Hispanic business group gives Idaho entrepreneurs a leg up

Nampa association offers classes to help people get started

Gustavo Solis, a commercial printer who recently started his own in his garage, said he is benefiting from the Hispanic Business Association’s bilingual business classes. The classes teach entrepreneurs what it takes to run a business in Idaho. "They gave me a lot of advice about how to run a successful business," he said.

Joe Estrella
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040518/NEWS02/405180314/1029/NEWS02

Gustavo Solis didn’t lack for goals when he arrived in Idaho three years ago.

To improve his English, he took classes at Boise State University. The desire to be a homeowner became a reality when he purchased a house in Nampa last year. Next was his dream to open a printing business to replace the one he owned in his native Costa Rica.

Two months ago, Solis opened Angel’s Commercial Printing, a subcontracting shop he runs out of his garage on weekends, when he isn’t working days at Thunderbolt Printing or delivering a pizzas at night.

He doesn’t mind the long hours. If he can get his new business off the ground, he says, he will achieve yet another goal: providing for his wife, Naomi, their 19-month-old daughter, Raquel, and "the one that’s on the way."

"I moved to United States because I wanted to improve my life," he says. "You have to sacrifice a little to get what you want. And when you work for yourself, you learn a lot."

Solis is learning even more these days, thanks to the Nampa-based Hispanic Business Association, which is partnering with the Small Business Administration to offer a 12-week bilingual course on "The Basics To Starting a Strong Business."

The program is designed to educate new and potential entrepreneurs — both English and Spanish speaking — on what’s involved in starting a business in the United States, including federal and state tax liabilities, registering a business and worker’s compensation.

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How to get the training

Potential entrepreneurs can attend any of the classes being offered between now and July 26, or sign up for the next round of classes beginning in September, by contacting Alice Whitney at 463-4226, or SBA business opportunity specialist Irene Gonzalez at 334-1696, extension 249.

Related Links

* Hispanic Business Association http://www.hbaonline.org

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"We’re trying to take what people have in their imagination, and put it on paper," says HBA board secretary Alice Whitney, adding that most Hispanic entrepreneurs aren’t aware of the resources available to them.

"The SBA has a business program in Spanish, but nobody knows it’s there," she said.

One student taking the course already operates a landscaping business, while others want to open everything from an import business to a fashion accessories shop to a children’s clothing store.

The course also touches on preparing a business plan, obtaining government contracts, customer service, pricing and marketing a product or service, computerized accounting systems, licensing and insurance, SBA Web pages and computer usage.

Each class is two hours long and offered twice week, first in English on Monday morning, then again on Tuesday evening in a bilingual setting. Most classes are offered free. Others — like a computer class to be offered in July — will have a fee unless volunteer instructors can be found.

The classes had been offered for years by the HBA wherever it could find available classroom space. This time they’re being offered exclusively at the Hispanic Cultural Center in Nampa.

"And the students love it," Whitney said. "After the first two-hour class, they wanted to keep going. They had so many questions."

The course is also rooted in common sense. Students are taught not to co-mingle their business and personal finances, not to use their savings on a startup before determining their capital needs and to study a lease before signing on the dotted line.

Luckily, Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs are finding it easier to deal with local banks these days, Whitney said.

"Banks in Idaho have been working with the association to bring more Hispanic people onto their staffs," she said.

With the Idaho manufacturing sector continuing to shrink, more and more residents — both English and Spanish speaking — are deciding to go into business for themselves, if they can find the resources to help them, Whitney says.

"People need to put food on the table," she said.

"The Bush administration has made it clear that small business is what’s going to keep this country alive. Yet it keeps cutting funding for the SBA."

Boise economist John Church says actual numbers of new entrepreneurs are hard to come by but notes he’s seen statistics indicating that in Boise alone as much as 5 percent of the population works from home.

"Obviously, because of the information age, some of those work for companies, but some of those work for themselves," Church said.

With plans to start offering the classes again in September, the HBA has applied for grants from national foundations and area corporations.

In the meantime, Solis is convinced he made the right choice by taking the course.

"I don’t want to make some mistake, so here I am," he says.