Entrepreneurship
Center
Empowering Communities. Changing Lives.
Building Towards a Life of Stability and Growth Through Entrepreneurship
The Entrepreneurship Center (EC) was created for the sole purpose of empowering, mentoring, and supporting our cohort of entrepreneurs, particularly entrepreneurs of color, in gaining the wisdom, knowledge, and skills to become self-sufficient and triumphant business owners by providing the foundation necessary to create successful enterprises.
By providing the resources to under-resourced entrepreneurs, we can provide the pathway towards increasing the economic health of communities in need of revitalization and redevelopment.
As an entrepreneur, you never stop learning.
Daymond John
Core Programs
Small Business Development University (SBU)
One of the most vital programs that we offer is the Small Business Development University (SBU). Through a curriculum created and approved by some of the brightest business minds in the Houston community, subject-matter experts, and community partners, SBU will inspire our cohort of entrepreneurs to fulfill their goals of becoming successful business owners. This will provide economic security for themselves and their loved ones and uplift the communities in which these businesses will serve. The SBU program offers all of the skills necessary to launch a successful enterprise, such as management skills, finding and securing capital, building social and professional networks, and foundations of business management.
Learn more about or register for SBU
SBA Community Navigator Pilot Program
The Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP) focuses on reaching and supporting underserved small businesses, including micro and rural businesses, with emphasis on those owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals to help them recover from the effects of COVID-19.
Recovery services include financial assistance, access to capital, contracting and procurement assistance, marketing, operations, business development, export, and industry-specific training. The Program will operate on a national scale using NUL as the Hub administering and supporting the program, partnered with Urban League (UL) affiliates in 25 cities serving as Spokes delivering counseling, training, and technical assistance to small businesses in each city.
Pepsi Co. Black Restaurant Accelerator Program (BRAP)
Pepsi has announced that The National Urban League is launching the Black Restaurant Accelerator Program, which is expected to boost approximately 500 Black-owned businesses over the next five years. The PepsiCo Foundation is providing a $10 million grant to fund the program. The money will provide current and aspiring Black restaurateurs with access to the necessary capital, training, mentorship, and other services that are needed to run a successful business.
“This is a game-changing program that will provide Black restaurateurs with access to business-building resources tailored to meet their specific needs,” said Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, in a written statement.
Through National Urban League Entrepreneurship Centers in 12 different cities spread across the United States, the Black Restaurant Accelerator Program will help Black entrepreneurs gain access to loans and capital that are not typically available due to biased community perceptions and gentrification challenges.
To read the full article, click here.
One on One Consulting
The One on One program is dedicated to providing counsel and individualized mentoring to business owners that need direction, inspiration, and resources to become better entrepreneurs. Our business mentors will deliver targeted, concise information to entrepreneurs. This strategic manner in which our business mentors give guidance ensures that entrepreneurs will only be provided with the counsel that is specific to their needs and the needs of their businesses. Our mentors are subject-matter experts with decades of entrepreneurial success. They are also individuals who will provide our enrollees with confidence, determination, and integrity to propel them on the path towards long-term success.
Advisors
The Entrepreneurship Center provides entrepreneurs with business advisors who have decades of experience. They provide prospective business owners with targeted, specific knowledge and skills that can redirect business owners facing difficulties, obstacles, and specific concerns regarding their respective establishments.
The National Urban League has partnered with Wells Fargo to develop a program that seeks to diversify the appraisal field by creating opportunities for Black trainees looking to complete their certification or start an appraisal business.
The National Urban League is prioritizing an initiative designed to reimagine the appraisal process through a lens of equity and justice. While achieving equity in homeownership and building generational wealth is deeply challenging, we are building a pipeline of diverse appraisers through the Entrepreneurship Center that will empower Black business owners, homeowners, and communities.
The Urban Appraisers Initiative, a 5-year, $5 million initiative in partnership with Wells Fargo, supports diversification of the appraisal field. The goal is to increase the number of Black appraisers, which has positive implications for the housing sector and increases entrepreneurship opportunities as trainees are incentivized to open their own appraisal businesses.
The Urban League of Greater Atlanta, the Urban League of Central Carolinas, and the Houston Area Urban League will provide coaching and education focused on capacity building, then augmented by training specific to the appraisal field to accelerate placement of Black trainees in appraisal jobs. The affiliates will support candidates as they complete the appraisal certification through apprenticeships with certified appraisers, and business management skills training to help participants start, grow and scale appraisal businesses.
To complete the survey, please click here.
Urban Appraisers Initiative
The National Urban League and the Houston Area Urban League partnered with Wells Fargo to develop a program that seeks to diversify the appraisal field by creating opportunities for Black trainees looking to complete their certification or start an appraisal business. Learn More
Our Advisors
Eric Goodie
Area Vice President and Entrepreneurship Center Director
Phillip Yates
Entrepreneurship Center Program Consultant
Mark Praigg
Entrepreneurship Center Program Consultant
Warren Winston
Entrepreneurship Center Program Consultant
Upcoming Events
The EC provides year-round events dedicated to our cohort of business owners. Our events provide inspiration, guidance, skills, and other resources to empower the 21st-century entrepreneur. To learn more, inquire, or attend any EC event, please visit our program calendar.
Resources
HBR Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures
Financing decisions depend on the type of venture and the amount of capital required to
achieve positive cash flow. Entrepreneurs generally make financial forecasts when they are
shaping the opportunity and crafting a business model. Yet experienced entrepreneurs know
that they must continually revise those forecasts in response to what they learn through
multiple experiments as they launch a venture. In the early stages of exploring and shaping an
opportunity, new ventures are often financed by founders, friends, family members, banks,
and individual angel investors. Recently, many entrepreneurs have also turned to
crowdfunding, angel networks, and venture capital (VC) to finance early-stage businesses.
During the experimentation and launch phases, additional financing may be provided by
banks, VCs, angels, and strategic investors (corporations that invest in startups, generally to
support a strategic goal). In many settings, governments provide funding to startups,
especially in sectors seen to be strategically important. For the full document click:
Partner with the EC
Entrepreneurs need all of the expertise and guidance to face the challenges they come across every day. Your experience can make all the difference. Become a HAUL/EC partner today.
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