The full cohort for the 2024 Nibble Entrepreneurship Program Workshop Series plus our great translators.

By Jeffrey Shwom

Enrollment for the 2025 Nibble Entrepreneurship Program has begun and will run until December 22, 2024.

Entrepreneurs receive business development instruction and mentoring, teach classes, try their restaurant ideas and concepts at Nibble Kitchen restaurant (Bow Market in Union), festivals, and farmers markets, receive hands-on experience and training, and gain access to bilingual business workshops. This is the 12th year of the program.

Workshops are held once a week, on Tuesday evenings, beginning January 7, 2025 for 8 weeks and the program hopes to include 8 to 14 participants. The program also puts a priority on low-moderate income Somerville residents who make cuisine from their native countries, who have cooking experience, and who speak English or are enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

Per their website, “The Nibble Entrepreneurship Program focuses on serving immigrant and historically underserved communities.” According to statistics, immigrant-owned businesses in the United States fuel the economy and, according to every US Census conducted since 1880, “are twice as likely to start a new business compared to those born in the U.S. – often those businesses are food related.”

Nibble participant Myrlande Michel presenting her vision for her food business ‘Boukan’nen Afro-Haitian Cuisine’ during a workshop lead by Chef Amanda Escamilla, owner of Tex Mex Eats.

Anthony Baum, Program Coordinator, shared, “The Nibble Culinary Arts Initiative is important for our community because it provides a platform for members of underrepresented communities to proudly showcase their culture, while also utilizing their skills and passion for food as an opportunity to pursue not only cultural representation, but also to support equitable economic development via small business ownership.

There is a belief that to experience a culture other than your own you need to travel; Nibble helps to show that rich cultural (and culinary) diversity exists right here in Somerville, and helps to reinforce to members of our underrepresented communities that Somerville is a place where their story, culture, and cuisine are deeply valued.”

True to its mission, Nibble Kitchen offers this program for $100, with financial support if qualified. This represents a fraction of the costs of attending culinary school or other job training programs.

Questions and comments can be directed to the Somerville Arts Council at 617-625-6600, x 2985 or abaum@somervillema.gov.

Nibble participant Elorm Praise Dela-Seshie presenting her business pitch and signature dish for her Ghanaian restaurant concept, Molu, to a panel of judges at the final workshop of the series: the Business Pitch and Tasting Competition .— Photos and captions courtesy of Tony Baum, Nibble Kitchen