtesy of the BETA programBETA leadership for 2024, from left: Alisa Parker, Tiffany Parker, Nicole Triplett, Teleshia Parker, and Nicole Parker.She says the genuine intentionality behind BETA is part of its magic: “The way they have set up the business… it’s not because they have to, but because they want to.” Pyron-Clay, who describes her business as seeking to provide “educational reparations” through a “fine-arts pedagogical approach,” says the community support, shared interest, and flexibility of the program’s leaders and participants bolstered the educational materials.
Moving forward, Parker sees equitability as a continuing focus for both Sisters in Business and BETA. Alongside lifting up Black entrepreneurs directly, she is careful to be an advocate and voice for Black and female entrepreneurs everywhere she goes. “For things to be equitable, we have to engage in true collaboration,” she says, and that includes advocating for those who are not present.
The fourth cohort’s graduation brings the total number of BETA graduates to 49, a growth that shows no signs of slowing down. As Southwest Michigan’s entrepreneurship scene expands, programs like BETA are a powerful and necessary tool to keep that growth equitable and beneficial to those who need it most.
This story is part of Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative’s dedicated coverage of quality-of-life issues and equitable community development. SWMJC is a group of 12 regional organizations dedicated to strengthening local journalism. Visit swmichjournalism.com to learn more.
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Photo courtesy of BETAThe graducates of the BETA Cohort 2024