Interise Announces National Initiative for Latinx Businesses to Address the Racial Wealth Gap

HONOLULU, June 28, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, Interise, a national economic development nonprofit, announced at the US Conference of Mayors the launch of Accelerate Latinx powered by Interise. The program is a new initiative aimed at building a more diverse and inclusive economy by supporting the growth of established Latinx-owned businesses. Using Interise's award-winning curriculum, the StreetWise'MBA'™, Accelerate Latinx is designed to scale established, Latinx-owned small businesses for local job and wealth creation.

"Interise launches Accelerate Latinx to directly address the growing racial wealth gap – the most challenging situation facing America today," said Darrell Byers, CEO of Interise. "Creating opportunity for Latinx business owners to operate and grow their businesses is an imperative to creating higher incomes for business owners, employees and their communities."

According to the research paper co-authored by Interise, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, "Latino-Owned Businesses: Shining a Light on National Trends," Latinx-owned businesses contribute over $700 billion to the American economy every year. And while Latinos start businesses at a higher rate than non-Latinos, they start smaller and stay smaller compared to other businesses. Accelerate Latinx is a multi-city program to help address this gap.

Through the support of the Kauffman Foundation, Interise will lead Accelerate Latinx to enroll at least 50 businesses into Latinx-focused StreetWise 'MBA'™ programs across four cities in 2019. Business owners will gain practical business knowledge, management know-how, access to capital and contracting opportunities. Local program partners include Local First Arizona, the City of Houston, the Indy Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"Accelerate Latinx is a perfect complement to the work the Indy Chamber and its Hispanic Business Council do every day to promote and grow Hispanic-owned businesses across the Indianapolis region," said Rick Proctor, Executive Director of Business Ownership Initiative, the anchor organization of the Indy Chamber's Entrepreneur Services division. "Hispanic-owned businesses in our community currently generate a combined $1.1 billion in economic impact each year. With a collaborative approach and targeted programming such as this, just imagine how much that number and the Hispanic community will grow in the years to come."

"Accelerate Latinx is the logical next step for our Fuerza Local program graduates who are looking to fast track growth for their companies. We have worked with over 400 successful Latino-owned businesses to provide ongoing support and mentorship to our alumni, and we are thrilled to be able to offer this advanced curriculum to many of our most advanced graduates," said Kimber Lanning, Executive Director of Local First Arizona Foundation.

"At GPHCC, we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Interise to make available this award-winning business education program to Latinx entrepreneurs in a format that is language and culturally accessible," said Jennifer Rodriguez, President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Eligible Latinx business owners must have operated their business for at least three years, grossing $250k-$10M in annual revenue, with at least one full-time employee other than the owner.

Accelerate Latinx programs are set to launch in September.

About Interise
Interise (http://www.interise.org) builds diverse and inclusive local economies through small business development, supporting the growth of minority-owned small businesses and small businesses located in low- and moderate-income communities. Interise contributes to inclusive economic development through its national research on the growth of established small businesses, and its award-winning business development programs. As Interise companies grow, they contribute to local job creation and build community wealth. Interise companies historically create new jobs at 5x the rate of the private sector, and are responsible for the creation of over 30,000 new jobs. Interise partners with government agencies, anchor institutions, and business associations to make locally branded StreetWise 'MBA'™ programs available in 75+ cities, nationwide. Strategic Growth Partners include the Kauffman Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and the Prudential Foundation.

Accelerate Latinx powered by Interise Program Partners

• Local First Arizona (http://www.localfirstaz.com)
• The City of Houston (http://www.houstontx.gov)
• The Indy Chamber of Commerce (http://www.indychamber.com)
• The Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (http://www.philahispanicchamber.org)

SOURCE Interise

Related Links

http://www.interise.org