Michelle Lewis’s family dog, Scooter Mae, is 15 years old and not showing her age. This may be due in large part with the high-quality, homemade ScooterFood dinners she eats. Lewis, a corporate relocation consultant with a background in design and languages, was concerned about the ingredients in commercial pet food. “Even ‘organic’ dog foods are canned or dried,” she points out, “and that means the ingredients lose most of their natural vitamins and minerals. I want our pets to benefit from what nature can give them.” When Lewis began preparing healthy, wholesome, organic food for Scooter Mae, friends pointed out that her idea had great business potential.

With that motivation, a small Trickle Up grant, and her own funds, Lewis started ScooterFood LLC, and began contacting Brooklyn-based small business organizations, like the Boricua College SBDC. SBDC Business Advisor Miriam Colon became an enthusiastic supporter of ScooterFood.

The SBDC helped Lewis get into her first product show—a Brooklyn Heights holiday fair. Through the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s New York Business Solutions program, ScooterFood now has pro-bono legal representation. Total funding consists of $45,000 in personal equity, $3,000 from an IDA, and loans from family and friends of $25,000. ScooterFood is targeting Fairway, WholeFoods, and FreshDirect, as well as local pet stores and gourmet food stores in Brooklyn and Manhattan. “ScooterFood got the business expertise it needed from the SBDC,” says Lewis.