About LMDP
The Latino Microenterprise Development Program (LMDP) is a multifaceted and comprehensive approach to support the Latinx/a/o business community at various stages throughout the business development continuum. Through the dedicated network of partners, our intent is to build upon and leverage our existing relationships with Latinx/a/o businesses, while providing robust outreach to serve previously non-engaged businesses, to provide low-barrier, linguistically and culturally appropriate training, technical assistance, instruction, and mentorship support. All programming is offered free-of-charge to participants.​
The LMDP is based on five key pillars:
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Long-term sustainability
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Increased profitability
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Increased self-sufficiency
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Capacity building
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Effective communication/collaboration
Primary Goal
The primary focus of the LMDP is to assist participants in mastering the business development knowledge/skills necessary to establish, grow, and sustain a business for long-term success, profitability and self-sufficiency. The evolving offerings provided by the LMDP are a result of direct input gathered from the Latinx/a/o business community through continuous outreach conducted by the LBA and AES throughout their decades of directly working with both existing and aspiring business owners. Through this program, we anticipate serving 100 Latinx/a/o existing or emerging business owners, for a minimum of 10 hours each, over the duration of the grant funding period at no cost to participants.
Objective 1: Develop and conduct a linguistically and culturally appropriate business development needs assessment process for Latinx/a/o business owners and people interested in starting a business.
Objective 2: Use linguistically and culturally appropriate small business development training and technical assistance curriculum developed by LBA, AES, and Program partners.
Objective 3: Expand the business development competencies/skills of at least 100 Latino small business owners to effectively operate and grow businesses for long-term sustainability & self-sufficiency.
Partners
Laura Rios
Yo asistí a las clases porque tengo la meta de iniciar mi propio negocio. El asistir a las clases me ayudó a tener una idea de como iniciar mi negocio. Los trainings me equiparon con el conocimiento y me dieron la base para empezar mi negocio. Ahora sé que tipo de aseguranza debo tener, me ayudó a saber sobre qué tipo de permisos necesito. También aprendí sobre como tratar a mis clientes y mis empleados, si algún día llego a tener.
Jorge Dominguez
The training was an eye-opener for me, since I was running a business on survival mode. Because I attended the training, I now have an idea of how to grow my business and be successful. I especially enjoyed learning about how to create a business plan and the importance of utilizing social media to promote and do business. I believe that when my business grows I will be able to hire more people to join my team and help with creating opportunities for more people like myself. One of the topics I believe should be included in the training is the topic of mental health, being an entrepreneur is hard and can be overwhelming at times. Having the tools and information to take care of our mental health will be great.
Maira Rodriguez
I am interested in starting a pastry business, and the classes gave me a lot of knowledge on how to start my own business here in the United States. All the classes were very interesting, but what helped me the most was learning about the type of permit I need for my pastry business. Now I have more confidence in myself to be able to start my business, and I am not as afraid as I was before because now I know what I need to do to get started.