OGDEN — Latinos make up a sizable portion of the population of Ogden and Weber County, and Silvia Castro wants to see them thrive.

“Frankly, they’re very much a part of Ogden. We want to ensure that they continue to also do well, flourish, not just for themselves but for their families and for that community,” said Castro, head of the Suazo Business Center, a nonprofit, Salt Lake City-based business resource center focused on the Latino population.

To that end, Weber State University and Suazo are launching a new initiative to promote entrepreneurialism within the Latino community across Weber and Davis counties and the rest of Northern Utah. Tapping into the resources of WSU’s Wildcat MicroFund, designed to help would-be entrepreneurs pursue creation of new businesses, the aim is to encourage Latinos, specifically, to chase their business dreams.

Photo supplied, Benjamin Zack/Weber State University

“We need to go out and enable these relationships and this is an incredible opportunity to do just that,” said Matthew Mouritsen, dean of WSU’s Goddard School of Business and Economics. “We need to be able to go out and work with these populations that we’ve just not reached in the past.”

Per the plan, Suazo will create a satellite location at WSU’s Community Education Center at 2605 Monroe Blvd. and spearhead efforts to reach out to Latinos to spur interest in the Wildcat MicroFund. Castro is in the process of laying the groundwork for the initiative — also working with the MarketStar Foundation and U.S. Bank — and the varied partners hope to formally launch it in April.

“We want to stay in Ogden. The need is there. It kind of feels overdue,” Castro said.

The Wildcat MicroFund launched in late 2019, providing small grants of up to $2,000 to entrepreneurs looking for help in getting their business ideas off the ground. The program, open to the general public, also connects participants with mentors and experts and allows them to apply for multiple grants as their business plans grow and evolve. Thus far, the program has awarded 48 grants worth $70,000, but program proponents want to bolster Latino participation given the group’s large share of the population, particularly in Ogden, accounting for 32% of the city’s residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.

“We know that entrepreneurialism is the best way to raise people,” said Guy Letendre, WSU’s director of economic development. Whether in the middle of the economic spectrum or at the lower end, launching a business is a way to prod someone “up a step.”

While Suazo reps will do grassroots outreach, MarketStar, teaming with WSU’s Alen E. Hall Center for Sales Excellence, will offer a course targeted to Latino program participants that’s focused on augmenting their sales skills, also part of the new focus. MarketStar has committed to five years of involvement, and Paul Grant, the firm’s chief customer officer, expects “it will become a very long-term opportunity.”

Though the Wildcat MicroFund was already open to Latinos, among others, Letendre said they weren’t participating to the level program boosters wanted. Castro said that lack of participation can stem from a range of factors.

“There are different barriers. There’s a language barrier. There are also cultural barriers. … And now with COVID, there’s a digital literacy barrier,” she said.

Still, there’s interest, she maintains, and part of Suazo’s efforts will focus on conveying the differences of the U.S. system to those of Latin America, where many Latinos in the area come from.

“We want to make sure that when they create a business that they understand how things work here. Legal systems are different. Accounting systems are different. Tax systems are different,” she said. “Sometimes, the way that you do business back in your country is completely different from the way you do it here. We don’t need to teach them how to be entrepreneurs, we just need to teach them how things work here.”

Marcia Romero, who works in community affairs with U.S. Bank, also noted the importance of connecting Latino program participants with other Latinos. “There’s a trust factor where they want to go and get information from people that look like them, that have information, that speak the same language, that kind of understand this whole culturally relevant space,” she said.

Manni Martinez of Farmington, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico, took part in the Wildcat MicroFund to help with development of a software company. He welcomes the new focus on Latinos. “There needs to be much more awareness that there are actually nonbiased resources to support those types of demographics,” he said.

This story has been correct to fix the spelling of the Suazo Business Center.