New Jersey nonprofit serving black entrepreneurs invests $4.5 million to move into new headquarters

A New Jersey nonprofit that helps black entrepreneurs, Rising Tide Capital, is investing about $4.5 million to open and move into a new headquarters.

The investment in the Rising Tide national headquarters, which just moved along Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City, will also allow it to expand. Its new offerings include an entrepreneurship hub, providing emerging founders with support and resources to develop sustainable businesses in their communities.

The move into the building also marks Rising Tide’s 18th anniversary. The nonprofit organization reports that it has provided training to more than 7,000 entrepreneurs nationwide since 2004.

The four-story building that Rising Tide acquired includes 20,000 square feet for the nonprofit and other tenants. It has 5,000 square feet of ground floor mission space for Rising Tide and co-working space for entrepreneurs. It includes 10 affordable homes for local residents, something Rising Tide calls a “unique feature.” Officials say the move will help continue the economic revival of Greenville, a predominantly black neighborhood in Jersey City.

Over the past three years, Rising Tide says it has expanded nationally by partnering with urban and rural community organizations in nine states to implement the Community Business Academy (CBA), its entrepreneur training program. Rising Tile recently announced three new partnerships in Richmond, Virginia, Brooklyn, New York, as well as Los Angeles.

The organization reports that it primarily works with entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities seeking to start and grow strong businesses. Rising Tide declares that its alumni network is 71% female, 93% people of color, and 80% low- to moderate-income.

Rising Tide swears that within two years of graduation, participating entrepreneurs achieve a 95% increase in business sales and a 63% increase in household income. Its CBA program included the graduation of 179 entrepreneurs from its spring 2022 class.

“At a time when investment in physical spaces, particularly in historically marginalized communities, faces significant challenges, Rising Tide Capital believes that community hubs for local entrepreneurs are an essential component in rebuilding equitable, sustainable and inclusive local economies,” they said Alpha Demelashco-founder and CEO of Rising Tide Capital.

Co-founder and COO of Rising Tide Capital Alex Forrester covered the move in a video, calling it a “mountaintop move.”

“Entrepreneurship is fundamentally a form of creative response to the needs of the world around us,” said the COO.