Marshalltown Hispanic Business Development Project

1
Marshalltown Hispanic Business Development
Project A United Business Community,
A Better Future
2
Marshalltowns Hispanic Population

• Marshall County 2004 estimates 4,800 / 12.2 of
  the population
• From Rural Manufacturing industry towards other
  sectors
• Restaurant and Hospitality
• Construction and Landscaping
• Other Services
• ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, HEALTHCARE, CUSTOMER
  SERVICES
• ENTREPRENEURSHIP ?????

3
Business brings a community together

• PROJECT VISION
• A unified Marshalltown business community
• Hispanic Small Business owners make significant
  social and economic contributions to the greater
  Marshalltown community. Marshalltowns private
  sector, local and state government, and key
  community organizations are working together to
  support the development of all small businesses.
• Marshalltown becomes a national model for
  Hispanic small business integration and
  development
• PROJECT MISSION
• Development and integration of Marshalltowns
  Hispanic-owned businesses through adequate
  resources and technical assistance

4
Phase I

• Timeline February 1 to May 31st, 2006
• Measurable Results
• Marshalltown Area Hispanic Small Business (HSB)
  Report, presentation of quantitative and
  qualitative indicators of HSBs
• Start Up Characteristics
• Marketing, Sales and Employee data
• Community Relations and opinions of MACC
• Comprehensive Database of Registered and
  non-registered HSBs
• Relationship Building with existing business and
  identification of 10 potential MACC Hispanic
  Business Advisory Committee
• Community event highlighting Research findings
  and Hispanic Small Business Fair

5
Phase II

• Timeline June November 2006
• Measurable Objectives
• Partnership with Iowa Valley Community College to
  provide Technical assistance and Training for
  start-up and existing businesses in both English
  and Spanish.
• Tailored Bilingual information Packages for
  Hispanic Start-ups
• Registering the Unregistered Outreach effort
  Target unregistered home occupation and provide
  registration information and assistance.
• Planning and implementation of Marketing and
  sales integration project between Hispanic
  Businesses and mainstream consumers. Focus of
  downtown shops and business in the Mall.
• Provide trainings for MACC member bank, legal,
  risk management, accounting and other small
  business service providers.

6
Marshalltown Hispanic Small Businesses

• 42 Registered, Operating Hispanic Businesses and
  counting
• 55 Total and counting

• Business Types Number of Businesses
• Retail Services (clothing, others) 16 29
• Auto Repair, Tires, and Towing 10 18
• Restaurants 9 16
• Food Products (groceries) and Services 6 11
• Entertainment, dancehall 4 7
• Construction and Painting 3 5
• Food Products and Bakery 2 4
• Laundromat 1 2
• Auto Insurance Provider 1 2
• Hair Stylists and Barbers 0 0
• Hotel/Motel 0 0
• Other (bands, healers, auto dealerships, etc.)
  3 5
• Total 55 99
• e.g. money transfer, translation, tax
  preparation
• Total is more than 100 due to rounding.

7
Survey Results

• Business Start-up Characteristics
• Sales and Marketing
• Employees
• Community Relations (MACC)

8
Start-up Characteristics

• Where do business owners come from (n18)?
• Mexico, Jalisco 6
• Mexico, MIchoacan 3
• Mexico, Zacatecas 2
• Mexico, Guerrero 1
• Mexico, Puebla 1
• Mexico, Guanajato 1
• Cuba, Havana 1
• Total Accumulated Start Up Investments
  (n14) 1.1M
• Utilized personal savings and/or family loans 17
• Applied for bank loans for start-up/expansion 10
• Bank rejected loan application 6
• Returned to same bank (or other) and received
  loan 7
• Previous Experience owning a business 7
• Developed a Business Plan before starting 0

9
Sales and Marketing

• Total accumulated Avg. monthly sales (n11)
  265K
• Total accumulated Avg. annual sales (n11)
  3.1M
• Total accumulated Avg. of clients (n12)
• Weekday 335
• Weekend 783
• Month 11,802
• 5 employ services of a professional accountant
• 10 use more than one media venue for
  advertisement
• 9 Advertise in English (Print Penny Saver,
  Radio 101.1 99.5)

10
Employment

• Total employees (n18) 65
• Full time 46
• Part time 19
• Employing family members 13
• Owner and Operator 16
• Insures employees (n16) 0
• Total Annual payroll (n13) 716,600

11
Community Relations

• Know about MACC (n18) 10
• Approached by MACC 10
• Very important to support Latin Bus 18
• Very important to support Anglo Bus 16
• Perceive that regionalism divides
  Mexican/Hispanic community 14
• Donated to community 17
• Mainly church, public schools, the police
  department, Worldvision, Cancer Society, and the
  fire station.
• Favorable opinion of MACC 8
• Not very favorable opinion 6
• Would like to Join MACC affiliate (Yes12 /
  Maybe 4 )

12
Key Lessons Learned

• Go where the community rather than expecting the
  community to come to you. Conduct several
  follow-up visits, personal contact is critical
• Be extremely (brutally) honest when doing
  outreach, under promise and over deliver, there
  is a lot of mistrust
• There are key differences among Hispanics from
  different regions, especially within Mexico
• Businesses should implement visuals to make
  businesses more Anglo-friendly, provide a
  welcoming experience. Adopt sales systems that
  are more attractive to Mainstream Marshalltown
  Community. Achieve balance to express business's
  ethnic uniqueness without appearing foreign
• Approach institutions where the community
  naturally congregates churches, workplaces,
  quinceañeras, soccer games etc. Seek
  individuals who are known in the community , cold
  visits have 80 failure rate. Work with family
  members in the research and implementation
  process
• E-mail and on-line communication does not work,
  only three businesses had regular use of the
  internet.

13
Key Partnerships

• Small Business Development Centers / IDED / SBA
• Elected Officials, City and County Government
• IDED Main street Program, Marie Steenlage
• Young Professional Organization (MACC Young
  Professionals, Marshalltown Jaycees)
• Faith Community, Catholic church and others
• Professional Organizations and Citizen Groups
  (Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimists, etc.)
• Local Philanthropy
• Iowa Valley Community College
• Marshalltown Established Business Community
• Small Business Providers (Banks, Accounting,
  Insurance, Legal, etc.)
• Local Media (Radio, Print, Web, etc.)
• Northwest Areas Community Foundation
• Community supporters and spokespersons
• Other.

14

• Max Cardenas
• Diverse Innovative Solutions, LLC.
• 107 E 5th Street, Suite 203
• Des Moines, IA 50311
• cardenas_at_divsolutions.com
• c 515-988-5624
• w 515-471-1952