David Olivo is expanding Everyday Jumps, a bounce house and party rentals business, with grant funding from the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) – through a program at Phoenix College (PC) – and support from the City of Phoenix and NACCE.
David’s inspiration to become an entrepreneur began when he was just 11 years old, while helping his mom rent out tables and chairs to neighbors for family parties. David smiles as he recalls that the best part of helping his mom was collecting the money at the end of the day. The money was an important part of their family’s finances, but also played a decisive role in David’s interest in starting his own business.
While taking classes in 2020, David Olivo reached out to PC faculty member Dawson Dopp for help, and they started talking about the new bounce house rental business David had started. Professor Dopp told David about the NACCE-EEVF Program, which provides seed money and mentorship to local entrepreneurs seeking to start or grow a business.
David was skeptical, but he applied, and was selected as PC’s first recipient of the NACCE-EEVF Program – receiving $2,500 in financial assistance to help jumpstart his bounce house and party rentals business - Everyday Jumps. David was also matched with a local business mentor, through the AZ Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The funding allowed David to expand his business, and now he has four bounce houses.
When asked what advice he would give others thinking about starting their own business, he says, “Just jump in, and be okay getting outside your comfort zone.” David also says he never thought college would lead to this kind of help with his business, but he’s thankful that it did.
The City of Phoenix recently granted $20,000 to the NACCE-EEVF Program to support community college students seeking to start a business in the City of Phoenix.
City Councilwoman Laura Pastor and Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay spearheaded the support. The NACCE-EEVF Program is in its second year as part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) effort to increase entrepreneurism and workforce development in Maricopa County.
The City of Phoenix support, along with a $20,000 grant from the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, will help ignite young entrepreneurs across Phoenix and Maricopa County. NACCE provided a matching grant of $20,000 based on the MCCCD EEVF colleges raising more than $30,000 to-date.
MCCCD NACCE-EEVF Program director Bruce McHenry said “The funds from the City of Phoenix and NACCE will increase the support and capital assistance MCCCD can provide to help student-entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.”
McHenry, Dopp, PC business faculty Sherlyn Celaya, and other faculty from across MCCCD, work together to host the annual competition. “The NACCE- EEVF Program is an effective way for entrepreneurial students, such as David, to demonstrate a positive economic effect in our community, while learning how to start or scale their business,” said Dopp.
Students at the participating MCCCD schools seeking to start a business in the City of Phoenix may apply for the NACCE-EEVF Program, and the next round of applications is being accepted through mid-April for the spring 2022 cohort.
Learn more about the NACCE-EEVF Program HERE.
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