The Detroit Salsa Company and its founder, MSU student Finn Gomez, are thriving thanks to hard work and dedication, the support of the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and, most recently, a boost from the Kaufman Family Scholarship.
The scholarship, established by Spartan parents Brandon and Barbara Kaufman, supports exemplary student venturers working with the Burgess Institute as they build startups and nonprofits focused on social good—a profile that Finn most certainly fits.
Finn, 2024 recipient of the scholarship, started Detroit Salsa Company in middle school with his family as an homage to their heritage, which is deeply rooted in Detroit. The original recipe was created by his great grandmother, who, in addition to cooking for churches, schools, festivals and immigrant families for her entire adult life, was a Detroit entrepreneur and business owner in her own right.
Now in his fourth year at MSU, Finn is managing a busy—and diverse—schedule of classes, extracurriculars and hands-on learning experiences, all while continuing to run his company. In fact, some of his professors have become his clients.
The support he has received, and the resources he’s been able to access at MSU, Finn says, have been invaluable in helping his entrepreneurship skills, and the Detroit Salsa Company, grow.
“It’s not just about the money,” Gomez emphasizes, “but about the belief and support that comes with it.”
The belief and support from the Kaufmans is genuine.
Entrepreneurs themselves, Brandon and Barb Kaufman aren’t alums, but their sons Brad and Blake are, and they got to know the university through them, joining the Spartan Parent Ambassador Council.
“We’re the kind of parents who have always been involved in public education as our kids have been growing up,” Barb says. “So when our kids came to MSU, we looked at it as a new opportunity to get involved and to support the kind of teaching we want to see happen.”
That kind of teaching, unsurprisingly, is the kind of hands-on learning that enables students like Finn to realize their entrepreneurial dreams.
“The scholarship is already being used to expand our operations,” Finn says, “allowing us to double our business by adding necessary equipment like a new refrigerator.”
Last year, the company reached 60,000 units of salsa sold.
This expansion, Finn says, isn’t just about growth. It’s about sustainability. It’s about being able to continue his family’s legacy—and carry out the Kaufman’s legacy, too—for years to come.
LEARN MORE about support for the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation by contacting Associate Director of Development Christopher Sell at sellchri@msu.edu or by calling (517) 490-2138.