Tim Harty, The Business Times
Sonia Gutierrez stood before a room full of people who had gathered for the launch of something she helped create, and she addressed them in fluent Spanish and English.
She is bilingual, which is common in Grand Junction’s Spanish-speaking community.
She’s also the co-owner of a business, which isn’t as common in that community, but she wants to see it become much more common.
On April 2 in the Services Building of the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center, 2591 Legacy Way, Gutierrez said, “Today marks the launch of something truly special, Camino al Exito, a program created with one goal in mind: to empower Latino entrepreneurs with the tools, guidance and support they need to succeed.”
Gutierrez was one of the event’s six speakers who addressed the importance of Camino al Exito, which in English means “path to success,” and that path will be paved with a comprehensive expansion of resources and services for Mesa County’s Spanish-speaking business owners and entrepreneurs to access.
That means: Resources will be available in their native language; new space on the Business Incubator Center campus will offer classroom settings for workshops, advising and collaboration among entrepreneurs; Spanish-speaking subject-matter experts and advisors will be provided at no cost; and in-person classes and online resources will be available in Spanish, allowing entrepreneurs to engage in a way that suits their schedules and preferences.
Camino al Exito would not have come to life, Gutierrez said, “without the exceptional leadership of Dalida (Sassoon Bollig, CEO of the Business Incubator Center), and the unwavering commitment of my friend and co-founder Eric Gil (who also spoke at the event).”
Nor would it have come to life without the initiative of Gutierrez, who sparked action from Sassoon Bollig and her team of problem-solvers at the Business Incubator Center with a direct message and a belief she had found the right people to make a difference.
Sassoon Bollig said Gutierrez approached her in July 2024 and told her about challenges faced by Grand Junction’s community of Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs. She recalls Gutierrez saying, “These challenges are huge. They are not too big for the Business Incubator Center.”
Sassoon Bollig continued, “She said, ‘You already have the resources to help businesses get the advising and business classes and business acumen from the Small Business Development Center. You already have the infrastructure that funnels people through, and you can send them out to the community as accomplished entrepreneurs and small businesses if they are startups. If they are existing businesses, people can come to you and receive advising in the different subjects.’”
That’s all true, and all of it was said to drive home the point.
Sassoon Bollig recalled the sentence from Gutierrez that made clear the challenge the incubator needed to address: “My fear is that people are not having as easy access to these resources, because language is a barrier.”
Message received. Mission accepted. And a little more than eight months later, a new hope.
Between then and now, Sassoon Bollig said she chatted with Western Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce President Jorge Pantoja and realized the language barrier “is definitely a challenge for a lot of our Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs. Although they do business in English, it is easier to receive information about how to do business in Spanish.”
From there it was time to ask questions, gather information, and Sassoon Bollig said the Business Incubator Center got a boost from the arrival of Mandy DeCino as the incubator’s Small Business Development Center director in August.
“She hit the ground running, creating structure and access to different resources,” Sassoon Bollig said.
Sassoon Bollig asked incubator staffers for their ideas, and ultimately, “We sat down, we basically just workshopped it for half a day and came out with the idea that we need a physical space that can hold resources, where people can meet, can access these resources directly.
“It’s the same intake process. They reach out to us at the Business Incubator Center, register for consulting, one-on-one advising or a class, go through whether they want funding, incentives, space and tools, innovation, business acumen, and from there we take them to where they need to go.”
The only difference is now it’s in Spanish.
“Camino al Exito builds on the strong foundation of existing programs and represents an intentional expansion, something meaningful, sustainable and deeply rooted in the needs of our community,” Gutierrez said.
The incubator will add staff in the form of volunteer Spanish-speaking advisors and subject-matter experts. That includes Gutierrez and Gil.
“In looking to launch this and really in looking to grow this program in general, we’ve identified a lot of new advisors who are amazing people in our community, who have had business experience,” DeCino said. “And again, one might be in marketing, one might be in finance, one might be in HR.”
Gutierrez can advise from experience, and not just her own.
“As someone who grew up helping my parents run their tortilla factory, I saw firsthand the barriers they faced: language; access; and systems that weren’t built with them in mind. It was the inspiration behind Camino al Exito, a drive to help create something that didn’t exist for them, but could exist now for others.
“One of the biggest gaps in our community continues to be access to business resources for Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs. So many individuals with the talent, work ethic and drive to succeed are left out simply because the tools and information aren’t designed with them or us in mind.”
Pantoja echoed that when he said, “In the years I’ve been in the (Grand) Valley, I’ve seen a lot of good ideas and good people with talent just not making it, because they didn’t have the resources that could help them establish a business.
“So, what ends up happening is they move on, right? They get employment, they work for somebody else, and that dream pretty much stays there. I mean, it’s not gone, but with programs like this … It’s the key for them to rethink, reshape and perhaps just launch that business once again.”
THE RESOURCES CAMINO AL EXITO PROVIDES
Camino al Éxito, through the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center, will provide the following to help Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs achieve their business goals:
- Resources in their native language, improving access to valuable business tools.
- Translations of Business Incubator Center programs, ensuring Spanish-speaking business owners can access services such as the Small Business Development Center, Business Loan Fund & Incubator Intensive Program, and more.
- New space for Camino al Éxito on the Business Incubator Center campus will function as a resource hub, offering a classroom-style setting for workshops, advising and collaboration among entrepreneurs.
- Access to subject-matter expert advisors in key areas, including Business 101 and financial planning, provided by Spanish-speaking advisors at no cost.
- In-person classes and online resources, allowing entrepreneurs to engage in a way that suits their schedules and preferences.
For more information about the programs and initiatives offered at the Business Incubator Center, visit its website at www.gjincubator.org.
