Kalamazoo Celebrates 4th Black Entrepreneur Training Academy 

A new group of cohorts in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is celebrating its graduation from the city’s Black Entrepreneur Training Academy (BETA).

The fourth cohort of BETA was all smiles at their graduation ceremony last month. Graduates shared their excitement about applying what they learned to their businesses. The program is committed to giving Black entrepreneurs equal access to essential resources.

Created through a partnership between Black Wall Street Kalamazoo and Sisters in Business, BETA is a free, five-month cohort-based program for Black entrepreneurs that offers expert-led guidance on entrepreneurship. Graduates also have the opportunity to compete in a pitch competition for up to $5,500 in funding.

“You’re coming out of here with the knowledge to make it in the marketplace,” Lyonel LaGrone II told MLive, a 2024 graduate and the husband of Sisters in Business co-founder Alisa Parker-LaGrone.

LaGrone joined BETA to elevate his non-emergency medical transportation company, Michigan Ambulatory Services. He was inspired by the success of Doreen Gardner, the owner of Papa’s Brittle and a 2021 BETA graduate. Gardner joined Can-Do Kalamazoo (formerly Can-Do Kitchen), gaining the tools to perfect her peanut brittle. Her journey led her to win the 2022 Catalyst University Makers’ Mart and secure the NAACP Powershift Grant, a prominent national competition with personal mentorship from Shark Tank’s Daymond John.

Teaching students everything from financial planning, marketing, and establishing an LLC to offering professional bookkeepers and business coaches, LaGrone applauds BETA for being a “360-degree approach from conceptualization to realization” that “demystifies” entrepreneurship and helps graduates find a “realistic entry point into the market” to expand their business further.

The program continues well after graduation, with BETA leaders continuing to check in with graduates for a year afterward. Resources remain accessible, and a private Facebook group keeps students and alums connected, fostering a community and providing ongoing opportunities.

“If we can get into that (private) room and be a bridge, be a voice … that creates equitability,” Sisters in Business Co-founder Nicole Parker said.

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