Page 5 - BusinessWest October 17, 2022

do some social-media marketing, perhaps — but with a combi- nation of those grants and training programs from those coaches on how to qualify for a business loan, workforce training, mental wellness, and much more.
“We’ll be able to offer ‘Finance 101,’ ‘Accounting 101,’ ‘Building Wealth,’ ‘How to Lead by Example,’ and so on,” said Melendez, adding that the LEDC is partnering with a host of entities and agencies, from the state to the U.S. Small Business Administra- tion in its efforts to build a larger, more sustainable Latino busi- ness community.
Overall, he said, the agency will focus on what he calls the
The facilities at the Latino Economic Development Council include co-working space.
three ‘Cs’ of helping business owners get to where they want to go: coaching, capital (those microgrants, but also counseling and technical assistance that might help them secure loans from area banks and credit unions), and connections to other business- development and economic-development-related agencies on the local, state, and national levels.
“The main objective that we have is to help Latino business owners take their business to the next level.”
Adriano Vaccaro, CEO of Culture Redesigned, a culture strat- egist by trade and a workforce training coach for the LEDC, agreed.
“The main objective that we have is to help Latino business owners take their business to the next level,” she told Business- West, adding that the agency is putting together a comprehensive catalog of training programs. “And we’re attaching key perfor- mance indicators to the coaching sessions, so we can not only provide the skills and fill the gaps, but make sure we’re producing the results that are needed. It’s not just training — it’s training connected to a particular result.”
That’s an important distinction, she said, noting that the coaches are results-oriented and emphasize measuring — and sustaining — those results.
“It doesn’t mean that every business needs everything,” she
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BusinessWest FEATURE OCTOBER 17, 2022 5