$81M+ in Small Business Contracts: Damien Halliburton on Graduating the ASCEND LA Cohort with LISC LA, JPMorganChase & Mayor James T. Butts

$81M+ in Contracts: How JPMorganChase and LISC LA Drive Real SMB Growth

More than $81 million in small business contracts have been awarded to date because JPMorganChase funds LISC LA's Ascend program—gifting small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) like Otissa J. and countless regional founders completely FREE access to executive management training, growth capital, and lucrative institutional contracts.

On Friday, we gathered to celebrate the ongoing success of LA Ascend under the innovative, steadfast leadership of Jabbar Wesley at LISC LA. We were joined by City of Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts and Libby Williams, Small Business Ambassador for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Both leaders delivered impassioned addresses outlining a clear mandate: Los Angeles is entering the most concentrated era of commercial and civic opportunity in its history, and prepared small businesses must be equipped to capture it.

From the upcoming LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games and Super Bowl 2027 to routine multi-million-dollar City of Los Angeles and County municipal contracts, the demand for certified, technologically capable, and operationally resilient local suppliers is surging. The ASCEND LA program exists precisely to ensure diverse entrepreneurs are not left on the sidelines, but are positioned at the front of the procurement line.

Honoring JPMorganChase, Civic Champions & Community Leadership

Economic development does not happen by accident; it happens through intentional capital allocation and visionary stewardship. A profound thank you goes out to the leaders at JPMorganChase whose commitment to diverse founders makes this transformative work possible.

Special gratitude to JPM Chase leaders: Pete Jackson, EMBA; Tatiana Roberts, CSBC; Frederick Royall III; Tracy Dennis; Priscilla Lim; Fouad Dahdah, MBA; and always LaSandra Hunt. Their unwavering commitment to entrepreneurs everywhere—providing banking infrastructure, access to lines of capital, and strategic advisory—is praised from rooftops and stages across the nation. As longtime founders like Anita Darden Gardyne (CEO Onēva and founder of A Gardyne LLC) continuously affirm, Chase's longstanding mission to foster faster, equitable economic development through entrepreneurship is making a generational difference.

A huge thank-you also to the tireless LISC LA team—including Krista Phipps, Crystal Nicole Martinez, and Allure Christian—whose behind-the-scenes brilliance, event coordination, and founder advocacy keep the Ascend engine running at peak performance.

Connecting directly with City of Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts and LA Mayor Karen Bass's SMB Ambassador Libby Williams reinforced the critical bridge between public policy and private enterprise. Mayor Butts has spearheaded one of the most remarkable urban transformations in modern American history, making Inglewood a global sports and entertainment capital while ensuring local diverse businesses participate directly in that economic explosion.

The Core Equation: Relationships + Technology + Collaboration = Opportunity

Throughout the ASCEND LA journey, one fundamental truth continually rose to the surface: Relationships + Technology + Collaboration create unstoppable opportunity.

In the current economic climate, technology alone is not a silver bullet. We have seen countless organizations purchase expensive software tools, point-solution applications, or generative AI subscriptions that sit underutilized because they lack human buy-in, clear standard operating procedures (SOPs), or strategic integration. Conversely, strong relationships without modern technological infrastructure will eventually hit a ceiling—founders become burned out by manual administrative chores, missed client inquiries, and disjointed communication.

The magic happens at the intersection. When an organization has built high-trust relationships within its community, backed by an intentional collaborative network, and equips itself with 24/7 AI revenue infrastructure, the business can scale exponentially without burning out its team or diluting quality.

At Ventry AI, this is the very mission we live by every single day. We help small, mid-market, and multi-location businesses implement autonomous AI employees, intelligent voice receptionists, two-way SMS webchat, and integrated CRM pipelines so that no customer inquiry slips through the cracks, no phone call goes unanswered, and every prospective opportunity receives immediate, first-class engagement.

Positioning SMBs for LA28, Super Bowl 2027, and Major Procurement

One of the defining themes emphasized by Mayor James T. Butts, Libby Williams, and Jabbar Wesley during the graduation celebration was timing. Mega-events like the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Super Bowl 2027 are not four years away in procurement terms—they are happening right now. RFP cycles, tier-one supplier vetting, joint venture structuring, and compliance reviews are already underway.

To win and execute contracts at this scale, small businesses cannot rely on manual paper workflows, slow email response times, or fragmented lead tracking. Prime contractors and government procurement officers demand speed, accuracy, data security, and verifiable operational capacity.

Joining the event as a subcontractor to CMG Alliance, Anita Darden Gardyne highlighted how collaboration and joint venturing enable small businesses to pool capabilities and win enterprise-tier opportunities that no single small firm could take on alone. When SMBs combine force with cutting-edge AI automation—streamlining proposal responses, automating vendor communication, and maintaining instant speed-to-lead—they present the operational polish of a Fortune 500 enterprise.

Spotlight on the Cohort: Visionary Founders Leading the Way

One of the greatest gifts of ASCEND LA is the peer network. The cohort brought together an extraordinary group of executives and founders who embody excellence across multiple industries:

Otissa J. — an unstoppable creative force driving community-centered business models and celebrated as a prime example of Ascend's transformative impact.

