Kansas City’s BizCare is committed to helping underrepresented entrepreneurs succeed. The city recently received two grants; $15,000 from the National League of Cities for their City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Grant to support Hispanic/Latino business owners and $10,000 from The United States Conference of Mayors for their DollarWise Innovation Grant.
“Kansas City is a city of entrepreneurs, and we are committed to supporting our small, local and minority businesses that serve our community every day and are so fundamental to our city,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “Latino and Hispanic entrepreneurs are vital to our local economy, yet many continue to run into barriers that prevent them from growing and starting their businesses, including lack of access to capital or language barriers. The grants will help our Kansas City BizCare office to provide resources and support for our local Latino and Hispanic businesses to overcome these barriers and succeed. Thank you, National League of Cities and the US Conference of Mayors for your continued commitment to entrepreneurs.”
The city will use the $15,000 grant to lower barriers for Hispanic entrepreneurs at any stage of business. As part of the National League for Cities’ City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Grant, BizCare has identified several institutional or programmatic barriers to Hispanic entrepreneurs starting, growing or sustaining a business.
Here are four measures that BizCare has identified as solutions to help Latinx business owners thrive:
- Culturally Competent Technical Assistance Guides – This includes language translation of all documents related to starting a business.
- 24/7 Multilingual Support – Has a chatbot to help Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs with questions and resources.
- Visibility – BizCare plans to partner with Startland News, a non-profit newspaper, to highlight and promote Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs.
- Waiver of Fees for Organizations/Initiatives – This will provide eligible Latin American business owners with access to low or no interest capital to help grow and expand their businesses.
“I’d be willing to bet that every city says, ‘We want entrepreneurs; we want people doing what they think is important and doing it for the good of the city,’ but in many cases there’s no incentive or help,” BizCare Small Business Advocate Samuel Morris said. “That’s not the case in Kansas City; through our unique technical assistance and advocacy initiatives (such as getting a checklist of all the requirements to start a business, offering policy support for small businesses and updating available programming), we’re helping Kansas City will be the most entrepreneurial city in the country and hope that other city leaders will look at what is possible within their budgets to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit that is already there.We must invest in entrepreneurs to get entrepreneurs to invest in our town.”
BizCare will apply the US Conference of Mayors’ $10,000 grant to the city’s Access to Capital program. In partnership with local entrepreneurship support organizations (ESOs), professional service providers (accountants/bookkeepers, etc.) and financial institutions, the municipality will provide technical assistance to small businesses in connection with loan and grant applications and financial advice. The program will serve as a lifeline for small and minority business owners by facilitating access to capital to help grow their businesses during this economic recession. The program will target diverse Kansas City entrepreneurs and small business owners in low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities.
“We are pleased to receive this grant and it will go toward our Access to Capital initiative to help small businesses access seed capital. Currently, the City has raised over $700,000 for this effort. We are looking to launch Access to the Capital Initiative this summer. Overall, this initiative will help create opportunities for diverse entrepreneurs who would otherwise struggle to access the resources they need to succeed.” KC BizCare CEO Nia Richardson said.
“We would like to thank the City of Kansas City for their attitude of support as we have tried to open our business. We are both pleased and grateful for the opportunity,” Los Hornos owners Isolina and Dario De La Vega said.
The City of Kansas City is committed to fostering an entrepreneurial environment of inclusion and equity, and these grants are a significant step in achieving that goal. By supporting local entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds, the city is helping to build a more vibrant and resilient local community for everyone.
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For media inquiries about KC BizCare, please contact Monica Castro at monica.castro@kcmo.org.
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