Program Helps Launch Fledgling Businesses

When Cecilia Lopez left Mexico in 1981 for the United States, she never thought she would one day own her own business.

“(I always liked business), but in Mexico you never know that it’s possible to have a business,” said the Berkeley resident and mother of two.

But at a promotional event last week, Lopez stood beside a pyramid of jars—each labeled “Cecilia's Salsa”—and officially became the latest of more than 75 entrepreneurs who have launched their businesses with the help of AnewAmerica, a Berkeley-based nonprofit.

Founded in 1999, the organization has put new entrepreneurs from at least 40 countries through its Virtual Business Incubator, a three-year program consisting of weeknight and weekend seminars on marketing, attracting capital and developing a business plan.

The program, which currently has 180 participants, serves immigrants and new citizens with previous business experience, said Sylvia Rosales-Fike, president and founder of AnewAmerica. About 20 percent of participants are Berkeley residents.

“What we’re demonstrating is that if you really provide them guidance and opportunities to find those resources—the same opportunities that well-educated people and those with higher incomes have through their networks and their families—these new entrepreneurs can succeed,” she said.

Participants spend 25 weeks attending courses at Holy Names University in Oakland and earn a college certificate in business planning, something many would normally be unable to do, Rosales-Fike said.

“For many entrepreneurs (a college degree) is unreachable because they don't even have a high school diploma,” she said.

The program aims to build participants' long-term wealth, Rosales-Fike said.

The program offers to match all savings by participants up to $3,000, an incentive that has helped 19 families purchase their first home. On average, program graduates have a net worth that is 35 percent higher than when they started.

Lola Robinson, a lending specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration, said AnewAmerica provides a vital service to the state’s immigrant population.

“A lot of the new immigrants are non-English speaking Americans and they just need someone to take them in and show them how to fit into this whole climate of being in America,” she said.

Seven years after Rosales-Fike solicited a single donation to start the organization, AnewAmerica has as an annual budget of about $1.2 million and operates four offices, including locations in Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.

Lopez’s salsa will be the first food product launched with assistance from the organization. Previous graduates of the three-year program have opened autobody shops, digital advertising companies and photography services.

At the organization's annual gala Thursday, program participants and graduates provided everything from the food to the programs to the wrought-iron awards given to top volunteers.

Satoko Myodo, a 22-year Berkeley resident and program participant who attended the gala to promote the tea shop and art gallery she plans to open within the next year, said AnewAmerica's program is about carrying out a dream.

“Ideas are always in your head,” she said. “I learned to execute.”

Tags: