Contact Us:
Habitat for Neighborhood Business
3674 Lindell Blvd., DS 108, St. Louis MO 63108
(314) 977-3625, (314) 341-0868
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Habitat for Neighborhood Business (HNB) partners with volunteer business professionals and Saint Louis University students to help restore economic vitality to under-served neighborhoods through mentoring, networking, and education for existing and aspiring minority entrepreneurs.
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HNB 2020 Program Update
Good News in a Tough Year
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In last fall’s newsletter we reported that our Habitat for Neighborhood Business program at Saint Louis University had achieved its most significant growth in our 12-year history by increasing service to more than two dozen entrepreneurs. We continued to press ahead throughout the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and will end this year with almost 40 minority owned businesses in St. Louis City under-served neighborhoods.
This growth has brought with it the doubling of Active Mentors and we are excited to report that our list of Industry Specialists/Industry Expert Mentors has grown to thirty-eight who further support needs unique to many of our client companies.
Also, of great importance to our growth has been financial support from Emerson, an early and unwavering believer in our mission. Further, SLU has assigned a graduate assistant in recognition of the importance to our community for us to grow our HNB program.
SLU's 2020-2021 Service Leadership program will match seven HNB entrepreneurs with student teams who will spend the semester developing ideas to improve their business and, for the first time, each student team will have a $500 budget for “idea implementation." Additionally, a local bank provided a significant grant to be administered by the Student Board of the Service Leadership Program for HNB businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19.
We are PROUD to report that because of the hard work of our entrepreneurs along with the conscientious support of our staff, board, supporters, mentors and several industry specialists we have not “lost” a single entrepreneur during this period.
We continue our quest for an endowment of $1,000,000 which grew from $200,000+ last year to more than $652,000 in earnings and donations as of this newsletter. We are pleased with our success and again encourage you to consider adding to the assurance of HNB’s sustainability.
Obviously with COVID-19 still active we will not repeat the successful and important 2019 entrepreneur “meet-and-greet” but ask that you consider checking out the entrepreneurs listed in this newsletter and our web site to see if they can be of service to you, your family or friends.
In closing, 2020 has been a year like no other. The HNB board and staff are so proud of how our entrepreneurs fought to survive and, in few cases, have even prospered during this difficult time. We remain deeply appreciative for the assistance of our supporters and volunteer mentors. If you choose to donate to HNB, your tax-deductible contribution will help St. Louis city minority small businesses during an unprecedented pandemic.
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SLU Service Leadership COVID Relief Grant Teams
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The Service Leadership Program at Saint Louis University is developing a COVID-19 relief assistance program for the HNB businesses hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. This program will be managed by the student leaders within the Service Leadership Program. Students will develop the application process for HNB businesses and will work as a team to award grants. Once grants have been awarded, students will serve in small support teams to assist the businesses in reaching their goals for implementing the grant money received. Finally, the students will work to evaluate the success of the program. Through this initiative, student support teams will be able to apply their business knowledge and skills while learning about the challenges facing small, minority-owned businesses in north St. Louis City.
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HNB Business Owner of the Month
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Angelina Reese is a travel agent and the owner of Travel Angel Planner, LLC. She works in the best interest of each and every one of her clients and to plan all aspects of travel so that her clients are happy during their destination trip. Put your trust in “Travel Angel Planner". She will deliver your checklist and/or give you suggestions along the way!
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HNB Graduate Assistant - Johnny Dolan
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Johnny Dolan is the new Graduate Assistant for the HNB program. He returned to Saint Louis University in the summer of 2020 to complete his Master of Business Administration degree. Johnny earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree in 2013 from SLU, and he hopes to help run a non-profit social service organization that empowers clients to forge their own path to success. While working at Habitat for Neighborhood Business this year, Johnny hopes to contribute to HNB’s expansion while prioritizing the relationships with mentors, business owners, and communities.
