We are eight weeks in to our pilot Alchemist Microenterprise Academy (AMA) program and having a blast. The ten-week program teaches the fundamentals of starting and growing a food business. We have 16 businesses participating in our pilot cohort.
Consistent with our vision of diverse and equitable communities, 70% of our pilot AMA cohort identified as low-income, 35% identified as minorities and 25% identified as LGBT+. Our participating businesses range from pickled onions to bakers to pop-up pizza and urban farms and nurseries to vegan health foods with a lot more in between. Each week our cohort receives instruction from guest lecturers in the industry who share various perspectives and expertise.
One participant has noted “My favorite part of the AMA program so far is the guest speakers coming in and sharing their life’s experience. Their stories and experience in the food business was insightful and meaningful for me to use and develop my business plan.” Another participant echoed, ” the lectures have been so informative and thought provoking.” We are appreciative of the community that has come together to support this exciting program. We also greatly admire the drive displayed by our participants and the thought and care they are putting into building their businesses. We are excited to see them continue to develop and bring more vibrancy to the Sacramento food scene.”
