Stand Up for Entrepreneurship: Aaron’s Story
When Aaron Williams launched Chicago’s Jerk Tacos at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center (SLC) in August, he found himself in the middle of a “full circle moment.” He was blocks away from his alma mater, Shawnee High School, and he was a world away from his first attempt to open the restaurant days before the 2020 shutdown. Aaron was determined to bounce back, but the road to relaunching was a puzzle he couldn’t seem to solve.
In 2022, the Louisville Urban League’s Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) became the missing piece. In one-on-one coaching, Aaron got “capital-ready,” equipped with the business plans investors and lenders require. “Before, I wasn’t always presenting myself the way I would have liked to,” Aaron said. “I was presenting myself the way I could afford to.” Access to the Reparative Economics Fund opened doors to new possibilities. “Everything I needed was taken care of by the Urban League. I call this opening our facelift.”
Aaron’s full-circle facelift shows the infrastructure of investment. Public funding seeded the Reparative Economics Fund, and partners like Norton Healthcare, Brown-Forman, Humana, and the James Graham Brown Foundation supported both the CFE and the SLC. Former LUL President Sadiqa Reynolds, who spearheaded the Sports & Learning Center, built pathways for graduates of the Center for Entrepreneurship to secure contracts that circulate wealth in the community.
As the first loan recipient from the Reparative Economics Fund, Aaron was able to reopen inside the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, not as a small vendor, but as the exclusive food and beverage provider for the entire $53 million facility. Now, Aaron returns that investment by creating local jobs, increasing tax revenue, and contributing to an environment that can attract future investment.
Looking to that future, Aaron envisions more: expanding to new markets, running an all-electric food truck fleet, and creating opportunities for others to follow in his footsteps. He sees the CFE as a lasting partner in that journey. “I’m a living testimony of what can happen when we come together,” he says. “The Urban League has to have support in order to support us. It’s all an ecosystem; when everyone plays their role, we thrive.”
Aaron Williams, Reparative Economics Fund
The Reparative Economics Fund was developed by a group of community stakeholders to address gaps in access to funding, as many small businesses face challenges accessing capital from traditional sources. For more information, visit lul.org/blackbusiness or call (502) 585-4622.
