Olga Saucedo made her lifelong dream of owning a restaurant come true, opening Cultura Mixta Family Restaurant in Central Falls last spring.
In May 2024, Michelle LaSata took over ownership of the fitness center in Woonsocket where she had been working since 2017, changing the name to MPOWER Training & Fitness LLC.
As new business owners, they had many questions, and thanks to their participation in the new 10-week LocalBiz Resilience Program, they were able to get answers and draw from the experiences of business leaders and experts brought in to advise them.
“I highly recommend it. There’s no way you can attend for 10 weeks and not get something out of it,” LaSata said recently.
Launched last September, the free program created by Skills for Rhode Island’s Future and Social Enterprise Greenhouse is designed to help entrepreneurs in Central Falls and Woonsocket navigate the challenges of business ownership and get access to funding and financial support. Thirty-three businesses participated in the most recent session, which ended in December.
The next cohort is expected to begin in March, again in Woonsocket and Central Falls; the goal is to eventually expand LocalBiz Resilience Program to more communities around the state.
Woonsocket Mayor Christopher Beauchamp says 14 business owners in his community participated, and he was grateful that Woonsocket was chosen to pilot it.
The program aims to help small businesses that are struggling and still facing long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Woonsocket and Central Falls were identified as communities with businesses that had significant needs.
“We know small businesses are the heartbeat of Rhode Island,” said Nina Pande, SkillsRI’s executive director. “A lot of people start small businesses from an area of passion or interest. A lot of those business owners don’t go to business school. They have no degree in business or finance.
“We need to strengthen our small businesses because that is the backbone of our economy,” Pande said.
Through the program, participants received direct financial support, similar to a line of credit, to sustain operations, along with professional development such as ongoing technical assistance in business management, revenue growth and financial planning. In Central Falls, programming was offered in Spanish, recognizing that 63% of the city’s population is Hispanic, according to the organizers.
Pande says they would hear how small businesses were struggling with modernization, technology, artificial intelligence, supply chain issues and digital marketing, and some were in a crisis mode, uncertain if they would survive the next two or three months. They modeled the program to specifically address those challenges and stabilize floundering businesses.
Over the 10-week period, the business owners heard from experts regarding all facets of running a business, such as knowing the clientele and how to sell to them, expanding the client base, refining messaging, projecting revenue, and learning labor laws and practices, along with new state and federal regulations and policies. They also had a lawyer discuss taxes.
Pande says the organizers received $9 million in federal funds for the initiative that allowed them to offer the program free of charge, through the Minority Business Development Agency, the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. She estimates that if business owners were to seek out these services on their own, the cost would be approximately $5,000.
Julie Owens, SEG’s CEO, says she was thrilled when Pande approached the organization about the new initiative, as it aligned with SEG’s vision of a more just, equitable and resilient economy. She notes that SEG already was offering business clinics, which they based the curriculum on. They offered 20 different models regarding business ownership.
“Being a business owner is sometimes lonely,” Owens said. “They could share things and learn from each other.
“At the end of day, we delivered something very unique and needed in these two communities,” Owens said.
For Saucedo and LaSata, the experience was invaluable.
Initially, LaSata was concerned that she didn’t have enough time to participate when she heard about the LocalBiz Resilience Program through a Woonsocket City Hall contact.
“On top of training 30 clients a week, I had to also run the business,” LaSata said.
She knew the basics of her business, having been a longtime employee before taking it over, such as how to collect money and pay bills, but she needed help with branding and the website, and she didn’t know where to start.
Enrolling in the program allowed her to get the branding and website help she needed, along with marketing assistance, since she’s in an area of Woonsocket that’s not well-known; it also helped her get financial statements in order and put her in contact with a representative at Navigant Credit Union. Participants were encouraged to start building relationships with financial institutions, LaSata says, which helps if they want to pursue small-business loans.
Saucedo, who offers a mix of American, Mexican and Japanese cuisine at her restaurant – hence the restaurant name Cultura Mixta, says she created her own business plan but is receiving help with a new one now that she is running the business without a partner.
LaSata said one of the biggest perks of the program was that the services never end.
“Once you are part of the program, you have access to the services for a lifetime,” LaSata said.