Designed to celebrate inclusivity and belonging in the entrepreneurial space, the Colors of Connecticut Festival kicked off with a runway fashion show and featured a Sip and Shop event showcasing 72 Connecticut-based small businesses owned by women, people of color, LGBTQ+, veterans, immigrants and refugees, those with disabilities and neurodivergent people. 

The festival excitement was fueled by live music performances as guests strolled and shopped among a unique and diverse gathering of small business owners. The entrepreneurs also networked, gathered information on business support resources and benefited from two-panel discussions featuring distinguished speakers.

Produced and hosted by Quinnipiac M&T Bank Center for Women and Business and Quinnipiac M&T Bank Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the inaugural festival marked a pivotal evolution and change for the Sip and Shop program. The most recent Sip and Shop, held in February 2023, celebrated entrepreneurs of color during Black History Month.

“This time we have increased the scope of who we have invited to entrepreneurs from underrepresented and underserved as well as marginalized communities, and we have also tapped into a lot of resource groups that serve those communities so that we can create that connection and get the word out,” said Tuvana Rua, professor of management and co-director of Quinnipiac's M&T Bank Center for Women and Business.

Danisha Collins, assistant director of admissions, engagement at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, originated the Sip and Shop concept. Collins recently joined the M&T Bank Center for Women and Business Advisory Council.

“It was an idea I originated a few years back when I was on the steering committee as a way to make sure we were supporting, uplifting and amplifying underrepresented women in business,” said Collins. “The first Sip and Shop was very small, just 12 or 14 vendors, and now it’s a part of this massive festival. I’m just glad to see it grow and to uplift underrepresented and underserved small businesses. This is a great way to help them thrive and get the resources they need.”

Rua said the success of the festival is due to the support of people such as Collins and many other Quinnipiac community members, including several student organizations and volunteers, together with the critical support of M&T Bank.

Event student volunteers Caleb Frage ’27, Tahira Jilu ’26, and Jannat Butt ’25, came over to the Sip and Shop event fresh off their runway walks as models in the fashion show. The fashion show featured local business owners’ products including unique clothing, accessories, hair styles, make-up and skin care products. Quinnipiac’s Multicultural Student Leadership Council (MSLC), Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) student chapter, student fellows of M&T Bank Center for Women and Business and M&T Bank Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship assisted with organizing the fashion show. 

Butt, a member of MSLC and IRIS, said she was happy to volunteer as a model.

“I thought it would be really cool to showcase philosophies that align with my organization and also the entire the event,” said Butt. 

Jilu, who is also a MSLC member, said her runway experience was rewarding. 

“It was really fun to help showcase other vendors and cultures,” said Jilu.

The festival opened with remarks from Connecticut Small Business Administration (SBA) District Director Catherine Marx. 

“We’re here to celebrate our very diverse and vibrant tapestry of our small businesses,” said Marx. “It’s events like this one that are vibrant and fostering connections that lead to opportunities and collaboration. The SBA is here to help you on that journey.”

Marx said the entrepreneurial spirit that’s thriving in Connecticut includes a burst of new small businesses created during the pandemic. Marx said the boom is not a fleeting moment, but a trend which will help build up the state’s small business ecosystem, particularly in historically underserved and unrepresented communities.

Entrepreneur Angela Smith, a Hamden, Connecticut resident and proprietor of Angela’s Essentials Candle Company, said she was taking in a lot of information at the Colors of Connecticut Festival. 

“I learned about the lab at ConnCORP and I’m thinking of signing up for that, and there’s another event coming up and I signed up for that,” said Smith. 

Established in 2022, the transformative work of ConnCORP/Quinnipiac University Community Entrepreneurship Academy and Clinics has significantly impacted the success of nearly 40 entrepreneurs with minority-, women- and veteran-owned small businesses in the greater New Haven area. 

Colors of Connecticut Festival entrepreneurs were also encouraged to take advantage of the event’s panel discussions, said Rua. 

“One of the panels is about entrepreneurs from these diverse backgrounds and the pain points and challenges that they experience, and policy solutions and financial solutions that are present, and that should be here and are not here,” Rua said. “Another panel is talking about the challenges and pain points employees from those backgrounds are facing; and what organizations are doing, what they should be doing, and what they should be doing more of, as well as policy solutions to support some of those things that are happening.” 

Mostafa Analoui, Carlton Highsmith chair and director of M&T Bank Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, moderated “From Challenges to Change: Empowering Diverse Entrepreneurs.”  Julia Fullick-Jagiela, professor of management, chair of management department and faculty advisor to society for human resource management Quinnipiac chapter, moderated “Equity in Action: Supporting Diverse Employees.” 

“A lot of these entrepreneurs want to turn their passion projects into their primary source of income,” said Rua. “This festival is an opportunity to connect with a wider customer base that they might not necessarily reach on their own; while also connecting them with all these resource groups and opportunities that can help them elevate their business to the next level.”

Sheila Cain, owner of Aunty Sheela’s Cheesecakes, has participated in past Sip and Shop events. Cain said the Colors of Connecticut Festival was a great opportunity for collaboration.

“This is my third time doing a Sip and Shop event, and it’s really very nice," said Cain. "Lots of people come through and I’ve met lots of wonderful people. I’m networking and meeting people who I can talk to, to get some ideas about what they’re doing." 

Rua said M&T Bank has been a huge supporter in helping to broadcast news of the event and grow the community of vendors who responded to the opportunity to participate. The Colors of Connecticut Festival also offered participants some time to decompress in a Tranquil Room, managed by the student chapter of Coalition of Occupational Therapists Advocating for Diversity at Quinnipiac University. The event also offered a Kids Activity Room, managed by members of Quinnipiac Future Teachers Organization. 

“It takes a village to pull off an event like this, and we are so grateful for the village that we have,” said Rua.  

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