RAMP-Up
Building Better Futures for Seattle's BIPOC Businesses
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Business driven, campus inspired, and community engaged, Seattle University's Resource Amplification & Management Program (RAMP-Up) is a unique, experiential learning environment that brings together minds and hearts on campus and beyond to work with underserved local businesses in Seattle’s Central Area and surrounding neighborhoods.
The RAMP-Up team, consisting of highly-trained students and coaches, works closely with these businesses and their service providers for one or more years so they can augment their own capacity to remain, grow, and thrive in the neighborhood. As Seattle undergoes rapid, dynamic changes, it is vital to preserve the social, ethnic, and economic fabric of these businesses, which has made the city such an attractive destination.
RAMP-Up offers business coaching, resource connections, business planning, project management assistance, and other technical support. It’s a win/win/win: Seattle University students receive solid experiential learning, the university creates deeper connections with its local neighborhoods, and the businesses gain access to additional resources and business services.
What RAMP-Up businesses say about the program "They were there for me."
Earl Lancaster
"They were there for me on the legal work, writing proposals, doing their due diligence, talking with people … SU and the RAMP-Up team made it possible for me to get further along."
Owners of Earl's Cuts and Styles
The Liberty Project
In 2023, the Albers School of Business and Economics was chosen as one of three anchor institutions to support The Liberty Project, the City of Seattle's newest business growth program. Albers' RAMP-Up will be providing strategy development for Liberty Project programs that focus on increasing revenues for businesses owned by underrepresented communities in the city, particularly Black-owned businesses.
"This collaborative endeavor builds on our RAMP-Up work, providing more opportunity for Albers students and staff to participate meaningfully in minority business growth and creation in our city," said Albers Dean Joseph M. Phillips.
Apply to The Liberty Project
Liberty Project anchor institution Tabor 100 has a form for interested applicants
RAMP-Up in the Press
- City of Seattle: The Liberty Project: Mayor Harrell Announces New Small Business Growth Program with University of Washington, Seattle University and Tabor 100
- KOMO News 4: Homestreet Bank Hometown Heroes: Seattle U RAMP.up
- Seattle U Newsroom: SU Awarded $750k Grant to Bolster BIPOC Business and Vendors
- Crescent Collaborative: Case Study: Earl's Cuts Styles Makes a Move
- City of Seattle Office of Economic Development Bottom Line Blog: Carrying on a Community Legacy at the Barbeque Pit in Seattle's Central District
- King 5 News: Seattle's historic Barbeque Pit makes a comeback in the Central District
- Crosscut: Seattle is Looking for ways to Save Beloved Local Establishments
- Crescent Collaborative: A Case Study on Small Business Survival- Earl's Cuts & Styles
- King 5 News: Longtime barber stays in gentrified Central District with help from Seattle University
- King 5 News: Seattle University helping nearby small businesses survive gentrification
- Seattle Times: Remembering the past while making way for change in the Central District
- Seattle U Newsroom: Barber’s New Lease Signals Growth Within Central District
Got questions about RAMP-Up?
Janie Ng
Interim Director of Equity Business Programs
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