Bloom

March 15, 2022 – We were honored to have Sully Pinos, Executive Director of Bloom Business Empowerment Center speak at our weekly breakfast meeting. Sully explained that through a suite of services, the Bloom Empowerment Center offers opportunities for grants, loans, business classes, fellowships, and mentorships. To date, they have launched their efforts around grants, workforce pathways, Small Business Classes and training. The small business classes that launched in July of last year directly served women and minority entrepreneurs comprised of: 45% own a business in the City of York, 61% women, 56% persons of color, 57% of registrants own a business and 43% are looking to launch a business within the next year or two. The Bloom Grant Program was created in 2018 by a class of summer interns, to offer unique funding opportunities through this small business grant program. Grant rounds have been hosted for women-owned businesses, Downtown York specific businesses, York County Trail Town Businesses, graduates of the YCEA’s small business development program and YCEA member businesses throughout York County. Together with partners Crispus Attucks, Shippensburg Small Business Development Center (SBDC), York NAACP, Fulton Bank and Susquehanna Score, Bloom launched a multi-week training program to assist entrepreneurs. ​Through the proposed sessions they hope to connect them to the resources necessary to support their business lifecycle. There is no cost for this program. The Bloom program was founded to provide access to capital, resources and education to accelerate small business startup, growth and success.