Nine emerging Hispanic food businesses will be featured at this year’s Festival Latino in Genoa Park along the Scioto River in downtown Columbus on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10 and 11.
The aspiring entrepreneurs from Colombia, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are participating in a six-month-long small business incubator program El Mercadito Raices through Catholic Social Services’ Our Lady of Guadalupe Center on Columbus’ west side.
In 2023, the Ohio Small Business Development Center partnered with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Center to offer El Mercadito Raices, which consists of 12 workshops and 60 hours of one-on-one coaching that helps participants secure a business license, branding, marketing, packaging, presentation, food delivery, menu development, pricing and onsite support to ensure success. The nine businesses have met all the requirements.
“Coming to the United States as an immigrant is both exciting and challenging. As these new neighbors assimilate into our community and establish themselves in business to support their families, Catholic Social Services provides training in all aspects of starting and launching a new business to guide the business owners to success,” said S. Kelley Henderson, president and CEO of Catholic Social Services (CSS).
The Our Lady of Guadalupe Center works to reduce poverty in the rapidly growing Hispanic population in central Ohio by providing access to professional social services, emergency assistance and social connectedness. It is the only center in Franklin County offering the full services of a food pantry and case management to the Hispanic population.
“We are grateful to our partners and for the support of Accelerate Columbus and our Columbus City Council that helped us provide this program to the Latino community. We are launching 19 new Latino entrepreneurs (in the next training class) providing products and services that highlight the rich diversity of our culture in the Columbus community,” said Ramona Reyes, vice president of community engagement for CSS.
