This Spanish-language startup program is breaking down barriers for immigrant entrepreneurs
This piece is also available in Spanish, thanks to translation services by Gabriela Rivera, digital communications manager at Resolve Philly.
A Spanish-language entrepreneurship program is helping business-minded immigrants build wealth, despite social and economic challenges.
One of the biggest challenges for immigrant entrepreneurs looking to start a business in their new hometown is learning how to do it right. Add in a language barrier, and building a business — one that pays required taxes and serves as an important part of a region's economic development — can be tough to manage.
'[Immigrant] entrepreneurs want to comply with the regulations and get their licenses,' Liliana Quintero, chair of the Delaware Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and head of its Emprendedores Sin Barreras acceleration program, told Technical.ly.
General business resources are not in short supply, but many are in English exclusively, and even if materials are bilingual, general entrepreneur programs may not offer an understanding of specific issues facing immigrants, from navigating documentation status to re-learning how to run a business when regulations in their origin country differed greatly.
'The rules [in the US] are totally different from in our countries,' Quintero said. 'All the things that you need to learn to start and formalize a business are new.'
Fulfilling a need
Emprendedores Sin Barreras (Entrepreneurs Without Barriers) was launched as the signature program of the Delaware Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In March 2024, the Chamber was established by president and CEO, Ronaldo Tello, Quintero and others with an interest in serving the local Hispanic community.
The program, and the Chamber itself, represent two of the things the 47th presidential administration opposes the most: Immigration, especially from below the southern border, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Quintero, who came to the United States from Colombia a decade ago, has been working with entrepreneurs in the region since 2016 when she started as a volunteer with the Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. A couple of years ago, she and Tello noticed a gap in Spanish-language entrepreneurial services in Delaware as its Hispanic immigrant population grew.
The first Emprendedores Sin Barreras pilot launched in 2023, a few months before the Delaware Hispanic Chamber was established. Their instincts had been correct: The first cohort, offered for both established and aspiring entrepreneurs, easily drew 20 people; the second, in 2024, drew 35.
'From the beginning, all of the people were engaged,' Quintero said. 'We discovered all the resources that our entrepreneurs need, in Spanish.'
At the end of each cohort, participants deliver a business pitch, an exercise Quintero says helps to improve their public speaking and social skills, 'I have a student [who] says she was very grateful because presenting her business gave her the confidence to talk in public.'
Leveling up
With two successful introductory cohorts under its belt, Emprendedores Sin Barreras launched a level two cohort, a business accelerator for entrepreneurs with established businesses. At this level, the entrepreneurs learn how to work with community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which provide loans and financial services to underserved communities, including immigrant communities, that are considered to be too high risk to do business with by most traditional financial institutions.
Even with a CDFI, entrepreneurs need to learn how to navigate the process to get a loan.
'If you are an entrepreneur looking for funds, you need to be able to answer the very first question that the banker is asking you: 'how much do you need?'' Quintero said. 'Most of the entrepreneurs, they don't know. So the objective of this program is to have a business plan that will answer that question.'
The more than 50 entrepreneurs who have gone through the program so far represent a cross-section of industries. Restaurants and landscaping are both popular businesses for Hispanic immigrants, Quintero says, but so are technology startups such as web services, social media management and IT.
'Design services, real estate and printing on merchandise are very popular as well,' she said.
Facing uncertainties ahead
So far in 2025, Emprendedores Sin Barreras is going strong, despite a climate of anti-immigrant policy and mass deportation.
'People are afraid,' Quintero acknowledged. 'There's fear in terms and the uncertainty about what is happening and who is affected.
'The reality is, organizations like us, and Chambers of Commerce in general, are aimed to promote the correct way to do things. We are here to help people to be more productive, to be a good asset to the economy.'
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