Hispanic nonprofit offers free business seminar in Spanish to N.C.’s Hispanic business owners

By VICTORIA JOHNSON

Prospera, a Florida-based Hispanic nonprofit, will offer a free, Spanish-language seminar about several grant programs to North Carolina’s Hispanic small business owners on Feb. 4, according to a Jan. 22 press release.

The hour-long seminar, which will start at 6 p.m., will discuss two business grant programs offered by NC IDEA, a private, Durham-based foundation dedicated to supporting North Carolina’s entrepreneurs and economic development. NC IDEA MICRO offers a $10,000 project-based grant to entrepreneurs in the process of starting their businesses, while NC IDEA SEED offers a $50,000 grant to young, existing startups to speed up their growth.

According to Prospera’s press release, the seminar will outline the application process as well as the documents business owners need to apply to both programs; presenters will also highlight Prospera’s own programs to help Hispanic business owners. Interested business owners can access the seminar at https://buff.ly/39QNrkH. To register, business owners must call 980-729-8273 or send an email to [email protected].

Founded in 1991, Prospera is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs looking to establish or expand their businesses. 

“In the last five years, Prospera has managed more than $19 million in loans, invested more than $600,000 in grants, trained more than 21,000 entrepreneurs and helped clients create or retain more than 8,000 jobs,” the press release said in Spanish. “Its offices are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Central, South, and West Coast regions of Florida.”

Prospera first expanded to North Carolina in 2017, when they established an office in Charlotte; since then, they’ve begun serving Hispanic entrepreneurs in Wake County and rural areas across the state.