From Classroom to Boardroom: Meet the 2026 Minority Business Accelerator Grant Winners

Georgetown County is home to entrepreneurs of all ages and backgrounds — from a fourth-grade teacher shaking up cocktails on weekends to a 9-year-old selling lemonade, to a small business owner rebuilding an insurance agency from the ground up. All three found support this year through the Minority Business Accelerator program, and all three walked away with grant funding to help take their businesses to the next level.

The program was created through a partnership between Georgetown County Economic Development and the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce back in 2021 and is now run and funded by the Chamber. The free five-month program is open to women, minorities and veterans looking to start or grow a business. This year's class graduated 15 entrepreneurs, bringing the total number of graduates to 82 since the program launched.

"Watching Class 5 grow from ambitious business owners into confident leaders has been incredibly rewarding" said Beth Stedman, President and CEO of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce. "Their success is proof that when we invest in local entrepreneurs, we create stronger businesses, stronger families, and a stronger Georgetown County. We couldn't be more proud of what they've accomplished."

At the program's Pitch Night in May, three participants were awarded business development grants: Imani Atkins of Golden Rè Cocktails, Holland Carley of Carolina Strand Underwriters Insurance, and Veronica Black, representing her daughter 9-year-old Zamirah Black of Mimi's Lemonade Boba.

"Tuesday nights at the Georgetown County airport began as a group of entrepreneurs individually hungry for success and quickly turned into a room that felt like family members cheering each other on," said Catherine Dixon, Market Research, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership Initiatives Coordinator for the Chamber. "The passion and dedication from each of these entrepreneurs was contagious, and the Chamber is so excited to continue supporting them and their business endeavors in Georgetown County.” 

 Imani Atkins: Turning a side hustle into a "Golden" opportunity

Imani Atkins didn't set out to start a business — she just liked mixing drinks. A longtime family bartender at events and a full-time fourth-grade teacher, Atkins launched Golden Rè Cocktails last year as a way to earn extra income doing something she loves.

"I just love the science of it all, just being able to create different cocktails based on different events," Atkins said.

Golden Rè is a mobile cocktail — and now mocktail — service, catering weddings, baby showers, housewarmings and more throughout Georgetown County and beyond. Because South Carolina law prohibits her from purchasing the alcohol herself, Atkins builds custom, signature cocktails around whatever spirits her clients provide, then gives each one a playful, personalized name. At a recent 50th birthday party with a "50 Shades of Green" theme, she built a menu around Crown Apple and named the drink "Apple of Her Eye."

Atkins earned two honors at this year's Pitch Night: the program's overall $5,000 grant and an additional $1,000 for Best Pitch.

"I honestly was surprised. I was nervous that whole day," Atkins said. "It was just a great experience to be involved with that, and preparing and going to the classes every week really made the difference in me winning."

The business's name carries personal meaning — "Rè" comes from her middle name, Régine, and reflects a nickname that's followed her since college.

"I always call people sunshine, like, 'Hello, sunshine,'" she said. "I hope that there's sunshine in every sip, and I hope you have a golden moment."

Atkins is putting her grant toward her next chapter: a wine tasting and charcuterie pairing event this September, in partnership with local charcuterie business Graze and Gather.

The Browns Ferry community resident also got an unexpected full-circle moment through the program — one of this year's other grant recipients, 9-year-old Zamirah Black of Mimi's Lemonade Boba, was a student in Atkins' fourth-grade class last school year.

Holland Carley: Building the infrastructure behind the insurance

For Holland Carley, the Minority Business Accelerator wasn't about starting from scratch — it was about building the foundation her business never had.

Carley is a co-owner of Carolina Strand Underwriters Insurance, an independent property and casualty insurance agency licensed in North and South Carolina. The agency's brick-and-mortar office is in Myrtle Beach, but Carley lives in Georgetown County.

The agency was founded in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, by two real estate agents who saw an opportunity in the insurance leads they were already generating.

"Sort of like somebody saying, 'I can't see, but I'm going to learn how to drive,'" Carley said of the agency's early days. "They did an excellent job for what they could."

Carley bought into the business in 2022, bringing years of experience as an underwriter at a top-five international insurance brokerage. She knew she had the industry connections to grow the agency — what she didn't have was the infrastructure.

