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For Dafna Kory, it all started with the jalapeño.
“I’m from Israel, and I remember seeing jalapeño jam in the store soon after we moved to the States and thinking ‘What’s this?’” says Kory, founder and owner of Inna Jam, an artisanal jam company that recently received support from JFCS’ Business and Professional Loan Program.
A few years ago, when Kory was at a friend’s, she braved jalapeño jam and found she loved it. “Now, if I were an ordinary person,” she says, “I would have asked my friend where she bought it. But being who I am, I had to learn how to make it myself.”
From jalapeños, Kory quickly segued to other locally grown organic produce, and friends and associates just as swiftly clamored for jars of her apricot, strawberry, pluot, blackberry, and other fruit jams. “It got to the point,” says Kory, a UC Berkeley-trained film editor, “that I had to decide: am I doing this as a hobby or as a business?”
Three years ago, Kory, now 30, took the entrepreneurial plunge. The business loan from JFCS—“the most significant loan I’ve ever received,” she says—has allowed her to expand her enterprise. Inna Jam can be found in grocery stores throughout the Bay Area, as well as in select gourmet shops throughout the United States.
As Inna Jam has experienced growing pains, Kory says, JFCS has been right beside her—not only with financial support, but also with sound advice that has allowed her to finesse her business model. “I appreciate the support,” she says. “Just as I’m investing in my community—using local produce and providing jobs—my community is investing in me. JFCS is saying to me, ‘We think enough of you to help you succeed and to back you, your mission, and your values.’ It’s super-meaningful.”
Learn more about JFCS’ Small Business Loan Program.