The library is more than just books, and our series with the Milwaukee Public Library — Books and Beyond — highlights that by sharing resources, book recommendations and unique offerings you might not know about.
Today, we’re diving into MPL’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, launched in summer 2024 as a collaboration between the library and a local entrepreneur.
The Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program provides free workshops, one-on-one consultations, mentoring, and more for current and aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. The broader goal of the program is to help build an ecosystem that develops, sustains, and grows future entrepreneurs in Milwaukee.
According to Kristina Gomez, the library services manager for the business and technology department at Central Library, the EIR program asks its residents to develop workshops hosted at the library, mentor attendees of those workshops, and collaborate with the library on building its collection. These elements of the program inspired Eli Rivera, MPL's first EIR, to apply.
“It was just a perfect opportunity to tie in my life experience [and] my professional experience," he says. "This is an opportunity to have a real impact within the entrepreneur community, especially the more overlooked community at large that we saw as possibly being the main beneficiaries of the program."
Rivera's entrepreneurial journey began early and became an integral part of his life. Today his mission revolves around the importance of justice-impacted entrepreneurship, serving as CEO and co-founder of The Way Out. The organization and online platform works with individuals affected by the justice system, either in the community or coming out of incarceration, and connects them with supportive service-providing organizations. Rivera is also a Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation, Google Latino Founders Fund Recipient, and Google Sales Academy Graduate.
When it comes to Milwaukee's community of support for entrepreneurs, Rivera believes the intention behind cultivating spaces and offering resources are a positive and motivating. However, he thinks where opportunities are being missed is failing to understand the "blind spots as they relate to the demographics [companies and programs] are trying to serve."
"Sometimes seeing folks who don't represent the folks who are there to benefit can be challenging because it's really important that we see others that look like us, talk like us, have come from our backgrounds being the success stories we're trying to emulate," Rivera adds.
He also notes that he would like to see more established business partners really support new entrepreneurs by purchasing their products and services at the start, rather than waiting for it to be refined or proven.
"Part of it is growing through the bumps together with your first customers, and I think there's a oftentimes a hesitation for established businesses to take that on," Rivera explains. "And I think if they just understood what a benefit having real life experience with real life customers can bring, maybe we would see more support directly and thereby creating some traction for these startups."
Gomez says there has been a very positive response to Rivera's time as the first EIR, and direct feedback shows that community members want more financial planning and financial literacy workshops for business owners. She says some of these resources the library can supply right away while they wait until the next EIR is confirmed.
"Really listening to what community members need and want from us a library has sort of really changed my whole viewpoint on my team’s role, the library’s role in the community," says Gomez.
Rivera adds, “You can have an office, you can have resources at low to no cost, and it’s called the library!”
Milwaukee Public Library is currently taking proposals through December 1, 2024 for their next Entrepreneur-in-Residence. You can find more information about the residency and how to apply here.
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