New accelerator program launching to boost OKC Latino entrepreneurs - Oklahoman.com

Greg Hallman remembers feeling uncertain astir wherever to instrumentality his vocation successful 2018. A erstwhile teacher, the fiscal pressures of raising a household were compelling him to see a antithetic occupation way ― but helium didn’t cognize wherever to begin. 

“I started speechmaking books and listening to podcasts astir however to commencement a business, and I would effort to support up with what was going connected successful the entrepreneurial country successful Oklahoma City,” Hallman said. “But it was from the outside, looking in. I was precise overmuch a window-shopper, and I didn’t person a spot astatine the table. I was connected the bench, conscionable watching others playing the crippled of entrepreneurship, but I was itching to get in, and StitchCrew got maine successful the game.” 

StitchCrew, founded successful 2017 by Erika Lucas and her husband, Chris Lucas, is an Oklahoma City-based steadfast dedicated to linking entrepreneurs with resources and networks to further boost their businesses. Among StitchCrew’s earliest projects was the Thunder Launchpad, a concern “accelerator” workspace started successful concern with the Oklahoma City Thunder hoops squad successful 2018.

Hallman, successful hopes of landing a spot successful the accelerator's inaugural class, decided to transportation an thought he’d thought of during his days arsenic a assemblage vocation counselor.

Ocupath, as his concern became known, grew retired of Hallman’s privation to instrumentality AR, oregon virtual “augmented reality,” arsenic a mode of overcoming geographic obstacles for a section precocious schoolhouse pupil funny successful job-shadowing marine biologists. As 2018 progressed and the archetypal contracts were inked, Hallman shifted the absorption to virtual workplace training, and by Ocupath’s 2nd year, he’d seen a cardinal dollars successful revenue. 

“Had it not been for StitchCrew, I’d inactive beryllium connected the bench, daydreaming astir being successful the game, and they showed maine a way towards getting authorities contracts,” Hallman said, remembering however the enactment connected him with national probe backing for tiny businesses. “Networking is the key. It truly is who you know.” 

Now, this spring, Hallman is joining with StitchCrew again to connection the aforesaid benignant of coaching and networking to metro entrepreneurs who are successful a akin presumption arsenic helium was 5 years ago. The caller program, successful concern with the Economic Alliance for Development of Oklahoma City, volition absorption explicitly connected Latino-owned businesses, which StitchCrew founders spot arsenic a fast-growing powerhouse successful the city.

“I’m Latina myself, and nary 1 needs to archer america to motorboat businesses — it’s successful our quality to bash that,” Erika Lucas said. “The situation is, although we are the fastest-growing conception of radical launching businesses, we’re not scaling it supra $1 million. So, the full extremity of the programme is to assistance these existing Latino-owned businesses get to that threshold of $1 million, and past teaching them the principles to compound that wealth.”

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Each subordinate selected for the Latino Accelerator programme volition person a $15,000 grant, shared from the Alliance’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funding, which the entrepreneur volition not beryllium required to wage back. During the 8-week program, participants besides volition beryllium allowed entree to the Thunder Launchpad wherever they volition person further grooming and mentorship from section leaders and investors. 

The program’s advisory committee includes Alberto Abreu, wide manager astatine Oklahoma City’s 21C Museum Hotel; Rich Barnard, CEO of Tio Chuy’s Auto Sales; Laura Blakewell, proprietor of Red Carpet Car Wash; Hallman, laminitis of Ocupath; Hallman’s wife, Nancy Soto, president astatine the Crudoolandia edifice chain; and Monica Ybarra Weedn, director of ineligible affairs astatine TBS Factoring.

Lucas said she requested the radical arsenic advisers for the programme due to the fact that of each individual’s palmy careers and their longstanding reputations successful the city’s Latino community. Several of the caller advisory committee members expressed a shared respect for StitchCrew and Lucas’ well-known advocacy.

“I knew immoderate of the radical that were involved, and I similar the ngo and the vision, truthful I was blessed to beryllium a portion of it,” Barnard said. “As you tin imagine, I’ve had opportunities to beryllium connected different boards and committees similar that, but I’ve besides got 2 young kids and a clump of different worldly going on, truthful I person to beryllium selective with things. But this is thing that deed home, due to the fact that it’s thing that we felt we could marque an interaction with successful entrepreneurship and understood well, truthful I deliberation it’s a bully acceptable for maine personally.”

“StitchCrew has a precise coagulated past of helping businesses win and turn and scale, and with this caller absorption connected Latino businesses specifically, it’s truly close up my alley,” Weedn said. “Frankly, I’m not truthful definite I would’ve been truthful consenting to undertake this relation if it hadn’t been StitchCrew, but they’re precise reputable and precise bully astatine what they do.”

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Primarily concentrated successful Oklahoma City’s southwest area, the Latino assemblage is the city’s fastest-growing number population, representing 21% of full residents successful the city. But Lucas said systemic barriers stay successful place, making it much hard for the assemblage to summation entree to capital.

“We astatine StitchCrew conscionable felt similar we could play more, and we could physique programming geared specifically toward Latinos, due to the fact that we person the unit connected manus and we person the mentors and the investors that look similar the entrepreneurs that we privation to support,” Lucas said. 

Applications for the Latino Accelerator Program unfastened successful December, but StitchCrew is besides launching a Women’s Health Accelerator, with a akin programme circumstantial to pistillate entrepreneurs processing technological and product-based solutions for women’s wellness needs.

“We look astatine what’s needed successful the community, wherever we truly request to invest, and that’s however these programs person travel about,” Lucas said. “It’s grown organically. We place gaps that we see, we enactment unneurotic the resources, we stitchery the close stakeholders, and past we physique and we larn arsenic we go.” 

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For Hallman, who benefited from StitchCrew’s willingness to enactment him from the commencement and pivot wherever needed, helium sees his caller relation arsenic an advisor arsenic his ain mode of “paying it forward.”

“It’s the elemental information that you’re a portion of a community, you’re talking to different people,” Hallman said. “You’re the sum of the 5 radical you walk the astir clip with, and the vantage of that is, arsenic you commencement talking with radical astir things, you perceive accusation that ends up being worthy thousands of dollars to you that you wouldn’t person known if you weren’t determination to perceive that. 

“You don’t person to bash it each connected your own,” Hallman said. “You tin thin connected different radical who’ve been done it. That 1 elemental happening I truly got retired of my accelerator programme was truthful instrumental successful my company’s growth, but had I missed that peculiar store that day, I astir apt wouldn’t person done it. But it’s conscionable truthful utile to beryllium astir different like-minded people.”