Although the overall numbers are still relatively small, there’s a growing desire in the local Hispanic community to own a business. Accordingly, Mountain BizWorks is now offering classes conducted in Spanish and designed to help potential business owners navigate the American entrepreneurial landscape. The local nonprofit also makes loans to promising startups and existing enterprises.
A Mountain BizWorks program called ScaleUp WNC is helping established new businesses take the next steps in growth. The program is funded by a $1.25 million grant from the Small Business Administration and free for accepted applicants.
Thank you to all the Give!Local donors! The 60-day campaign is into its third week! The campaign provides a fun, fast and easy way to give online from $10 to $1000s. Donors can give to as many of the 30 participating nonprofits as they like and pay with one easy credit transaction. Plus, there are incentives […]
Give!Local raised nearly $1,000 in its opening day and many of the nonprofits raised additional money at the kickoff event. Thirty nonprofits, their boards, two food vendors, three bands, a dinosaur and a ghost pepper all convened along with about 200 people from the public.
This week the Community Calendar is highlighting events that are sponsored by nonprofits that are participating in the Give!Local campaign. The campaign is raising money for 30 worthy local nonprofits that make a big difference where we live. These events are wonderful examples of some of the great work that these nonprofits do within our communities! ANIMALS […]
Free party at The Orange Peel to celebrate Asheville’s first Give!Local campaign THE MISSION: To raise funds and awareness for 30 worthy local nonprofits that make a big difference where we live. To make giving simple and fun, no matter how small or large the gift. THE METHOD: Offer contributors hundreds of fun and valuable incentives that […]
“Since 2006, Mountain BizWorks has participated in the SBA microlending program. In that time, it has provided SBA loans to over 80 startups and 150 existing businesses,” Mike Arriola commented. “But beyond the statistics, they are helping to create the American dream for individual entrepreneurs like Greg who just spoke.”
That year, a sudden funding crisis threw the long-running nonprofit Mountain BizWorks into a tailspin. An expected grant failed to come through, and just like that, the organization found itself struggling to survive.
Asheville is a hotbed for culinary entrepreneurship, but the path to success can be rocky. What does it take beyond a tasty product or a knack for cooking to build a flourishing food business?
Perhaps not surprisingly, topics of discussion mirrored the diverse mix of folks who came together for the daylong event at A-B Tech’s Enka campus: small-business owners, investors, employees and assorted individuals with an interest in collective prosperity.
The Self-Help Credit Union, in conjunction with dozens of local sponsors, is hosting a conference on our local economy. Entitled “Bringing it Home: Building a Local Economy for Everyone,” the daylong conference will explore local-centric ways to grow the Western North Carolina economy. The event will be held at the Harvey L. Haynes Conference Center […]
Citing the ever-growing craft beer industry, quality of life and ample support for early-stage businesses, Popular Mechanics named Asheville the second best up-and-coming city for entrepreneurship in a Jan. 13 article.
From the Get It! Guide: Kudzai Mabunda realized a demand for assisted living that allowed the elderly or disabled to remain in a home environment. Utilizing a loan from Mountain BizWorks, she was able to create two new facilities.
Buncombe Commissioners voted along party lines April 1 to give Mountain Bizworks $50,000 toward a new microloan program that will help small local businesses get needed capital. The local business nonprofit will leverage the county funds to receive an additional $300,000 from the federal Small Business Association Microloan Program.
As Mountain Bizworks continues to restructure its services, Buncombe commissioners are considering a plan to give the influential local business nonprofit $50,000 toward a new microloan program.
Struggling to address an increased demand for services amid a funding crunch, Mountain BizWorks is conducting “an intensive review of our programs and finances,” board Chair Eileen McMinn reports. Most of the organization’s existing training programs will be phased out by the middle of next year. The downsized local nonprofit will focus its remaining resources on lending.
Facing a “liquidity crunch,” Mountain BizWorks CEO Shaw Canale has stepped down from her post, a job she’s had since 2009.
Taryn Gentry calls her business a concierge service, but really she’s a matchmaker. It’s just that instead of matching sweethearts, she’s busy hitching tasks with talent.
While it is true that a business owner needs to analyze the financials and create an effective marketing plan, success requires more. There are two other crucial ingredients, which may at first seem like a strange combination: determination and flexibility. Many of Mountain BizWork’s clients, especially the Latino immigrant entrepreneurial community, demonstrate just how powerful […]
It’s not every day that a local small business gets its product tested by a hurricane. But Living Roofs Inc., a local company founded 2006 by Kathryn Blatt Ancaya and Emilio Ancaya, got just that
Mountain BizWorks supports small businesses in Western North Carolina through lending, consulting and training. Here’s one in a series of advice columns from one of the nonprofit’s local experts.
