40 participating small businesses complete the Digital Empowerment and Acceleration For Latin @ Entrepreneurs (Deale) program of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Nashville area

Nashville, TN (TN Tribune) – The Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NAHCC) and its board of directors are proud to announce the completion of its first intensive 15-week empowerment and acceleration program Digital for the Latin @ Entrepreneur (DEALE) which between phases 1, 2 and 3 graduated a total of 40 participants from the Hispanic business community from August to November 2021.

The NAHCC’s Digital Empowerment and Acceleration for the Latin @ Entrepreneur Program or Programa de Empoderamiento Digital y Aceleración Empresarial Latin @ (in Spanish) was created by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Nashville area in partnership with the NAHCC Foundation to empower and equip small, Hispanic, minority and women owned businesses with the skills on digital tools to develop their online presence and enhance their business skills with the goal of increasing sales, improving customer relationships and the management of their companies and work teams.

Above: Entrepreneurs Veronica Salcedo (Nashville Noticias), Rocio Zenon (Zenon Coreografias). Middle: Jary Ramirez (Jana’s Corner) and Joyce Searcy, Belmont Univ. Director of Community Relations and of the NAHCC Board of Directors. Bottom: Loraine Segovia Paz, President of the NAHCC Foundation (left) and Ruth Rico (Delicias Colombianas RR)

Dr Sarah Fisher Gardial hosts a room full of NAHCC guests. She is the new Dean of Belmont University Massey College of Business.

In the context of the impact of COVID-19, small businesses in our community are faced with the challenge of adapting to the digital world: reporting their financial activity to access essential capital; analyze and understand sales, revenue, labor and inventory, maximizing the resources available to overcome a pandemic particularly affecting small business owners; and to establish and maintain a strong link with their communities through digital channels and grow their business.

It is essential for small businesses to have a strong online presence, not only as a business but as a business owner, as it is often the entrepreneur who leads the way.

Left: Ana Miriam Recinos, owner of Pupuseria Salvadorena and Noelia Chinchilla, owner of Olive Plates Antique Boutique Rental & Catering LLC., Receive their respective program completion certificates.

Entrepreneur Angela Cruz, Owner / Founder of Beauty 4U LLC., Talks about her entrepreneurial journey to fellow course participants. She has successfully completed phases 2 and 3 of the NAHCC DEALE program.

NAHCC DEALE 3 objectives:

Empower Hispanic / Latino entrepreneurs to overcome the barriers of digital learning and have a leading influence in their communities.
Equip Hispanic / Latino entrepreneurs with the knowledge they need to generate their own digital marketing, social media and financial growth strategies.
Equip Hispanic / Latino entrepreneurs with strategic knowledge of the digital tools available to facilitate business management tasks and put new marketing strategies into practice.

Between Phases 1, 2 and 3, a total of 40 participating students graduated from our Digital Empowerment and Acceleration Program for the Latin @ Entrepreneur (DEALE) program. Topics covered in the 3 phases, totaling 15 weekly intensive sessions, included:

Social media, organic and paid strategies for Facebook and Instagram
Website content and optimization using Google tools (Test My Site and Google Analytics)
Online presence in Google search, Maps and Merchant Center
Market strategies to implement a growth plan and smart goals
Introduction to Accounting and Account Classification Using QuickBooks
Set up and leverage a point of sale (POS) system
Human Resources and Corporate Leadership for Small Businesses

Launched in August 2021, each DEALE topic was carefully selected taking into account feedback from surveys and polls (in Spanish) from a group of 110 Hispanic women entrepreneurs that the NAHCC has trained under the “Latinas for Equal Business” brand. Opportunities ”(Latinas4EBO) at the beginning. pandemic and over 300 NAHCC member companies, including participants in our 75 weekly online briefings from March 2020 to July 2021. Seasoned professionals were then selected to serve as presenters so that knowledge, the tips and tricks shared with course participants are tailored to the multicultural and multilingual context of small businesses in our community. Emphasis was placed on the latest trends in each topic, such as influencer marketing and video trends and the features of the most used digital tools in the United States for small businesses.

Left to right: Eva Gomez Romero, owner / founder of Eva’s Cleaning Services since 1996, receives her certificate of completion from NAHCC Foundation Board Chair Loraine Segovia Paz. Dalila Preza owner, with her husband Sergio, of Diva’s Beauty Supply pose with Segovia Paz and Karina Garcia, coordinator of DEALE. Below: Journalist / entrepreneur Veronica Salcedo, with Nashville Noticias, sets up a live broadcast of the event.

Our most recent poll shows that “Thanks to DEALE”….

83% “realized the importance of digital tools for companies”
66% “overcame the fear of using technology”
66% “have created a strategy and a calendar in social networks”
66% “increased their efforts to have an online presence”

In addition, our survey shows significant improvements in the accessibility of information in Spanish as well as the ease of presenting and presenting your business to the public and other business owners. This translates into empowered Latino, Latino and Hispanic business owners !!

The objectives of DEALE, to empower, inform and equip business leaders have been achieved insofar as our participants are able to show in a concrete way how to put into action what they have learned together. Juntos Podemos!

From left to right: Karina Garcia (DEALE coordinator), Anel Flores (Stereonashville), Dr Rolando Toyos (Toyos Clinic and NAHCC president), Hugo Reyes (Pupuseria Salvadorena), Manuel Cuevas (Manuel American Designs), Dr Chalene Helmuth (University Vanderbilt), Syreeta Blakely (entrepreneur), Dr Charlie Apigian (executive director of the Belmont Data Collaborative at Belmont Univ.), Loraine Segovia Paz (entrepreneur and president of the NAHCC Foundation), Joyce Searcy (director of community relations at Belmont Univ.) and Yuri Cunza (CEO of NAHCC).

NAHCC programs are made possible through the support of members, corporate sponsors and community partners.

Want to know more about our organization? Please email us at [email protected] or call 615-216-5737 or visit www.nashvillehispanicchamber.com