The "Local First' Blueprint" Scaling Your Small Business with Kimberly Bonner

According to 2024 census data, minority-owned businesses represent approximately 22.6% of US employers, totaling around 1.3 million businesses. Yet, traditional economic development often prioritizes attracting massive multinational corporations over supporting the homegrown entrepreneurs who keep our communities alive.

In this episode of The Wealth We Build, host Yessica Holguin is joined by Kimberly Bonner from the Center for Community Wealth (CCW) to discuss why a "local-first" approach is the real key to closing the racial wealth gap.

Kimberly pulls back the curtain on how CCW is serving as a bridge to help micro-businesses overcome the "moat" of institutional procurement. We dive deep into the incredibly successful "Feeding Anchors" catering program, a brand-new "BEST" cohort for skilled trades, and the raw, unglamorized realities of entrepreneurship today, including inflation, skyrocketing rents, and the often-overlooked mental health struggles of small business owners.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The "Local-First" Approach: Why hyper-local investing beats corporate attraction every time.
• Cracking the Institutional Code: How small catering and skilled trade businesses can land lucrative contracts with universities, hospitals, and government agencies.
• The Entrepreneurial Reality Check: Kimberly’s top two pieces of advice for anyone looking to start a business (and why passion isn't enough).
• The Power of Interconnectedness: Moving away from the myth of hyper-individualism to survive economic volatility.
• A 20-Year Vision for Denver: What true democratization and systems change look like for local economies.

Are you a local caterer or a skilled trade business with fewer than 10 employees in the Denver metro area? CCW is launching its next BEST cohort in Fall 2026!

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