Special Thank you to All Emerging Enterprises Contributors

By Raquel Jaimez, Marketing & Corporate Recruitment Program Manager

Thanks to the efforts of its contributors, Emerging Enterprises Business Resource Center (EE) opened its doors to the Greater Austin community in October. This initiative is a partnership between Greater Austin Hisapnic Chamber of Commerce, the Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) and has received early level support from IBM and Wal-Mart. This state of the art facility is equiped with hardware and software courtesy of IBM while each of the EE private business operation units is furnished courtesy of HACA. In addition, Wal-Mart continues to serve as a key supporter and contributor through financial grants.

In addition to grant funding, HACA has remodeled a once vacant suite in one of its locations on Airport Boulevard to fit the needs of Emerging Enterprises. This unique facility features a private conference room, a fully equiped training lab, ten private business units, two office suites, a fully functional kitchen and restrooms.

In addition to donating computers and software, IBM has graciously donated the use of its SME Toolkit. The SME Toolkit provides over 500 interactive tools, business forms, and how-to articles for the small and medium-sized business. It consists of five components; 1) Global Content: Free best-in-class small business content acquired from major global providers; 2) Interactive Networking: Free global business directory, online forums and chats; 3) Web/CD ROM Interface which allows users to search or browse the content they need; 4) Content Management System: Robust back office application; 5) Training Curriculum: Business training curriculum for both business development service (BDS) providers and SMEs (us.smetoolkit.org).

Wal-Mart provides designated funding as the Incubator continues to grow. In addition to the funding, Frank Machuca, Wal-Mart Store Manager, Hispanic Technology Institute of Austin (HTIA) Board Member and Program Start-up Committee Chair, demonstrates Wal-Mart’s, a $40,000 check, to support HTIA’s initiatives.

Following the Power Networking Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on December 4, Lisa Elledge, Wal-Mart Executive, will present the latest contribution from Wal-Mart toward the efforts of HTIA.

For more information on Emerging Enterprises partners, contributors and programs, please contact Monica Willey at (512) 928-2594 or via email at mwilley(at)gahcc.org.

Thank you to our Emerging Enterprises Contributors: