Provided by city of Fort Worth
The Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, through the efforts of District 3 Councilman Michael Crain, has secured a $15,000 grant to support local aspiring entrepreneurs, the city announced late last week.
The grant was obtained through the City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Network, managed by the National League of Cities.
“We are so grateful to Councilman Crain for partnering with our Hispanic Chamber for this valuable opportunity,” said chamber President and CEO Anette Landeros in a statement. “It’s an additional resource that we’re able to provide to the Fort Worth community of entrepreneurs and being able to conduct the course in English and Spanish will exponentially increase our reach. In the end, better-equipped businesses will only further strengthen our local economy.”
The Hispanic chamber will use the funding to build a 10-week, bilingual training program to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the necessary business skills, resources, tools, and peer networks to start and grow successful businesses.
The curriculum will be offered by the chamber and will complement its newly launched Entrepreneurial Center.
“Right now, the next successful business may be developing in someone’s garage or being discussed around the dining room table,” said Crain. “We must continue to provide the necessary resources to all of our communities, not just those that already have the education or the access, so that these dreams can become a reality.”
The City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Network program requires city leaders to commit to crafting policies, programs, and practices that drive inclusive, entrepreneurship-led economic growth in their community. In November 2022, Crain pledged to be part of the process by partnering with the Hispanic chamber to hold engagement opportunities and become a Kauffman FastTrac Affiliate.
From there, the CIE program assisted the FWHCC with applications for the organization to secure funding from the affiliate program. Crain and the FWHCC worked together with the CIE program to apply and be accepted into this program in April 2023, ultimately securing the $15,000 towards entrepreneurship development.
The program adds to the growing network of support systems in Fort Worth for small businesses, including the resources at the Devoyd Jennings Business Assistance Center, a one-stop shop for small business that hosts 11 onsite partner organizations as well as two off-site.