South Mountain Community College student-entrepreneur Tanya Stark was one of six Maricopa Community College District students who were awarded capital funds from Rotary Club of Tempe Downtown along with the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and Everyday Entrepreneurship Venture Fund (EEVF).

 

Tanya is working on Givers Unite, a thrift store that is both in-person and online, using a cooperative workplace model.

 

Congratulations Tanya! 

 

Tempe Downtown was the first donor to a collaboration of Five Maricopa Community Colleges participating with the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and Everyday Entrepreneurship Venture Fund (EEVF). The collaboration is part of the NAACE/EEVF Venture Fund phase II program which is raising money to provide capital to Maricopa student-entrepreneurs for start-up and scale up of small businesses. With support of the Maricopa Colleges Foundation, faculty, and development directors from the five participating Maricopa Colleges - Glendale Community College, Phoenix College, Mesa Community College, Rio Salado College, and South Mountain Community College - have raised a venture fund from local donors, along with grant funds from NACCE/EEVF.  Tempe Downtown Rotary Foundation kicked off the fundraising with a $5,000 donation to the Venture Fund in fall 2020. 

 

 

In May 2021, the first cohort of student-entrepreneurs were selected to receive $2,500 each for the launch and expansion of some interesting and exciting small businesses. In addition to start-up capital, the six student-entrepreneurs receive ongoing mentoring and advising from the Maricopa Small Business Development Center, and campus faculty and staff. 

 

Read more about the other winners and the fund here!

 

The Rotary Club of Tempe Downtown is a community leadership organization made up of men and women from local businesses, professional, education, civic and emerging leaders.  Rotary International has over 35,000 member clubs worldwide, with a membership of 1.2 million individuals, known as Rotarians. To learn more about Tempe Downtown projects, programs and membership – see  http://rotarytempedowntown.org/

 

If you would like to mentor or donate to support Maricopa Colleges student-entrepreneurs please contact Bruce McHenry, Tempe Downtown, bamchenry@att.net