Later this month, the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will officially launch a new English and Spanish language program for those looking to start a business in the city.

The program will be funded through a recent $15,000 City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Network grant the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber secured to support local aspiring entrepreneurs. 

Anette Landeros, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, calls it “an additional resource that we’re able to provide to the Fort Worth community of entrepreneurs.”

“Being able to conduct the course in English and Spanish will exponentially increase our reach,” she added. “In the end, better-equipped businesses will only further strengthen our local economy.”

The classes for the incoming program are modeled after Kauffman FasTrac. This program equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the business skills, insights, tools, resources, and peer networks necessary to start and grow successful businesses. 

The new program is the latest in a series of efforts the City of Fort Worth has undertaken to enhance the number of resources available to people with entrepreneurial goals, the Latino business community notwithstanding. 

In April, the city announced a new entrepreneurship center in the Near Southside and announced plans to revamp its Devoyd Jennings Business Assistance Center. 

“There’s still a lot of people who are launching businesses every day and are really looking for a space to ask questions and build the confidence that they’re doing it correctly,” Landeros said to the Fort Worth Report. “The last thing anyone wants to do is find out that they had a misstep early on, and that misstep potentially cost them money.”

The City of Fort Worth has a robust Latino and Spanish-speaking population.

According to recent U.S. Census data, about 35.3% of Fort Worth’s population is Hispanic or Latino, comprising roughly 330,000 people.  

Fort Worth City Councilman Michael Crain is among the prominent supporters of the grant, whose one of many goals is to make Fort Worth more business-friendly.  

“Right now, the next successful business may be developing in someone’s garage or being discussed around the dining room table,” he said.

As part of the City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Network, city leaders are required to commit to crafting policies, programs, and practices and drive inclusive entrepreneurship-led economic growth in the community. 

Crain currently hosts a small business task force, and coupled with the soon-to-be-launched program in partnership with the Hispanic Chamber, his goals are a step closer to coming to fruition. 

“We have a bureaucratic system that I’ve been working on with the small business task force to relieve some of the burdens,” said Crain.

“This is, I think, a way to outreach to that community, put it in their language and meet people where they are. We have to continue to do that,” he added. 

The incoming 10-week program will begin Tuesday, June 27, and will consist of 10 to 15 aspiring entrepreneurs. Classes will be conducted twice a week and cost $100.