"Short of trying to piece it together myself... this was going to be the best opportunity," Carley said of the Accelerator program.

She said the program's value went both ways: participants just starting out gained access to business fundamentals — marketing, business plans, what kind of insurance and infrastructure a startup actually needs — while she was able to offer feedback from her own experience, even as she filled gaps in her own operation.

"It was great to be able to offer feedback to folks that were just kind of starting out," she said. "And then great for me to be able to touch with some folks that were more enthusiastic about getting their business off the ground."

Carley received a $2,500 grant, which she plans to put toward hiring a live, in-house customer service representative — an alternative to outsourcing that reflects her broader goal for the agency.

"Ultimately, we want to grow and hire more people and give some hopefully younger folks, and even retired folks, an opportunity to have an income, have some flexibility," she said. "But in order to do that, you have to have things in place."

Her advice to other business owners considering the program: apply.

"It was a fantastic experience, and I was honored to be a part of it," Carley said.

Zamirah Black: A Young Entrepreneur's Sweet Success

Most people spend the summer of their ninth year at camp or the pool. Zamirah Black spent hers launching a business.

It started in 2024, when Zamirah and her mother, Veronica Black, wanted to save up for a vacation and didn't have the money.

"We didn't have none, so we had to think about what we had to do to make money," Zamirah said. "I told my mom, let's make a lemonade stand."

The lemonade stand became Mimi's Lemonade Boba after Veronica came across the popular tea-shop drink on TikTok and the two decided to experiment with pairing it with their lemonade. Two years later, the business is a regular fixture at the community market at Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, off Browns Ferry Road, where Zamirah sells cups of plain lemonade for $3 and lemonade with boba — tapioca "fruit pearls," as she calls them — for $5.

"Some people say it's good. Some people say it's really sweet," Zamirah said of the reviews. "Some people say it's not sweet and it's not sour, but it's good."

This year, Zamirah and her mother went through the Minority Business Accelerator together — though because the evening classes conflicted with the school year, it was Veronica who attended in person, bringing the lessons home to her daughter.

"By nature, I'm an entrepreneur as well, so I just wanted to pass that on to my kids," Veronica said. "I didn't have like a formal business plan, just kind of went with the flow of the business. I wanted something way more formal for my kids, and the class provided me that."

Veronica said the program helped sharpen Zamirah's understanding of finances, advertising and next steps for the business — and that her daughter picked up some concepts faster than the adults in the room.

"It took class members days to get" a mission statement, Veronica said, "but for her, it only took like a couple of minutes." Zamirah also caught on to digital marketing tools quickly. "Everyone in my classes, my age and older, struggled in it," Veronica said. "I was very pleased to see that she was able to use today's technology to advance very quickly."

Zamirah put that training to work at Pitch Night, where she earned a $1,000 grant.

"She did participate in our pitch night. They thought she did very well," Veronica said. "I didn't even have to say anything. At the end of the day, I'm just her mom, and this is her business and her idea. I want her to be able to carry it out as her desires, and then I'm just here to support her."

The entrepreneurial streak runs in the family — Veronica traces it back to her own grandmother, Ruthie Woods, a retired Browns Ferry teacher who ran a tutoring nonprofit for 22 years. Veronica has worked as a massage therapist, a truck driver and, with a master's degree in social work, now does community social work — which is how the Mount Sinai market came about in the first place.

For now, Zamirah is saving her profits toward a longer-term goal: a food truck. In the meantime, she's setting her sights on something a little closer — new school clothes.

"No matter how old or big you are, you could still do things," Zamirah said. "Even if somebody says you can’t. You don't let nobody put you down. You could still do it."

Rising to the fifth grade at Browns Ferry Elementary, Zamirah also books Mimi's Lemonade Boba for family reunions, birthday parties and festivals, in addition to the Mount Sinai market, which runs Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the summer.

Zamirah's grant win also brought an unexpected full-circle moment to this year's Accelerator class: fellow grant recipient Imani Atkins of Golden Rè Cocktails is Zamirah's fourth-grade teacher.

The Minority Business Accelerator is funded, managed and operated by the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce. Applications for the next session, which begins in January, are open early fall 2026 through the Chamber's website at VisitGeorge.com.