GABAWorks Application
This Program Does Not End With a Certificate. It Ends With a Transaction.
GABAWorks is built around your schedule, not ours. Access resources, support, and connections on demand at midnight if that is when your business needs you. No cohort. No waitlist. No scheduled start date. Just the support your business needs, available the moment you are ready for it.
Apply Now
Your Business Is Ready. So Are We.
Complete our screening form to get started. A member of our team will follow up directly.
Your Application
Tell us about your business.
You have already done the hard part. You built a revenue generating business in one of the most competitive environments there is. The screening takes five minutes. It is the fastest five minutes you will invest in your business this year. Complete it now and a member of our team will be in touch to build the rest together.
Apply to Get StartedGABAWorks serves revenue generating businesses ready to grow.
What GABAWorks Actually Is
Most business programs end when the workshop ends. GABAWorks ends when your business grows.
GABAWorks is not a training. It is not a certificate. It is not a cohort you attend and then figure out the rest alone. GABAWorks is a structured pathway from where your business is today to where it needs to go, with real resources, real connections, and real accountability along the way.
When necessary, we invest directly in the infrastructure your business needs. When you are ready for a market, we open the door. When you need a connection to capital, we make the introduction. This is what economic mobility looks like when it is built from inside the community.
We do not ask entrepreneurs to figure out the rest alone. We stay until the work is done.
GABA Foundation delivers a commercial freezer to Family African Market, Detroit · 2025
Who GABAWorks Is For
Built for the Business Owner Running Everything at Once
GABAWorks was designed for the entrepreneur who does not have the luxury of stepping away from their business to grow it. If any of these sound like you, you are exactly who we built this for.
The New Parent
Building a business between feedings and bedtime.
The business is real. The revenue is there. But every training, every cohort, every program runs on someone else's schedule. GABAWorks runs on yours. Access everything you need at midnight if that is the only quiet hour in the house.
The Generational Business Owner
Carrying what the generation before them built.
They are running the floor during the day. Handling the relationships their parents built. And trying to find the space to take the business further than the generation before them could. GABAWorks gives them the tools to do exactly that without stepping away from what keeps the doors open.
The Side Hustle Turned Serious
The business is real now. The revenue is there.
They are still working full time while building something that has outgrown its original container. They need the infrastructure to make the leap but cannot afford to stop while they build it. GABAWorks meets them exactly where they are.
The Returning Professional
Left the corporate world with the expertise to build something of their own.
They have the network. They have the knowledge. What they need is the business support system that translates all of it into a sustainable enterprise. GABAWorks connects the expertise they already have to the infrastructure they need.
The Market Vendor Ready to Scale
The demand is there. The next step is infrastructure.
Selling at festivals, markets, and pop ups. The product is proven. The customers are loyal. What they need now is supply chain, documentation, and a pathway into real retail, wholesale, or export channels. GABAWorks opens that door.
The Immigrant Entrepreneur
Built something from scratch after arriving with nothing but expertise and drive.
The business is running. The customers are there. But navigating American systems, documentation, compliance, and markets alone is slowing growth down. GABAWorks provides the infrastructure, the connections, and the guidance to move faster without having to figure it all out alone.
The GABAWorks Pathway
A Four Stage Journey From Readiness to Real Market Access
GABAWorks is built in stages. Every entrepreneur starts with an assessment. The strongest businesses progress all the way into verified trade relationships with African and Caribbean markets locally, nationally, and internationally. This is the only program in Michigan connected to that pipeline.
Business Readiness Assessment
We meet you where you are. A personalized intake identifies your specific gaps and builds your custom support plan.
Technical Assistance and Capacity Building
Hands on support in pricing, compliance, financial discipline, documentation, and business operations tailored to your sector and goals.
Market Access and Buyer Connections
Structured introductions to buyers, investors, and partners actively sourcing from African and Caribbean owned businesses across the US and globally.
Transaction and Growth
For businesses ready to trade, we support execution. For businesses ready to grow locally, we connect them to capital, infrastructure, and the GABA Marketplace Center ecosystem.
Who Should Apply
GABAWorks Is Built for Businesses.
Our programming is rooted in the African and Caribbean entrepreneurial tradition and designed to serve the businesses that standard programs have historically overlooked.
African and Caribbean Owned Businesses
Revenue generating businesses owned by entrepreneurs from African and Caribbean communities in Michigan. Majority African or Caribbean owned businesses are prioritized for our advanced market access track.
Community Rooted Businesses
Businesses creating jobs, strengthening neighborhoods, and reinvesting in the communities they call home.
Michigan Based Businesses
We serve businesses across Detroit, Inkster, Ypsilanti, Grand Rapids, Benton Harbor, and the broader Michigan region.
GABAWorks serves revenue generating businesses. Majority African or Caribbean owned businesses are prioritized for our advanced global market access track.
What You Get
Real Support. Not Just Advice.
Every GABAWorks participant receives a personalized support plan. What happens next depends on where your business is and where it is going. Here is what is available to you.
Direct Investment
When your business needs equipment, supplies, or infrastructure to grow, we invest directly. Real resources that produce real results.
Personalized Technical Assistance
One on one business consultations, customized learning pathways, and hands on support in the areas your business actually needs.
Capital and Banking Connections
Introductions to banking relationships, credit building tools, and funding sources that have historically been out of reach for this community.
Global Trade Pipeline Access
For eligible businesses, connection to an international network of buyers and investors actively sourcing from African and Caribbean businesses across the US, Canada, the Caribbean, and Africa.
Marketplace Center Access
Connection to the GABA Marketplace Center, Michigan's first African and Caribbean trade and distribution hub, with supply chain infrastructure and vendor support.
Policy and Advocacy Voice
Your business becomes part of the evidence base that drives GABA's legislative agenda. We fight for the policy environment that makes your business possible.
Ready to Get Started
Your Business Built This Far. GABAWorks Takes It Further.
Complete our screening form. Tell us about your business. We will take it from there.
Apply to Get Started