Anita Darden Gardyne (A Gardyne LLC / CEO Onēva) — a seasoned enterprise CEO, innovator, and CMG Alliance collaborator championing equitable procurement and access to capital.

Arthur Wang — leading forward-thinking solutions and commercial operations with discipline and precision.

James A. Cardenas — an impactful business builder expanding enterprise relationships across Southern California.

Natalie Marie Byrne — a powerhouse strategic communications and impact advisor shaping critical public narratives and corporate responsibility.

Noelle Hylton, MHA — pioneering healthcare strategy, operational excellence, and executive health management.

Michael Clinton — a trusted advisor, connector, and champion for Los Angeles business builders.

Dana Brewer — driving strategic leadership, business resilience, and growth across diverse markets.

Rene Cota — an inspiring founder dedicated to community empowerment, service excellence, and commercial capability.

Alexis Patlan — a visionary entrepreneur bringing disciplined execution and dynamic innovation to local industry.

Tolu A. — building forward-looking operational models and impactful cross-sector collaborations.

Hima Nippuleti — driving innovation and rigorous execution in enterprise solutions and technology services.

Wendee Close — a standout leader bringing deep operational acumen and heart to the small business community.

Renea Ferrell — an inspiring entrepreneur building resilient systems and high-touch client experiences.

Kyle McMillan — championing execution, strategic positioning, and business scalability.

Dr. Shawné Reddic — pioneering transformational healthcare, wellness, and community advocacy.

Danyelle Benware — delivering disciplined operational leadership and commercial excellence.

CMG Alliance — an exemplary model of collaborative joint venturing, procurement preparedness, and enterprise delivery.

Bright Places & LaVada English — creating equitable workplace ecosystems, leadership development, and psychological safety.

To each of these leaders: watching your presentations, hearing your growth strategies, and learning from your journeys was deeply inspiring. LISC LA, JPMorganChase, and the entire Ascend LA team are rightly honored to be part of your trajectory—and Ventry AI is proud to stand alongside you as alum, colleagues, and technology partners.

Why Modern Small Businesses Must Embrace AI Revenue Infrastructure Now

During our ASCEND LA sessions, conversations frequently turned to a shared pain point: how does a growing business compete against well-funded enterprise corporations when staffing budgets and marketing bandwidth are constrained?

The answer is not working 80 hours a week or hiring dozens of administrative staff before revenue justifies it. The answer is building an AI Revenue Infrastructure. Here are the three non-negotiable systems every growing enterprise must deploy today:

1. Instant Speed-to-Lead (The Under-60-Second Rule): Studies show that 78% of customers buy from the business that responds first. When a prospect calls or submits a form, waiting even 15 minutes causes conversion rates to plummet by 400%. An AI voice receptionist or missed-call text back system engages the customer within 30 seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

2. Automated Qualification & Appointment Booking: Instead of spending two hours a day playing 'calendar tag' over email, an AI employee qualifies the prospect based on your exact criteria, answers common questions about pricing and services, checks your team's live calendar, and books the appointment directly into your CRM.

3. Long-Term Automated Nurturing & Reactivation: More than 60% of past customers who stop doing business with a company do so simply because they forgot or assumed the company no longer prioritized them. AI-powered database reactivation reaches out to dormant customer lists with personalized SMS check-ins, unlocking $20,000 to $50,000 in monthly recovered revenue with zero ad spend.

From Graduation to Generational Impact: Let's Keep Building

While our formal ASCEND LA cohort schedule has concluded, our work together is just beginning. As I shared with my fellow cohort members on our final day: this may be the end of the cohort, but it is definitely not the end of the relationships.

Los Angeles is a city built by dreamers who execute. From Inglewood to Downtown LA, from South LA to the San Fernando Valley, our regional economy relies on minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses securing capital, adopting emerging technology, and bidding on major commercial, municipal, and international contracts.

Ventry AI is committed to being an active, collaborative partner for every ASCEND LA alum, JPMorganChase participant, and the broader LISC LA community. Whether you need to integrate your Google Workspace, automate your client intake, deploy an AI voice agent, or prepare your revenue pipeline for enterprise procurement, our doors are wide open.

Let's continue to share referrals, partner on joint ventures, amplify each other's wins, and show the world what happens when relationships, technology, capital, and collaboration come together in Los Angeles.

Next Steps: Schedule Your AI Strategy Session with Ventry AI

If you are a business owner inspired by the ASCEND LA mission and ready to evaluate how artificial intelligence can streamline your operations, reduce administrative burden, and accelerate top-line revenue, we invite you to take the next step.

First, take our comprehensive, 5-minute Ventry AI Revenue Readiness Assessment™ on our website. You will receive an instant, personalized score across five critical dimensions: Capture, Engage, Qualify, Convert, and Follow Through.

Second, book a 1-on-1 AI Strategy Session with Damien Halliburton and the Ventry team. We will review your current technology stack, identify manual bottlenecks, and design a customized roadmap for implementing AI employees that work for you 24/7.

To the ASCEND LA team, Jabbar Wesley, LISC LA, JPMorganChase, Mayor James T. Butts, Libby Williams, Anita Darden Gardyne, CMG Alliance, Bright Places, and every leader in our cohort: thank you for an unforgettable experience. Let's keep building!