by Diana Pando
Small business owners from different neighborhoods came together to celebrate their successful completion of The Resurrection Project’s (TRP) Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP). These individuals participated in a free eight-week course offered by TRP to help business owners launch a business or expand an existing one.
According to data from the 2015 Geoscape report, Latinos and African-American small businesses are on the rise and resources like the ETP program are an invaluable tool to support this growth.
Raul Raymundo, TRP’s CEO, welcomed and congratulated the graduates. “Small businesses help play an important part in a healthy community,” he said. “When they succeed, they help stimulate and stabilize local neighborhood economies by providing retail goods, services, and creating local jobs.”
Participants of the program worked with TRP’s expert instructor to learn the basics of starting, funding, and operating a successful business.

At the completion of the program, graduates had learned how to create a viable business plan, finance their business, and market and promote their products or services. Graduates of the course also have an opportunity to apply for a micro loan from The PrivateBank of up to $10,000 for a new business and up to $25,000 for an existing business.
“We are so proud of the graduates of our Entrepreneur Training Program and the commitment they’ve shown to starting and growing their businesses,” said Rob Kostas, Director of Small Business Development. “We’re excited to continue supporting them as they build wealth for our communities through entrepreneurship.”
During the event, Linda Mota, Business Owner and 2014 ETP Alum, addressed the new graduates. She and her husband opened a restaurant, Vista Hermosa, in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
They spent countless hours trying to stabilize their business, and there were days when they felt discouraged that their business would fail. They had chosen a location that had seen many businesses close their doors before they could succeed.
“There was also a moment when we got our gas cut off for a week and that was really hard because our business relies on it,” said Mota. “We were also concerned about our employees being out of work.”
Despite this and other financial hardships, they believed in their business and kept working at it. They got creative and added a new revenue stream that included renting the space out for private events and catering.
During this time, she began participating in the Entrepreneur Training Program. She began to learn new things to help her business grow. By applying new skills and their hard work she and her husband were able to stabilize their business. Linda encouraged all of the entrepreneurs to be persistent with their businesses. She also announced that she would be opening up a second restaurant.
The students were each called up to receive their diplomas from their instructor Kiley Russell and TRP’s Economic Development Team. The students were cheered on by their peers, TRP staff, and Juan Guerrero from First Midwest Bank, who came to show his support for small businesses.
The graduates included:

• Martin Aspera, Amstaphy Dog Photography
• LaVerne Brown, Happy Hands and Feet
• Manuel Bucio, Razpachos Neveria
• Aileen Chenkeli, ALSTR
• Cassie Desir, Cassie Cascades
• Arnaldo Gonzalez, Ochoa Sporting Goods
• Ayana Hill, Swirled Tours
• Hugo Julian, Entrepreneur
• Daniel Montes, Hearts in Action / Corazόnes en Acciόn
• Christel Perrin, Beauty Powerhouse Chicago Boutique
• Curtis Robinson, C. Rob. Virgo
• LaToya Robinson, Sarah Esther Body
• Frank Roman, Entrepreneur
• Ruth Sobrevilla, Entrepreneur
• Sam Winstanley, Entrepreneur
• Miriam Zambrana, Zelebrations Events

The ETP could not be possible without the many sponsors and partners who make this work possible: US Bank, First Midwest Bank, MB Financial Bank, NALCAB, BACP, The Private Bank, VEDC, Acciόn, and Kiva.
The Entrepreneurship program is also part of TRP’s Vision 2020 plan to increase workshops and other programming. Recently, TRP also launched the Imagine More Campaign to raise $25 million to fund this vision.
This will allow TRP to do more in five years than in the last 25 years. This effort will provide the financial resources necessary to leverage more than $460 million in community investment by 2020.
The next Entrepreneur Training Program will be held in the spring of 2016. This program is opened to all individuals who would either like to start or grow their existing business.

Learn more about TRP’s Entrepreneur Training program here or call 312-763-3227 for more information.