The upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Summer Games are poised to generate substantial economic benefits for small businesses, with 1984 track champion Jeanette Bolden-Pickens optimistic about the impact on her historic South LA establishment, 27th Street Bakery.
A recent analysis suggests the Games could produce between $20.5 and $40.6 billion in economic output for the Greater Los Angeles area, supporting an estimated 126,000 to 224,000 jobs. Bolden-Pickens views this as a significant opportunity for local enterprises. "Being a small business, this is the best time in the world to be right here in LA," she told the California Post. "We have a tremendous opportunity with LA28."
The LA28 Organizing Committee has committed to spending 75 percent of its contract dollars within Greater LA, with a specific allocation of 25 percent designated for small businesses. Last week, the committee opened applications for food industry vendors to operate at both competition and non-competition venues during the Games, with hundreds of vendors expected to be selected.
Bolden-Pickens, whose family has owned 27th Street Bakery since 1956, is encouraging other local business owners to apply. "I think the best thing that LA 28 can do is to make small businesses feel worthy and that they can apply and be vendors," she said. "Just give us an opportunity, and I believe all small businesses have to understand that all you need is that opportunity."
Approaching her bakery operations with the same discipline she applied as an athlete, the 66-year-old Bolden-Pickens is preparing her kitchen for the influx of visitors. "Understanding as an athlete that the Olympics comes around every four years, you do your best, you put all your energy into making sure you’re the best athlete… and now I’m trying to put my products into a position where it’s the best that it could possibly be for 2028," she explained.
Her Olympic gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games remains a defining moment. Bolden-Pickens has a long-standing connection to the bakery, which was founded by her grandparents, Harry and Sadie Patterson, in 1956. The family tradition instilled a strong work ethic, a principle she carried into her athletic career and now applies to her business.
After graduating from UCLA in 1983, Bolden-Pickens spent 27 years coaching at UCLA and the University of Central Florida, but the bakery remained central to her life. "The bakery’s always been a part of my life and my whole family’s life," she stated.
Her grandparents moved from Louisiana with cherished recipes, establishing a small restaurant on Central Avenue that quickly gained popularity for its pies and cakes. Bolden-Pickens recalls her grandfather teaching his grandchildren the value of hard work and self-belief. "And I took that into my track and field," she said.
In 1980, her mother and brother expanded the bakery's reach. A pivotal moment came when Bolden-Pickens' husband presented a formal business plan to Ralphs grocery store executives, while her mother offered them fresh pies. This strategy led to the bakery supplying its products to the grocery chain.
Today, 27th Street Bakery supplies pies to over 120 locations, including independent shops, restaurants, and convenience stores, extending from the Inland Empire to Victorville. "We are a homemade business. We put the home back in homemade. We’re not that microwaveable bakery. We are a homemade bakery, and that’s what I’m proud of," Bolden-Pickens affirmed.
Should Olympic athletes visit 27th Street Bakery during the Games, Bolden-Pickens plans to serve them the bakery's signature sweet potato pecan pie, a reflection of her commitment to her business and its legacy. "When they finally light the Olympic torch, I am going to be torn between having that Olympic feeling, understanding what the athletes are going through and having a butterfly. But at the end of the day, it’s all about my pies right now. I’m about 27th Street Bakery and the legacy," she said.