SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Nita Citron can't seem to stop smiling.
"I'm super excited about it honored and proud and I just can't wait to get started," said Citron, the owner of "It's in the Details," a boutique travel and events company.
Citron's company was one of ten local companies picked to be a part of the San Diego Tourism Authority's first-ever accelerator program to support diverse businesses.
"It's an amazing opportunity to have that availability and that type of resource I'm just honored to be a part of this," she said.
The pilot program is geared towards helping businesses owned by women, people of color, those identifying as LGBTQ, and veterans.
Each will receive a wide range of services valued at $10,000 for free.
"Accelerators like this one are really cool because I feel like I'm at that point where I'm ready to take that micro-business and put it into a real business category," said Lauren Kimmons, one of this year's winners.
Kimmons owns a luxury picnic event company.
"Once parks reopened and people were doing outside gatherings then we saw a lot of growth and that was pretty cool, give people some things to do in a safe way," Kimmons said.
Now both ladies will have extra resources to grow their companies.
To learn more about and apply to the Tourism Authority's accelerator program, visit the authority's website here.
