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NORTH METRO BUSINESS JOURNAL
JULY 2021
conwayarkansas.org
LEAF: LatinX Entrepreneurs And Families COVID-19 continues to have a historical negative impact on small
Spanish-speaking family members. LEAF will ensure sustainable
and family-owned businesses. This has been especially true for
business development through involvement of the whole family
historically underserved rural entrepreneurs. In a recent survey,
to serve as a support system to the primarily Spanish-speaking
SCORE identified three primary struggles of rural entrepreneurs.
entrepreneurs. This program will be available at no cost. “LEAF is our first major bilingual initiative,” said Jeff Standridge,
First, rural entrepreneurs have decreased access to financial support, causing 40% of small businesses to use their savings as capital
managing director of the Conductor. “We are committed to reaching
investment. The second challenge is having minimal access to a
groups that have been historically underserved in our region. This
skilled workforce, with 74% of rural entrepreneurs unable to find
partnership with the ASBTDC will allow us to connect with small
local talent with adequate skills for the job. Third, rural entrepreneurs
business owners in new and exciting ways.” “Small businesses and families are two of the most important threads
have decreased access to a stable digital platform, with 56% reporting limited use of technology.
in the fabric of our communities,” said Laura Fine, state director for
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the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center.
The challenges for LatinX entrepreneurs are compounded by language barriers and inequitable access to financial and social capital.
“We are excited about the collaboration and look forward to working
The Stanford Graduate School of Business surveyed 7,000 Latino and
with the Conductor to assist the LatinX entrepreneurial community.”
white business owners, and found that LatinX entrepreneurs have
A five-part business training series will be presented in English
less resources readily available to them, had PPP loan applications
and Spanish. A workbook will be created that has both the English
approved at a rate 50% lower than white entrepreneurs, and received
and Spanish language, and accompanying PowerPoint presentations
less funding than white entrepreneurs (3% vs 7% respectively).
will also be provided in Spanish and English. Presentations will last
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The Arkansas LatinX community is disproportionately affected
approximately 45 minutes and a Q&A session or group coaching
by COVID-19, with Hispanics accounting for 22% of all coronavirus
session will be held afterward. Each session will also include an
cases while only being 7% of the state’s population. This inequitable
introduction to a Spanish-speaking industry leader from the sector
rate of infections is partly related to the cultural tradition of
being discussed. The program will be five weeks long and culminate
multigenerational families living in one household. LatinX
in a networking reception with economic development leaders from
entrepreneurs who are not experiencing adverse health effects may
the LatinX community. The networking reception aims to connect
still be working against systemic barriers to help them succeed.
Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs to industry professionals in the
Various levels of English comprehension and business acumen may
financial, legal, and marketing sectors, or other areas that arise during
contribute to confusion and missed opportunities when accessing
the program.
resources primarily created for English speakers. For these reasons, Conductor and the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center are collaborating on a program that aims to support entrepreneurs from the Hispanic community. LEAF: LatinX Entrepreneurs And Families will empower rural LatinX entrepreneurs by training bilingual individuals on business fundamentals and financial literacy to then be disseminated to their
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https://www.score.org/resource/infographic-rural-entrepreneurship
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/ongoing-impactcovid-19-latino-owned-businesses
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