Looking to purchase a last-minute holiday gift that has impact? Rising Tide Capital, the nonprofit that has helped launch and support hundreds of entrepreneurs in northern New Jersey and now around the country, has released its second annual holiday gift guide featuring offerings from companies it has helped.
The gift guide, “Impact Shopping with Rising Tide Capital Entrepreneurs,” features the organization’s community of diverse small businesses and creators and aims to make it easier for the public to shop small ahead of the holiday season. It includes an array of handcrafted goods and innovative products from over 110 entrepreneurs representing the arts/entertainment, beauty, decor, fashion, food and wellness industries and more.
The catalog features an array of goods and services from the organization’s community of diverse small businesses and creators, which totals over 3,000 entrepreneurs. Moreover, as New Jersey continues to recover, shopping small delivers more economic benefit to local economies. On average, 48% of the cost of each purchase from an independent business is recirculated locally, compared with less than 14% of the cost of purchases from chain stores.
With many large retailers are facing delivery delays and inventory shortages as a result of the global supply chain issues, Rising Tide officials said local entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to meet the demand for holiday gifts since many of them make handcrafted items and source most of their materials from local suppliers and artisans.
“Rising Tide Capital is pleased to share our Impact Shopping guide just in time for the 2021 holiday season,” Andrea Geroldi, the chief of staff at Rising Tide Capital, said. “We are always looking to champion entrepreneurs from our community. Consistently shopping locally with small businesses is integral to strengthening our communities and economy, especially now, as we are all experiencing the effects of the constraints of the global supply chain.”
The average Rising Tide Capital entrepreneur is a single mother of two making at least $20,000 less than what is needed to achieve self-sufficiency. The cornerstone of Rising Tide Capital’s model is the Community Business Academy, an intensive 12-week training program for entrepreneurs on how to start, grow and sustain a business.
The program began in 2006 with 15 participants and, since then, the academy has produced over 3,000 graduates in New Jersey and the surrounding regions. Rising Tide’s own data has found that CBA graduates experience a 95% increase in sales, a 63% increase in average income and a 59% reduction in the use of public assistance.
Kimberly Sumpter, senior manager of business acceleration services and alumni network relations at Rising Tide Capital, said all purchases are welcome.
“We are proud to be in community with such a diverse array of entrepreneurs across many industries and are eager to highlight their great work in this guide,” she said.
