Each Saturday morning, 19-year-old entrepreneur Anthony Garrido can be found restocking vending machines in local warehouses.

Garrido, who was born in Whittier and has lived most of his life in Upland, has been interested in business “ever since I was a little kid.”

So long that one of his earliest ventures involved reselling toys.

The University of La Verne student said he’s inspired by previous generations of his Cuban family, who ran businesses such as hotels, stores and parking lots, “all across the island.” He added that his father, who works in finance, helped him “develop a business mind.”

When doing research for his vending machine business, Garrido looked into laundromats and other locations before deciding to place the machines in warehouses, which are particularly dense in Ontario and other cities near Upland.

Some of those warehouses are far away from restaurants and fast food joints, limiting employees’ options for food, he said.

“They’re stuck there,” Garrido said. “They’re at work. They’re there for eight hours a day.”

As he worked to get his business running, Garrido said he “didn’t really know where to go,” so he sought assistance from the University of La Verne’s Small Business Development Center, which was established in 2014.

The center — a partnership between the university and the federal Small Business Administration — has assisted 4,563 small businesses and entrepreneurs with nearly 28,000 hours of “free one-on-one consulting,” its director, Sean Snider, said in a Friday email.

The center has helped launch 408 new businesses, create 481 jobs and access more than $136 million, Snider said.

There are nearly 1,000 Small Business Development Center service locations across the country, according to the website, which together each year offer “no-cost consulting and low-cost training to more than 1.3 million business owners.”

“Anthony faced three key challenges: navigating permits, creating a business plan, and crafting a sales pitch for his first vending location,” Snider said, adding that the center helped him with each.

Garrido’s Vending Machines made its first installation in March.

Garrido currently maintains four machines, all in Ontario and Upland, and hopes to add another every three months or so. To keep track of the machines’ inventory, Garrido saves time by using card readers that remotely update him of their status. The business is projected to earn $30,000 a year, according to the university’s website.

This is Garrido’s second year of college, where he’s majoring in business administration. Thanks to transfer credits, he expects to graduate in 2025. The teenager, who also works as an assistant manager at Jersey Mike’s, aspires to become a fast-food franchise owner.

While most of the Small Business Development Center’s clients are alums or professionals further along in their careers, Snider said, “Anthony’s entrepreneurial journey is inspiring and highlights a growing trend of young adults starting businesses early.”

The center has previously helped other students begin businesses, he said, such as Arthur Romero, who founded Binary Exercise and Sports Training (BEAST), “a non-profit organization that trains local kids in the San Gabriel Valley.”

It’s always exciting to see young entrepreneurs like Garrido, Snider said.

“Their creativity and determination are paving the way for the next generation of business leaders.”