Small business is certainly the backbone of the economy in Rhode Island. A leading segment of that has to be food service – restaurants, catering, businesses that feed us.
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, a program at the Community College of Rhode Island that has been in place since 2016, is getting many of those businesses to the next level.
Karina Holyoak Wood is the founding executive director of the program at CCRI’s Warwick campus. She has led this small-business growth and economic development program since March of 2016, during which time it has served to support more than 500 Rhode Island small businesses to increase their revenues, create new jobs, be a force for good in their communities and help grow the local economy.
“We’re really proud to have served over 500 Rhode Island small businesses in that time and they’re all growing and hiring more people,” Wood said.
The first success story Wood discussed was The Newport Chowder Co. and owner Katie Potter, who graduated 18 months ago from the program.
Potter grew up in her mother’s café, Muriel’s, which served up signature Newport chowder for decades. Potter was recently honored by the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce as a Woman of Distinction.
“She started out with a couple of food trucks, and then she opened her outdoor restaurant on Thames Street,” Wood said of Potter.
Potter started out selling a handmade spice blend, the essence of Muriel’s beloved chowder recipe. It caught on at Newport weddings, then to home cooks. After graduating from the 10KSB program, she expanded her retail distribution of those spice packets, and she is now distributing to restaurants.
“She’s being featured on TV. She is going gangbusters. And we were so proud and honored to have her in our cohort,” Wood said.
[caption id="attachment_478693" align="alignright" width="288"]
BUSINESS BOOST: Kodi Keith, left, co-owner of Yagi Noodles in Newport and a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at the Community College of Rhode Island, says the program was transformative for her business. Keith is pictured with chef and co-owner Basil Yu.
COURTESY GOLDMAN SACHS 10,000 SMALL BUSINESSES[/caption]
Another Newport restaurant that has been making food news recently is Yagi Noodles. A ramen noodle concept originally, Yagi also has a boba bar – also known as “bubble tea” – at its storefront on Long Wharf, and a menu of Asian appetizers such as bao buns and a selection of yakitori, or meat skewers. The owners, Kodi Keith and Basil Yu, moved the restaurant into its current location less than a year after opening at a smaller location. Keith, who graduated from the 10KSB program, described the program as “transformative.”
“We hear that a lot,” Wood said. “We’re always so happy and proud when we hear that people say this was a life-changing experience or ‘It transformed the way I looked at my business.’ ”
Wood said business at Yagi Noodles has grown since Keith attended the program. The restaurant recently got a liquor license, and Yu was nominated for a James Beard Award as “Best Chef Northeast.”
As a by-product of the inspiration that can come from the 10KSB program, a chef at Yagi Noodles is striking out on his own. Alp Gumuscu, originally from Turkey, is developing Tolia, a new concept at the much-talked-about Track 15 food hall opening in Providence in 2025. Tolia’s menu is from the area surrounding Turkey and Greece and other parts of the Middle East, and its cuisine is deeply rooted in ancient ingredients, spices and history.
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program is taking applications for its spring program. Any business that is established and has at least two years under its belt is eligible. It is a simple online application. Visit 10KSBapply.com and apply for the free program by Oct. 30.
(Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect eligibility requirement to participate in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. To apply, a company must be at least 2 years old.)
“Dining Out With Bruce Newbury,” syndicated weekly on radio, is heard in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and Indiana. Contact Bruce at bruce@brucenewbury.com.