ROCHESTER — The Small Business Development Center has recently been working closely with the Hispanic community in Rochester.
The SBDC is an organization that offers confidential consulting at no cost to help businesses identify, understand and overcome challenges of starting a business, running a successful business and developing exit strategies. They have recently seen more demand for classes and resources needed in the community, especially from the Hispanic community in Rochester.
“I was learning that there were a lot of things, like classes that they wanted to take,” said Julie Herrera-Lemler, a project manager at SBDC. “They also didn’t have any resources in their native language. So what I decided to do was just teach some classes. Then I decided during Hispanic Heritage Month would be a great time. So we did four classes, and we wanted to end it with a little celebration.”
The SBDC hosted its inaugural networking event for the Latino and Hispanic community at One Discovery Square on Oct. 7, 2024, to celebrate the successful “The SBDC Celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month.” The event included food, certificates for those who completed the classes and resources for those attending.
Hispanic Heritage Month lasts from Sept. 15 until Oct. 15 every year. According to the National Museum of American Latino website, Historic Heritage Month began as a weeklong celebration in 1968 under President Johnson and was expanded to a month by President Reagan 20 years later in 1988.
“This is the inaugural event that we put on tonight, and we’re hoping that it just grows,” Herrera-Lemler said. “A lot of people here, this is their first time networking. So, we wanted it to be a comfortable environment for them to come back and talk with the people at the table, pick up ideas and get some resources. There’s some good research resources here tonight.”
Prior to the month, Herrera-Lemler listened to what classes the community wanted and created four classes scheduled in the evenings and on the weekends. It was important to her to offer classes the people seemed interested in and at a time that accommodated business owners. Plus all four classes were taught in Spanish.
“So the first class we did was a marketing class, and it was how to sell without sounding salesy,” Herrera-Lemler said. “The second class that was put on was a financial literacy class, and that was everything from opening a bank account and why do you have separate banking for business. Then the next two classes were how to start a business, part one, and then part two.”
The feedback received was really positive and Herrera-Lemler has begun planning more classes to add for next year. They are excited to continue partnering with other organizations in the community to continue growing.
“I’m with the SBDC, and we were the ones who are kind of spearheading this whole thing, but we’re partnering with people like the Alliance for Chicanos, Hispanics and Latin Americans and the Small Business Association and some other people,” Herrera-Lemler said. “So if they are looking for guidance on how to start a business, how to grow their business, we’re here to help them. We have six languages that are spoken. We have Portuguese, German, Cambodian, Nigerian, Spanish and French.”
Herrera-Lemler is excited to be working with this community and meeting those business owners where they are at. The most important thing to her is making sure these people get the resources and help they need in a language that is comfortable for them, especially when the community needs are growing every week.
“We just found that there’s a lot of people that are in this community that really either want to start a business, have a business, or want to do so,” Herrera-Lemler said. “The more I open my eyes, the more I see.”
Sara Guymon is a Post Bulletin business reporter. Guymon grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota. She graduated from New Ulm Public High School and went on to attend college at the University of Minnesota Duluth. While at UMD, Guymon pursued a major in journalism and a double minor in photography and international studies. Prior to coming to the Post Bulletin, she worked as a staff writer for the Brainerd Dispatch. There she covered the City of Baxter and business.
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