THE TABLE
Elevate Community Business Academy (CBA) Spring 2022 Graduation Celebration & Dinner | 6.28.2022
Willmar, MN
Students gather, getting corsages pinned carefully onto them, faces smiling at one another as they arrive. Their families come in, staying in the background snapping pictures. It is a big night—graduation.
The students have met once a week for three hours for the last 12 weeks as part of the Elevate Community Business Academy. Sarah Swedburg, Business Development Manager at the EDC, and Danny Carranza, entrepreneur and graduate of the program, along with community business representatives, taught the courses.
As community members and students came together they shared a meal catered by current and past Elevate CBA students. Spurs Bar and Grill served a fajita bar, dessert was from S&S Sweets and Treats and refreshments from the Goodness Coffee Company. Here, around the table, the culmination of many people’s work to raise, create, build and make a product, brought everyone together in celebration.
The keynote speaker, Nathalie Nkashama, owner of World Mart, a specialty East African mobile grocery based in Worthington, Minnesota told the audience “[You and I] are different to make a difference,” truly elevated students to become empowered by the knowledge they learned. If you or someone you know is ready to start taking the steps to make your dream a reality, consider taking part in one of the next Elevate CBA courses, two will take place in fall of 2022, one in English and one in Somali.
Learn more and inquire today at elevatecba.com
This full article was originally published in the Summer 2022 EDC Newsletter. Read the full article here
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