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A “Shark Tank”-style business looking to fill storefronts in the city’s near west is seeking another round of applicants.
Rev-Up MKE, a charity near West Side Partners, along with representatives from Marquette University and Town Bank, will conclude on September 14, 2010 with each finalist presenting in front of a team judged by a live highlight event in the Rev/Eagles ballroom.
It has been three years since the last race.
“We’ve gotten a lot of questions asking when Rev-Up MKE will be back, and we’re excited to finally be able to say we’re bringing it back,” said Kelsey Otero, the race leader and project director of Innovation at Marquette.
The winner, who will be announced live on September 14, will receive $10,000 in cash and $25,000 in in-kind services, such as small business mentoring, advertising and architectural support, to support their new venture.
The finalists and other contestants may receive help from Near West Side Partners, whose mission is to revitalize and preserve the neighborhoods bordered by I-43 to the east, HWY 41 to the west, Vliet Street and Highland Boulevard to the north, and I- 94 in the south.
The Near West has about 350 businesses along five commercial corridors and is home to about 28,000 residents.
But it’s a part of the city that has struggled with empty storefronts and problems.
“I think we’re becoming a neighborhood where people are starting to look to grow their businesses, but we may not always be on their radar screen from the very beginning,” Otero said.
Alan Goodman, owner of A Goodman’s Desserts LLC, won the 2019 Rev-Up MKE competition. Commercial kitchen space is for lease at the Ambassador Hotel, near 2308 W. Wisconsin Ave., for a westbound anchor business.
Goodman sold cookies, cakes and other baked goods on his website and at farmers markets before the race. He said winning the event raised his business profile.
“It really gave me a good start and grew my business,” he said.
The origins of Goodman’s Sweets were in his mother’s kitchen in 1982.
As a youth, Allen was suspended for skipping the library and playing basketball instead. As part of his punishment, he stayed in the kitchen and helped his mother bake items passed down in family recipes.
He enjoyed the art of baking.
“You’re doing something very personal to someone and getting their feedback,” Goodman said. “I really liked it, so I kept doing it.”
Goodman’s advice to Rev-Up MKE contestants is to have a clear understanding of their business plan, financial projections and how to achieve their goals.
“I also say have a good story to keep people interested,” he said.
Since Rev-Up MKE launched in 2016, some of the finalists and winners have opened and expanded their businesses.
Early winners include Pete’s Pops, which makes and sells popsicles at its flagship location on Vliet Street in Bay View and West Allis; Catering by Lisa Kaye, who works in the commercial kitchen and dining hall at Forrest County’s Pottawatomie Wgema campus; and Triciclo Peru, which brings the flavors of Peru, with empanadas, pisco soy sauce and more at its nearby West Side restaurant.
The competition is not just for food businesses; Instead, the Near West Side Partners and the panel of judges are for starters who think they can contribute to the area.
“Recruiting and empowering businesses is part of our strategy,” Otero said.
“Our winners have to be able to turn their vision into a physical storefront. We want to make sure we’re selecting businesses that we think will be successful coming out of the Rev-Up MKE program,” she added.
Contest applications are available on the Near West Side Partners website or at their office at 624 N. 24th St. Saint’s deadline is August 5 before midnight, and the final candidates will be announced in mid-August.
More: A growing food business incubator in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park area plans to expand to a second location. Upstart Kitchen launched in 2020.
More: Here is the winner of the 2022 Wisconsin State Fair Spokesperson Food Contest.
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