Mozzeria in the Mission has a history of being a pioneer in the local and national food landscape.
When it opened in 2011, it was the city’s first-ever deaf-owned restaurant. At the time, it may have been the first of its kind in any major U.S. city, and it remains one of only a few in the entire country.
Now, the pizza outfit has plans to franchise, but to do so, it once again has to do something nobody else has done.
Mozzeria was recently named the first-ever business partner of a newly created social venture fund created by theCommunication Service for the deaf. The multimillion-dollar fund is said to be the first-ever social impact fund and incubator for deaf-owned businesses in the United States. At its core, the fund is being used to address a reported 70 percent unemployment and underemployment rate among deaf Americans, according to the CSD.
Mozzeria is owned by the husband-and-wife pair of Melody and Russell Stein, who were both born deaf. The entire staff at Mozzeria is deaf and nearly everything in the restaurant was created by people who are deaf, including restaurant’s artwork.
“We saw an opportunity with CSD’s Venture Fund to extend our business model and increase the Deaf workforce,” Melody said in a statement. “With CSD’s support we now have the opportunity to significantly grow and expand our business and create more opportunities for Deaf business owners.”
Through the program, Mozzeria will get funding to develop training materials in American Sign Language modeled after the success of the Mozzeria in the Mission.
And while Mozzeria is the first business to be involved with CSD’s venture, the fund originally received 50 proposals during its first round of selections, CSD officials said. Additional fund partners will be named by the nonprofit at a later date.
Mozzeria: 3228 16th St.
Written by Justin Phillips.
Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Taken from the San Francisco Chronicle