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HNB Community Partner - Lou Hawn
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Founded in 1992 by Lou Hawn, Icon Agility Services (ICON) is a consulting and training firm specializing in Lean and Agile best practices. For 28 years, ICON has enabled companies to reach their full potential by helping large teams work together efficiently to deliver digital solutions rapidly at scale.
Since 2018, ICON has supported HNB entrepreneurs with free services for building a basic informational website, including web strategy, content creation, design, and hosting services. ICON also provides advice on e-commerce sites, although e-commerce creation and hosting is beyond the scope of this offering. They love hearing the personal stories
behind the business and are proud to support these talented entrepreneurs!
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HNB Community Partner - Mark Zimmerman
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Habitat for Neighborhood Business is near and dear to Mark Zimmerman’s heart. For the past several years, Mark has been able to help HNB with his video and photography skills and it gives him a big thrill every time he’s asked. The clients, mentors, HNB staff, and Board Members that he’s had the pleasure to work with are all so appreciative of his work. It always restores his faith in humanity when he sees so many amazing people following Doug Brown's lead to all work together to make our area a better place to live. Mark enjoys projects that promote the HNB entrepreneurs while they are making an impact on the community and creating a legacy for their families. He is very glad to be a part of the HNB community.
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HNB Summer Intern - Doug Scheibel
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Doug Scheibel planned to gain skills in a profession aligning with an Informatics major and Business minor that he is pursuing at Indiana University. Lou Hawn gave him the opportunity to gain skills in social media, content creation, and website development at Icon Agility Services. It worked out that he could help Alyssa Hamilton and Scott Lix on projects with HNB entrepreneurs and help with the creation and development of their websites along with other social media needs. Doug was more than happy to contribute to the success of small businesses in the community. Thus, he has helped to take HNB entrepreneurs' visions and translate them into websites to extend the reach of their business and spread their mission.
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Donate to HNB Today Through Amazon
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Amazon will donate 0.5% of your Amazon purchases to Habitat for Neighborhood Business when you buy your Amazon products through their website for donations smile.amazon.com. Consider Habitat for Neighborhood Business each time you buy a product through Amazon and let Amazon’s donation help entrepreneurs in the city of St.Louis.
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HNB Businesses - Products and Services Available
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Small businesses have struggled due to the shut-downs of the COVID-19 pandemic. The HNB entrepreneurs are still operating their businesses and we encourage you to consider HNB entrepreneurs for your products and services. Listed below are HNB participating businesses and contact information. Check them out!
HNB is growing! We now have 38 entrepreneurs in the HNB program.
Diversity Gallery LLC Natural Hair Products Web Page
Joe-Jo's Fish and Chicken Carry Out Restaurant Web Page
God First Religious Specialty Items Web Page
KDZ Demolition and Construction LLC Web Page
SHR Builders LLC Construction 314-280-2092
Bryan Young's Catering Kitchen Catering Web Page
Innovations of Excellence Strategic planning, Media plans Web Page
It's A Gamble, LLC DBA Purposed Productions Film producer, writer
Brooks Family Entertainment Bounce Houses Web Page
Institute of Personal & Professional Development LLC Individual and Family Counseling Web Page
The Royal Court Event Center Special Events Planner Facebook Page
KG Bookeeping and Tax Preparations Services 314-210-7326
Gill Industries LLC Vehicle fuel additive Web Page
Create Community LLC Corporate and Event Training Web Page
Personal Touches by Jeanetta, Inc. Special Events Decorator Facebook Page
KJ Styles LLC Specialized Barber Shop 314-240-8959
Travel Angel Planner Travel Agency Web Page
Gregory's Healthy Alternatives LLC Colon Hydrotherapy Web Page
Personal Home Health Services Home Health Care 314-664-1100
EAS Financial Service Tax Services 314-553-9292
Children Are Unique Academy LLC Day Care Service Web Page
SILLYBLES Game for groups 314-402-1750
DJ Owe Disc Jockey 314-688-3627
J Murphy Construction Construction Consultant 314-207-9701
SoHeart LLC Addiction Recovery Service Web Page
Fleur De Lis Development Corporation Real Estate Development 314-249-5957
Healthful Beauty LifeSpa & Wellness Health and Wellness Boutique 314-439-6636
Jon Que Barbecue Grill Sales 314-443-6753
Blue Realty Real Estate Company 314-324-6272
Softest Touch Full-service Beauty Bar 314-484-9599
Eminence Financial Consulting Credit counseling 314-249-3985
Fancy Girl Event Planning Event Planning and Catering 314-437-3470
R&W Logistics & Escort Shipping and Escort Freight 314-267-2140
Clean Cycle Lounge LLC Laundry Services 314-600-8618
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100 Black Men
CSI Leasing and EPC - Frank Polston
Gershman Commercial Real Estate – Tom Stern
Greensfelder – Chris Pickett
Icon Agility Services – Lou Hawn
Lewis Rice – John Greenberg
Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers
Philip H. Barron Realty – Steve Barron
Rubin Brown – Mike Ferman
Operation Hope – Ryan Moore
Friendly Temple Business Network - Pastor Michael F. Jones, Jr.
