Business Spotlight - December 2022

Greeting Friends and Neighbors:

The Riverworks Business Development HUB provides technical assistance to local entrepreneurs and businesses. Our business development specialists provide business coaching and strategic budgeting sessions to help find funding and grant opportunities that fit their needs. Our monthly business spotlight highlights some of the amazing work and accomplishments of these entrepreneurs. Please check out these businesses and support local whenever possible!

To learn more about the Riverworks Business Development HUB click here.

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Lush Popcorn

This month, we highlight Lush Popcorn - a powerhouse gourmet popcorn business started by brother/sister team Marc and Marcia Taylor. Established in 2014, Marc and Marcia began selling their popcorn at various pop-up events around Milwaukee. In 2017, they participated in their first ever competition called the Dolphin Pool - a pitch contest run by Riverworks Business Improvement District (BID) #25, with support from Riverworks Development Corp. Lush Popcorn won the Dolphin Pool and Marc and Marcia gained a deeper confidence in their business through collaborations with WWBIC and Riverworks.

"We’ve gotten nothing but love and support from [Riverworks]. It’s been dope knowing we have a community of supporters over at Riverworks that’s really helping us figure this out and making sure we’re going to be successful.”

In 2018, Lush Popcorn rented a spot in the brand-new Sherman Phoenix marketplace on Fond Du Lac Avenue. Surrounded by a community of entrepreneurs, the atmosphere provided a space for them to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves. Marc and Marcia spent three years building the foundation and expanding their offerings through the shared clientele at Sherman Phoenix.

Marc and Marcia are now excited to announce that, while they are keeping their space at Sherman Phoenix, they are expanding and will be coming back home to the Riverwest area. They have purchased the building at 920 E Locust Street and are currently working on getting the space ready for business. They are most excited about the opportunity to reach a new market and make a bigger footprint on their own community. Also, with new space comes new products! Lush Popcorn will be launching some new offerings including new popcorn flavors and spiked lemonade. Since Lush Popcorn products are being sold in Black Husky and Amorphic Beer, Marc and Marcia are also planning on providing space for other small businesses to sell their products out of their new location.

If you are interested in being featured on the Business Spotlight, please contact Serah Washington.