The AKA Team: Building Opportunities in Cleveland

"I wanted to be the ‘fix-it man’," says serial entrepreneur Ariane Kirkpatrick, recalling her childhood enthusiasm for building things. Today, she's doing just that - helping fix lives through construction careers.

Kirkpatrick’s minority- and woman-owned company, The AKA Team, has grown from just four employees in 2009 to more than 80 today. "I realized, wow, we’ve grown into a top women and minority business," she says. “It just happened because I wanted to give folks opportunities."

Just a few years ago, The AKA Team was bursting at the seams in their small office. Large contracts with major Cleveland institutions like Sherwin Williams, Cleveland Clinic, and MetroHealth meant they had to scale quickly. They needed more space, but expansion capital was hard to come by.

That’s when JobsOhio stepped in to help. The JobsOhio Inclusion Grant program provides funding to minority- and women-owned businesses in low-income and disadvantaged communities across Ohio, enabling businesses to scale, expand, and create jobs where they are needed most.

For The AKA Team, the JobsOhio Inclusion Grant was a lifeline. The company secured $50,000 to move into a larger historic building on 55th and St. Clair in Cleveland, and the funds allowed them to fully renovate their new space and buy much-needed equipment.

Almost overnight, The AKA Team was able to hire 20 new employees. The new office space gave their rapidly growing team room to collaborate and drive results. It also provided infrastructure critical for competing for major contracts.

The JobsOhio Inclusion Grant gave The AKA Team capital they couldn’t find anywhere else. It empowered them to expand quickly and start transforming lives through skilled trades positions. When minority- and women-owned businesses thrive, entire communities benefit.

For Kirkpatrick, inclusion and community impact are central to her mission. “I use this whole ‘Three E’ concept, which is so important to me - exposure, engagement, empowerment,” she says. The AKA Team partners with local organizations to train and recruit young people and others who lack exposure to professional trades.

There’s a story like that behind most AKA Team hires. “I handpicked each one to be a change,” says Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, a free business education program that provides small business owners with practical skills to take their business to the next level. JobsOhio has partnered with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses to increase Ohio entrepreneurs’ access to its free business education program that now connects small business owners across the state to practical training on topics like financials, marketing, and negotiations.

To learn more about Inclusion Grants and other resources available for minority-,women- and veteran-owned businesses, contact your local JobsOhio Network Partner.