Money is one of the most important requirements for the budding startup community in northwest Arkansas.
Jay Amargos of Startup Junkie Consulting said the lack of money is just one of many barriers for the prospective Latino entrepreneur. Amargos leads Startup Junkie’s minority outreach program, which hopes to develop and support northwest Arkansas’ Latino startup community.
Amargos said it won’t be a quick or easy fix but the region is making progress. The first challenge was letting the Latino community know there was a support system for entrepreneurs, a hard sell initially because of language and cultural barriers.
Jeff Amerine of Startup Junkie said the outreach program is important because studies show that Latino entrepreneurs receive approximately 5 percent of startup funding nationally. The answer is to not only generate interest among Latinos to become entrepreneurs but also to support them through the funding process.
“There has been a massive underrepresentation of available equity investment and lending to women and minority-owned businesses,” Amerine said. “It’s hugely important for these underrepresented communities to have access to good funding sources. It isn’t an entitlement to get funding if you have a crappy idea. If you are gender and race neutral and you look at the merits of the idea, that’s the best bet. By the same token, that historically hasn’t always been the case.”
Amargos is in a unique position to help because she is the daughter of local motivational speaker and radio personality Al “Papa Rap” Lopez, she is fluent in Spanish as a native of Puerto Rico, and she worked in commercial lending as a vice president of Arvest Bank. She reached out to Latino community organizations, such as churches, to help bridge the divide.
“It was very important that we partner with somebody who has trust,” Amargos said. “Someone who could say, ‘This is Jay. You can trust her.’ I had a reputation already built with the community with my banking experience. That was my role, I was always extremely engaged with the community, and my dad has a reputation in this community that opened a lot of doors for me. People really love and respect him. A lot of people trusted me because of him.”
Amargos and Startup Junkie aren’t alone in working with minority communities. The Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center at the University of Arkansas’ Walton Business College works with the same goal in mind, and even uses Amargos as a translator for the center’s seminars and meetings.
Café Success Story
Mauricio Guerrero always dreamed of owning a coffee shop when he was in Guatemala City. When his wife moved to northwest Arkansas to work in international logistics with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Guerrero decided to take the plunge.
The only problem: Guerrero had no idea how to proceed and couldn’t speak English well enough to get the help he needed. That’s where his partnership with the Arkansas Small Business Center proved vital.
“First, I was happy, ‘Yes, I will do my dream,’” Guerrero said. “Then it was, who I can ask something? That’s when I went to ask the procedures and I can barely speak English. No one can help, not because they don’t know what to do and they don’t want to help me; it is because I cannot say I want to start a business here.
“If you find someone who can speak your language, that makes really less painful the process to open your own business.”
Through the Small Business Center, Guerrero was able to get support through the process of starting a business. Guerrero, 32, has a master’s in business administration and worked many years for Citibank, yet it was a daunting task to pursue his dream in America.
“They give me a little push I need when the scare and the fear is up to here and you want to quit,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero opened the 211 Café in Bentonville in November, and business has been solid since the opening. Bill Fox, the director of the Small Business Center, said the center has individual counseling sessions with prospective entrepreneurs and holds group seminars, including one held Tuesday that was solely in Spanish.
“We try to make it just a little easier for people to navigate all the potential pitfalls that are common, especially when you’re just starting up,” Fox said. “For a number of years we’ve had a number of programs with folks who speak Spanish or with translators, so we can reach out to that community. We’re very cognizant of the expanding community in northwest Arkansas, and we want to be a resource for them like we are for everybody else.”
Planting the Seeds
Amargos isn’t deluded in thinking this is going to be a quick fix. Building an entrepreneur ecosystem that encourages and supports women and minorities will not be an overnight process.
Amargos has worked with Startup Junkie for two years and said the progress has made her optimistic. In 10 years, she said, northwest Arkansas should have a different environment.
“Jeff really wanted to make a difference, but the only way he could do that was by making sure the ecosystem represented the entire community and not just white male and technology,” Amargos said. “Two years ago we were struggling to get people in here. I probably see 10-15 Latino customers each week. The thing is people are coming. People are getting the information and they’re curious.”
Organizations such as Startup Junkie and the Small Business Center are making headway by partnering with chambers of commerce, community organizations and banks. Amargos joked that when she started getting the word out, she walked up and down Springdale’s Emma Avenue talking to people about the meetings she was holding.
Amargos said her banking experience also helps. She tells her Latino clients what banks are looking for in loan applications and how doing your homework can improve one’s chances.
“When it’s a minority client it takes a lot of education and holding hands,” Amargos said. “We want to make sure we were getting that side of the community to understand there is an ecosystem, we want you to be a part of it, and there is a ton of resources out there you can use. It’s hard when you’re starting — or wanting to start — and you have no clue how to start sometimes. We do one-on-one advising, coaching and mentoring with aspiring entrepreneurs so we can take them from point A to point Z.”