Cleaning company grows through connections

The Maid Experience owner Shanisha Collins pitches her business during the Life's a Pitch event.

The GROW program at Bounce supports both aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to life. The program focuses on minorities and women. Shanisha Collins is a graduate of the sixth cohort of the MORTAR at Bounce program, our 15-week business accelerator. Currently, she is in our Next Level Business Incubator.  As the founder of […]

2022 Year in Review – GROW

Are you looking to start, build or grow a small business in the greater Akron area? GROW (Generating Real Opportunity and Wealth) might be for you. Our programs are open to non-technology small businesses and entrepreneurs with a focus on minorities and women. This past year, we served more than 120 clients through our three […]

Defining Enterprises CEO Dreams Big with Businesses

The GROW program at Bounce supports both aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to life. The program focuses on minorities and women. Celeste Brown is in our Next Level Business Incubator.  If you’ve flown anywhere in the past several years, you’ll be familiar with what looks like vending machines full of stuff like makeup, electronics […]

Sunshine Senior Staffing Agency Brings Sunshine to Senior Adults

The GROW program at Bounce supports both aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to life. The program focuses on minorities and women. Terressa Dixon-Pickett is a graduate of the sixth cohort of the MORTAR at Bounce program, our 15-week business accelerator. Currently, she is in our Next Level Business Incubator.  From an […]

Ecosystem Connections Benefit Small Businesses

MORTAR at Bounce is a 15-week small business accelerator that helps established entrepreneurs take a deeper dive into the nuances of business ownership. It focuses on serving minority- and women-owned businesses. An entrepreneurial ecosystem is invaluable to anyone starting a business. Between various partners, including many right here in Greater Akron, entrepreneurs can find inspiration, […]

GROW Spotlight: Peter James, Owner, Rubber City Gardens

The GROW program at Bounce supports both aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to life. The program focuses on minorities and women.  Keeping a community garden running requires effort, time and reliable volunteers. After Peter James failed to organize his own, he was inspired to start Rubber City Gardens, an urban-focused and community-driven agricultural cooperative. Its […]

Kurvology Owner Shares Advice For Black Women Entrepreneurs

The GROW program at Bounce supports both aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to life. The program focuses on minorities and women.  Monique Clark wears many hats. In addition to her full-time community health worker position at Minority Behavioral Health Center, she owns her own clothing boutique Kurvology, which focuses on serving curvier women. She’s […]

Five Pieces of Advice for Aspiring Black Entrepreneurs

Bounce-Five-Pieces-of-Advice for Aspiring Black Entrepreneurs

It should not be a surprise to anyone that Black citizens in the United States have faced barriers to success for generations. As a Black business owner, who has also worked more than 20 years in the local nonprofit sector advising and helping other Black business owners, I know about having to overcome systemic racism […]

2021 Year in Review – GROW

2021 was an exciting year for our GROW programs as we served 91 clients. GROW aims to serve entrepreneurs and small businesses, with a focus on minorities and women, in our local region. Last year, we were able to get back to some normalcy by hosting in-person classes, and we could not be more grateful […]

MORTAR winner wants to help single moms

(Don’t miss our full photo gallery below! Credit: Meghan Meeker) On November 30, eight entrepreneurs walked the stage at Bounce to graduate from our 15-week MORTAR at Bounce business accelerator program. Five of the grads also competed in the Life’s a Pitch! competition for $3,000. Helping Single Moms  Markia Sims, owner and founder of Zoe […]