More than hot dogs: fulfilling jobs and prosperity building in DE

Wilmington-based entrepreneur Antinette Watson is proud to be known for having “the best grilled dogs in the city – period.” .

2024, "More than hot dogs: fulfilling jobs and prosperity building in Delaware", Spotlight Delaware, 16 July, Accessed: https://spotlightdelaware.org/2024/07/16/more-than-hot-dogs-fulfilling-jobs/

Wilmington-based entrepreneur Antinette Watson is proud to be known for having “the best grilled dogs in the city – period.” Yet her efforts through The Stand De, a chain of mobile food carts that she launched in 2018, are about more than delivering a delicious bite to eat.

“We are bigger than our hot dogs,” Watson said. “We are using our hot dogs to create change in our communities.”

Growing up, Watson worked alongside family at Cheryl’s Water Ice, which was founded by her grandfather. She dreamed of similarly leading a successful business one day. After working in the human services as an adult, she also hoped to connect individuals with meaningful employment. Through The Stand De, she does just that, employing both youth and adults.

Watson’s success and momentum would not have been possible without the support of others. She is a past cohort member of the Pete duPont Freedom Foundation’s Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, a member of Wilmington Alliance’s Wilmington Kitchen Collective, and a graduate of West End Neighborhood’s Launcher Program.

The experiences, Watson said, shifted her mindset from “side hustle” to “I’m a CEO.”

“We think of ourselves as an ecosystem builder,” CEO Renata Kowalczyk said of her work at Wilmington Alliance. “How can we use entrepreneurship as a vehicle to bring equity and inclusion to our economic development in the city?”

Entrepreneurship holds profound significance for a community; it serves as both an inspiration and a motivation. Healthy Communities Delaware (HCD), which includes “meaningful work” as one of the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being, uses this framework to help communities inspire resident-driven change for thriving people and places.

This past spring at HCD’s Equity Action Summit, Kowalczyk spoke alongside other entrepreneurship advocates, including Anthony Stanziale of West End Neighborhood House, on workforce development and small business incubation to share with others their insights on how entrepreneurs can grow and small, local businesses can take off.

Whether finding funding or getting local vendors in front of more customers, wraparound services and partnerships can make all the difference in supporting entrepreneurs, especially in Black and Brown communities, Kowalczyk said. That’s how Wilmington Kitchen Collective, which offers commercial-grade kitchen and storage space for small businesses, came about.

The initiative originated with Wilmington Alliance exploring the concept of a kitchen incubator. But limited seed funding and the high facility costs presented a challenge. Recognizing that many churches in Wilmington possessed large, underutilized kitchens, Wilmington Alliance partnered with Riverfront, a faith-based nonprofit, and three churches to provide the necessary physical space.

The Launcher Entrepreneurship Program at West End Neighborhood House is another partner of the Collective that builds business skills, and so sought-after that it serves entrepreneurs across the state, in Bear, Claymont, Dover, Georgetown and New Castle.

“I like to always tell individuals that it doesn’t matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey. You can be doing it for 10 years or just starting out,” said Naseem Matthews, Launcher manager. “We want to make sure that when you come to our program, you leave with a completed business plan and you’re connected more than ever to resources and funding options.”

It’s one of many services West End provides to help individuals and communities thrive. Matthews often collaborates with his colleague Stanziale, a West End employment specialist. Making meaningful connections is crucial for all involved in creating meaningful work; Stanziale recently placed a job candidate who came to West End for workforce development with a Launcher entrepreneur, creating a successful cycle of learning, teaching and hiring all within the same community.

“The thing that makes community building so successful is being able to step outside of the office and step onto the sidewalk,” Stanziale said. Helping an individual find success may also mean eliminating barriers – connecting folks with housing assistance, before and after-school care, job placement or financial aid. When these barriers are addressed, that can make the difference between finding work and having meaningful work, and can help break the cycle of poverty.

As owner of The Stand De, Watson is especially aware of the ways entrepreneurship contributes to the vitality of her community. Having grown up in low-income, high-crime environments, she said owning her own business has helped her break free from societal limitations. Her goal is to cultivate fellow entrepreneurs, particularly individuals facing barriers to employment, including those reentering into the community from incarceration. 

“Being an entrepreneur, you can literally change your community, and it provides you with a voice. I step into the room, I have The Stand De behind me,” Watson said. “That means something.”