In Cincinnati, MORTAR
Builds a Community
of Entrepreneurs

Five years ago, Allen Woods was exploring Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood with his friends, Derrick Braziel, and William Thomas II. The trio noticed that despite the diverse demographics, there weren’t many black-owned businesses in the area.

“There were a lot of people who looked like us; who were talented and had gifts and abilities, but they didn’t know how to get started,” Woods says. So he, Braziel and Thomas created MORTAR, a nonprofit accelerator for local entrepreneurs, especially for people of color. The name was inspired by the revitalization of Over-the-Rhine, and the spirit that binds a neighborhood together: mortar keeps a building upright, and in this case, mortar represents the people who hold our communities together.

MORTAR offers budding entrepreneurs guidance and support, starting with a 15-week training program. Candidates apply online and are then interviewed in-person by a panel that includes MORTAR staffers, board members, and alumni.

“We’re looking for unique ideas, but we’re also looking for people with grit and determination,” Woods says. The program accepts 30 people at a time and runs twice a year, with 60 entrepreneurs graduating annually. The training course is followed by an 18-month alumni program, during which entrepreneurs have access to services including accounting, branding, marketing, public speaking training, free legal advice and more. “About 30 percent of new businesses in America fail within their first two years in operation,” Woods says, so MORTAR tries to ensure that its graduates have everything they need to succeed during this vital period.

The nonprofit has helped launch nearly 250 businesses. They are a diverse group, including a restaurant run by a Cambodian refugee and a shoe store specializing in women’s shoes in larger sizes. “Our entrepreneurs are really across-the-board,” Woods says. Some candidates show up with conventional ideas, but he says the most successful are the ones who think outside the box.

MORTAR also runs a handful of pop-up shops for entrepreneurs to make use of on a temporary basis. “We wanted it to be kind of like an entrepreneurial laboratory, so people can test out their ideas in real-time,” Woods says.

The organization recently expanded into Milwaukee, a move that has given the group the opportunity to write their own curriculum for training programs. Woods says they realized there weren’t enough culturally competent curricula—courses that take into account vernacular, cultural background, and context—so they decided to create their own. It’s crucial, he says, to have courses that consider the struggles specific communities have faced. An example, Woods says, are the barriers African-Americans have historically faced in being allowed to own their own homes, which led to an inability to accumulate wealth through equity—one of the ways many fund their enterprises.

“In the communities that we’re working in, it’s not just entrepreneurship. There’s always something else that’s connected to it,” he says. MORTAR is important because “there’s a community of people who want to learn and they need to learn from people who understand their cultural heritage, struggles and entrepreneurial journey.”

In addition to work with MORTAR, Woods also records the Permanent Plus One podcast with his wife Kyla, offering their unique perspectives on life through a marriage lens while also challenging the stereotype of marriage being a burden.

“That’s kind of a recurring theme in my life,” he says. “I feel like what I’ve gone through in my life can help the next person, so I’m willing to step out there and put myself on the line. I understand that my purpose is to help others become their better selves, whether they’re committing to growing a business or a relationship.”

U.S. Bank is proud to support organizations like MORTAR that contribute to the growth of safe and vibrant communities.