Dream Success Worldwide – Koran Bolden
McCormack Baron – Leslie Burroughs
Enterprise Bank – Robyn Heidger
Urban Strategies - Esther Shin
Propel Marketing - Marc Enger
Moving + Still - Mark Zimmerman
CLIX - Jason Hylan
Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, City of St. Louis - Charles Bryson
St. Louis County Library - Mel Lambert
St. Louis Development Corporation
St. Louis Economic Development Partnership
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Nettie Kelley
Pastor Carlos Mayfield
DeMarco Howard
Nicole Hall
Ray Barrett
Rich Weinstock
Laurna Godwin
Terry Donahue
Lynette Watson
John McBride
Mike Normile
Lou Vlasaty
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Jeanetta Hawkins
Verlean Nicks
Marc Enger
Rich Weinstock
Tommy Davis
Brian Jones
Robert Hines
Monica Butler
Bob Schulte
Bonita Cornute
Michelle Dix
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Dave Copeland - Accounting
Tommy Davis - Electrical Contracting
Terry Donahue - Accounting
David Drier - Travel
Marc Enger - Marketing
Robert Hines - IT
Brian Jones - Education/Franchise
Linda M. Jones - Real Estate
Rick Knox - Security
Lyah Leflore - Entertainment
Verlean Nicks - Child Care
John McBride -Transportation
Doug Scheibel – Social Media
Tom Stern - Real Estate
Rick Sullivan – Construction
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Linda M. Jones
Executive Director
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Gladys Smith, PhD
Program Director
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Johnny Dolan
Graduate Assistant
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Samantha Schmidt
Marketing Intern
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Tom Bailey - Urban League of Metro St. Louis, VP Development
Steven Barron, Vice President - Phillip H. Barron Realty, President
Doug Brown, Chairman - Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Waterway Wash, WingHaven, Retired Executive/Principal
David Copeland, Secretary/Treasurer - Rubin Brown LLC, Retired CFO
Terry Donohue, Chief Information Officer - Enterprise Rent-A-Car Retired Executive
Steven Frank - Plancorp, Vice Chairman
Brooks Goedecker - St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corporation, Executive Director
Robyn Heidger - Enterprise Bank & Trust, Senior Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Inclusion
Mark Higgins - Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, Professor of Accounting
Christopher Pickett, Legal Counsel - Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC, Officer & Chief Diversity Officer
Thomas Stern, HNB-SLU Program Chair - Gershman Commercial Real Estate, Executive Board Chairman
Rick Sullivan - Strategic Advisors LLC, President
Lynette Sledge Watson - Missouri Small Business Development Center, Business Development Manager
Richard Weinstock, Mentor Executive - Boeing Company, Retired Executive
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The HNB Newsletter was produced by HNB Service Leadership Intern Samantha Schmidt.
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