Making a social impact for new americans

Luis’s business was cattle ranching and he owned hundreds of acres on a beautiful ranch and homestead. His family were all involved in the operation. Luis bought, bred and sold cattle (think fresh beef!) across the border. He was building a business for his family and his plan was to pass the business down to his sons.

Through a lifetime of hard work, Luis had developed and cultivated a network of business contacts in Mexico and the US who were both buyers and sellers. He was a very successful entrepreneur and businessman: knowledgeable and respected in the industry.

That all came to a complete stop one night, when Luis and his family fled Mexico in the middle of the night seeking asylum in the US.

Through a network of organizations, Luis and his family were eventually transported to NH and introduced to Project Home, a grassroots organization that moves asylum seekers out of detention centers and into our communities and homes while they await their asylum hearings. Project Home provides housing, legal, medical, educational and any other necessary support to these families while they are waiting to become New Americans. Project Home offers a very effective model for other States to examine as they assess how they can best create pathways forward for newly arriving immigrants.

From Project Home, Luis found community while getting welding training at PHAZE Welding Technology Center. A business, innovation and training center where talented people gather, PHAZE offered Luis the chance to meet like-minded people. Surrounded and encouraged by business owners he could relate to, Luis began to believe he could have his own business again. The training was paid for through local donations to Project Home and in-kind services from PHAZE.

I met Luis through PHAZE and as he became a family friend, I learned that Luis wanted to have his own business again. I introduced him to our program, Village, and immediately began introducing him to experts I knew in the business, community and farming networks.

Village is supported by a grant provided by Verizon’s SBDR (Small Business Digital Ready Platform). SBDR is a digital platform that offers free courses, coaches and grant opportunities. Courses range from how to choose the right corporate structure when you launch your business and building a social presence, to understanding profit and loss and hiring and retaining staff. There are 140,000 users of the platform.

My small business, Launch Mechanic, launched a specific program on behalf of Verizon called “Village.”  Our model is to embed the Verizon platform into all of engagements with small businesses, especially cases like Luis, who has the potential to be very successful but just doesn’t know where to find the resources he needs to move forward.

Now, with hundreds of hours into Luis’s case, more than 10 different organizations supporting Luis and over a dozen different professionals and their networks offering resources and advice, Luis is about to start again.

As of last month, Luis is CEO of his own first US-based Cattle Operation business. He is negotiating his first land lease, and his goal is to buy 10 cattle this Summer. Together we took a course on how to select the right corporate structure for Luis’s new business and how to structure an effective contract. I say “together” because Luis has no laptop, he’s not very “into” computers, and the wifi is not stable where he lives in the countryside. We also met with Land for Good and drafted his first legal contract to lease land.”

Whether you give time to someone like Luis, connect him to someone you know that can help, or make a donation to help his family, the rewards are high.

Partners include successful people and organizations who provide valuable advice and programming, either in-person, via podcasts or other content. Large companies like Verizon benefit from being linked to having a local impact that is measurable and meaningful.

Where our community finds the most value is when we dig deep into their industries and identify industry experts who can help them become more efficient and avoid common pitfalls in their sector. We also make owners aware of existing local and community economic development resources that haven’t made their way to their doorsteps. We meet one on one with small business owners and offer continued encouragement and check-ins.

These efforts are complemented by longstanding resources from organizations like the SBA, SCORE, Center for Women Enterprise to nonprofits like The Capital Network, ACTION, the Eforum, Venture Cafe and other entrepreneur-focused teams. There are so many existing resources out there and the main problem the Village solves is making local businesses aware of where they can get help and what to do with it when they find it.

To reduce business growth learning hurdles, Village curates a mix of national, regional and local resources for the businesses it helps. As a result, the advice Village businesses receive is aligned with both their stage of growth and with their industry. By meeting with them in person, we create a relationship built on trust and shared goals of growth. Our long experience in business means we know where the resources lie and which ones to draw from, so we can create a solution set efficiently for struggling business owners and jump over those hurdles faster.

Village’s work extends beyond New Americans. We have helped and promoted veteran-owned businesses, rural businesses, food and farm businesses, nurse entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses. We touch many industries and our special interest is in identifying where small businesses are struggling and getting them on track and focused to generate income and become profitable, so that their success will spill over into their communities. Our geography extends throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont. We also promote small businesses anywhere in the US when we identify those we believe are unique and can help our extended community network.

There are many ways you can be a part of this story or others. Whether you’d like to help one family, one business, or a whole community, there is a role for you and we can help.

Here are some ways:

• Partner (invest in a business like the one Luis is building) – buy some cattle!
• Contribute directly to Project Home – help the next new family seeking asylum!
• Sponsor a nonprofit like Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship that specializes in helping small rural and agricultural businesses – help an ambitious entrepreneur develop into a smart and successful CEO!
• Invest in the NH Community Loan Fund – help a small business get funds they need to grow, or help a family buy their first home!
• Donate a new laptop – this is a big expense for a family like Luis’s!
• Sponsor the Village – bring attention and focus to your business just as Verizon has, by sponsoring the Village to help businesses like this one get the help they need to stay in business and thrive.
• Email Chris today to learn more: chris@launchmechanic.com