December 13, 2010: 100UE Offers Help to Five Tallahassee Entrepreneurs

Originally published in the Tallahassee Democrat on Monday, December 13, 2010. To read the original story, click here.

By Doug Blackburn
DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER

Brandon Smith was getting desperate. He was preparing to sell his car and his TV.

A junior at Florida State University, Smith was convinced his wrist-support invention could be parlayed into a successful business if he only had enough cash to buy parts for production.

That’s when 100 Urban Entrepreneurs came to the rescue. The nonprofit foundation, during a recent daylong forum and competition at Florida A&M University, awarded Smith and four other young entrepreneurs $10,000 each to jump-start their ventures.

“This money will help me. Even better than the money, I now have networking opportunities,” Smith said.

He already has a patent pending on the wrist support he designed. Smith plans to use his new-found cash to help with advertising and marketing.

Rachel Melson was also chosen for a $10,000 award. In May she earned a master’s in educational leadership at FAMU, but her passion is the catering business she has started — Sunny Days Bakery. Now she can afford to rent a commercial kitchen and turn her dream into a reality.

“I’m very serious about this,” Melson said. “This solidifies it for me.”

The nonprofit 100 Urban Entrepreneurs is a foundation started by TheCASHFLOW, an international, online business designed to help emerging companies. Magnus Greaves, founder and CEO of 100 Urban Entrepreneurs, has provided seed money to 30 start-ups; his goal is 100.

“Our whole mission is to inspire and create opportunities for young entrepreneurs,” he said. “We want to document the journeys of these young people and use them as inspiration.

“With each of these businesses, I look to see that we have a mentor within our system to assist them.”

Multi-Enterprises is another local business that received a $10,000 boost. Started in 2008 by David Bowen, a 2009 FAMU graduate, Multi-Enterprises provides plants and upkeep of them for homes and businesses. He is hoping to add rooftop gardens to his repertoire.

“I want people to be able to order plants online and ship them across the country. All we needed was start-up money,” Bowen said. “Everything to date we’ve paid for out-of-pocket.”

The other two local recipients of $10,000 gifts were Esther Spencer, with Elevated Expressions, and Steven Pargett, of Sensorium Solutions.