But she is excited to be the beneficiary of two local programs trying to help revitalize Camden by providing incentives to potential business owners at a time when the number of applicants trying to set up shop in the city is dwindling.
Over the last five years, with the exception of 2009, there has been a steady decline in the number of new businesses applying for licensing and inspection in Camden - 84 last year, down from 130 in 2007 - though not all types of businesses are required to file for licenses.
In October, Jacobs was part of the most recent group to graduate from an entrepreneurial-training program run by the Latin American Economic Development Association, or LAEDA. The program is not restricted to Camden or to Hispanics, but the majority of the 38 graduates expressed an interest in doing business in the city, said Ray Lamboy, president and chief executive officer.
Jacobs also won $25,000 in equity capital, the top award, in a business-plan contest sponsored by Parkside Community and Business in Partnership. Two others won smaller awards: a spa owner, who received $15,000, and an interior designer, who got $10,000.
The nonprofit redevelopment agency in the Parkside neighborhood, funded through federal block grants and state tax credits, seeks to attract community-based businesses to the neighborhood's Haddon Avenue corridor.
The awards required Jacobs and the other two to take the nine-week LAEDA course.
All three businesses will settle in the Parkside partnership's Renew Building, an eco-friendly, three-story structure at Haddon Avenue and Liberty Street to be built in the summer. The site would be within easy reach of employees of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital six blocks away.
