Albers' Resource Amplification & Management Program (RAMP-up) is a unique, experiential learning environment that teams business students and faculty with underserved local businesses in Seattle's Central Area and surrounding neighborhoods.
Qualified RAMP-up clients receive a SeattleU client account manager and resource team for a one-year, renewable engagement. The team also offers these services to qualified nonprofits and other organizations that are currently servicing neighborhood businesses. Most, if not all of them, are being priced out of their traditional locations due to Seattle's increasing gentrification and booming economy.
RAMP-up's work with Earl Lancaster has been featured in the Seattle Times and KING5. The RAMP-up team is also working with two businesses with strong cultural ties to the neighborhood -- Cafe Avole, an Ethiopian coffee house, and Communion, a That Brown Girl Cooks restaurant.
Nearby, RAMP-up has a project underway with Community House on 23rd and Jackson. The team is working to secure financing and lease options for the Brown Sugar Bakery and the Catfish Corner restaurant at Community House's street-level retail space.
Your contribution through SU Gives goes toward RAMP-up team services and resources that assist these businesses. By donating, you are ensuring that smaller, minority-owned businesses that have been around for decades are given a new lease on life in modern Seattle.