A Goodman's Desserts is Rev-Up MKE's Fourth Annual Winner
When first starting his business: “A Goodman’s Desserts”, Alan Goodman reached out to established small business owners for advice and support. According to Goodman, their support—specifically from the Black community—has lead him to be this year’s fourth annual Rev-Up MKE winner.
“The African American small business owner community has been extremely supportive,” said Goodman. “I would not be here without their encouraging support and guidance.”
As the winner, Goodman has won a $10,000 cash gift, $25,000 in in-kind services (including executive consulting from Ollenburg LLC, payroll and benefits services from zizzl, free legal audit from the Marquette University Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic and more) and advertising and recognition from Near West Side Partners.
A Goodman’s Desserts is a bakery that is based off of scratch-made desserts from family recipes, including Goodman’s specialty desserts bread pudding, butter and lemon cookies, and lemon pound cake, according to a press release.
Goodman is humbled to have won the competition and says it still doesn’t feel real.
“I don’t know if it really settled in yet,” he said about winning. “If you have a dream, you should pursue it.”
Since the win is new, Goodman said his next step is figuring out the best way to implement his new resources. Once he gets a commercial space, Goodman is looking forward to teaching the community about baking, and eventually hiring on community members.
Goodman along with four other small business owners competed for the winning spot at Rev-Up MKE’s competition. Before the competition, each of the finalists received mentorship, business training and consulting support to prepare them for their live pitches.
2019 Rev-Up MKE contestants. (Picture by Jennifer Janivere)
Inpower was named as the runner-up and recipient of $4,000, and were also selected as the WaterStone Bank Audience Choice winning an additional $1,000 prize. And for the first time ever, the Rev-Up MKE Alum of the Year Award was created to “honor the commitment and continued benefit that former Rev-Up MKE finalists and winners bring to Milwaukee’s Near West Side,” according to a press release. 2018 Rev-Up MKE and audience choice winner Amy Narr, won the first Alum award, winning her business a $5,000 cash gift, thanks to zizzl.
Rev-Up MKE is a small business competition hosted by the Near West Side Partners that was founded on feedback from the community. According to a press release, stakeholders wanted to see improvements in the commercial corridors of their neighborhoods (North West Side). The Rev-Up MKE competition is seen as a “Shark Tank”-style live pitch event.
This year’s finalist were judged by Doug Gordon, President and CEO of WaterStone Bank; Jamie Westfahl, Senior Director Global Procurement–Packaging of MillerCoors; Vincent Lyles, Vice President, Community Relations of Advocate Aurora Health; Pete Cooney, Founder of Pete’s Pops (2016 Rev-Up MKE winner); and Ray Seaver, Founder and CEO of zizzl.
Stay up to date with A Goodman’s Desserts by clicking here. For more information on Rev-Up MKE, visit here.