- Video shows dessert food truck Sweet Bites N Ice, which soon will have a second location at the Maya Retail Center on California Avenue.
- During City Council Wednesday, three more entrepreneurs received grants totaling $90,000, including Stephanie Chavez who was awarded $40,000, which she plans to use to expand her business Sweet Bites N Ice.
Stephanie Chavez said it was a trip to Europe that inspired her to open her business Sweet Bites N Ice.
“One of the things that I saw were these small stands of crepes and waffles, I remember thinking this would be such a great experience to share with my parents," she said.
In 2020, she teamed up with her parents to combine her European experience with their native Mexican flavors by opening the dessert food truck off White Lane, serving crepes, waffles, churros, auguas frescas, and more.
While it’s been fun sharing her sweet tooth with the rest of the community, it didn’t come without a few bumps in the road.
“Bumps that we had moving forward, there were a lot of supply chain issues, we had a really hard time finding supplies," she said.
Chavez — like many small business owners — worked diligently, looking for ways to grow. She teamed up with the Small Business Development Center at Cal State Bakersfield, which eventually brought her to the city’s Entrepreneurship Grant Program.
These grants, ranging from from $5,000 all the way up to $40,000, are designed to help business owners with money funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, to be put towards things like payroll, utilities, mortgage and rent, or expansion costs.
Since the start of the program in June, the city has had more than 80 applicants and OK’d $335,000 to 33 local businesses.
During City Council Wednesday, three more entrepreneurs received their grants totaling $90,000, including Chavez who was awarded $40,000, which she plans to use to expand.
“We are about to open our first Brick and Mortar location on California Avenue where the Maya Retail Center is at, so that’s been a big step for us," she said.
While these funds will help Chavez build her dream come true, she’s also eager to see it go back into helping the local economic base.
“This grant will definitely be going to that so we’ll be creating new employment opportunities at this new location and so we’re just excited to be open," she said.
The city will continue to award these grants until they run out of the $1.5 million ARPA funds. Small businesses can apply for the grants after completing one of the city’s technical assistance trainings. See here for more details.
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