Small-Biz Bucks Fall From Haven(ly)

Entisar Elamin was chopping parsley Monday for a batch of baba ganoush when a parade of official visitors popped in with their own recipe — for helping other women like her make it in the Connecticut economy.

Elamin, a refugee from Sudan, was at work in the kitchen of Havenly Treats within the cavernous strip of storefronts across from Criterion Cinemas on Temple Street.

Havenly Treats, a nonprofit, is more than a restaurant. It runs training programs for refugees like Elamin to learn skills and land jobs or create new businesses of their own.

The visitors were a delegation of state economic development officials led by Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (who was already a fan of Havenly’s baklava). They held a press conference at Havenly to announce a heap of new assistance for small businesses: A five-year, $46.6 million grant program aimed at enterprises run by Black, Hispanic, women and immigrant entrepreneurs.

The money goes to nonprofits like the Connecticut Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, which is receiving a $7.2 million slice. (Read about that here.) Those nonprofits then distribute the grant money to individual small businesses to help them grow, meet technology needs, and train new people.

At the press conference, Bysiewicz noted that 80 percent of the federal pandemic relief dollars distributed through the Paycheck Protection Program ended up going to male-owned businesses; 80 percent went to white-owned businesses. This new state program is aimed at giving women, entrepreneurs of color, veterans and individuals with disabilities the same kind of help in rebuilding from the pandemic.

The money comes at a busy time for business-starting: 1,100 new small businesses are launching each month in the state, the highest rate since 2007, noted state Department of Economic and Community Development Deputy Commissioner Alexandra Daum. ​“We haven’t seen those rates since 2007. It’s also a double-edged sword”: Many are first-time entrepreneurs, including immigrants and refugees, who can use extra help navigating the challenges to success.

Havenly was one of those pandemic-era start-ups. It emerged from a network of refugee women who pooled their culinary talents. Last year Havenly received a $9,000 ​“Equity Match” grant from an earlier phase of this state small-business effort. It used the money to develop a gift box series containing various combinations of vegan baklava, date bites, jam, and other pastries, a lifeline at a time when the pandemic had cut in-person business. 

Before the press conference, officials toured the facilities. They visited a new classroom (pictured above) where three ​“cohorts” a year of refugee women start taking classes in English, digital and financial literacy, and wellness, along with dance and housing and labor protections. The women then proceed to four months of training in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Havenly Co-Executive Director Jane Dowd and Fellowship Director Nusaibah Shatta (pictured above) told the visitors that the women emerge from the program to food-prep jobs at the cafeterias at Yale New Haven Hospital and University fo New Haven, other local jobs, or businesses they start on their own. Dowd said later that Havenly plans to apply for some of the new money announced Monday.

Mayor Justin Elicker (pictured at right above) contrasted the state’s continued support for businesses run by women, immigrants, and people of color with efforts by ​“other states” to ​“fight against diversity and workers’ rights.”

Click here to learn more about Havenly Treats, which offers in-person dining at its 25 Temple St. cafe, catering, and online ordering.