Portland State University's Business Outreach Program has been chosen to run the Small Business Growth program, powered by Interise's StreetWise ‘MBA’™ curriculum and Prosper Portland (formally known as Portland Development Commission). Interise is very excited to add PSU as a new partner and is looking forward to continuing the work done with Prosper Portland over the past few years. The new program will launch at the end of this year, working to help Portland's small businesses achieve second-stage growth and build capacity.

READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE ON PROSPER PORTLAND'S SMALL BUSINESS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PARTNERSHIPS HERE

Follow the journey @ProsperPortland, @pdxBSchool, and @StreetWiseMBA.

Getin' ready for the last class What a ride in growing small biz owners of color's know how in scaling @PDCSmallBiz pic.twitter.com/kii2bPA9tf

— Tory Campbell (@torycampbell) July 6, 2016

Exciting growth plans for @ChampionsPDX and a barbering institute! #PDCIncrease @torycampbell @StreetWise_MBA pic.twitter.com/fzgQTrn6av

— PDXSmallBiz (@PDXSmallBiz) July 26, 2016

“The extent of and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concerns me,” Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair

 

Business ownership is a route to wealth creation and closing the racial wealth gap. The catch: Lack of wealth inhibits entrepreneurship. Small business owners often rely on their own savings, equity in their home, and loans from family and friends to start their businesses, grow their businesses, or even to meet the needs of day-to-day cash flow. Business owners without these resources bear a distinct disadvantage.

Capacity-building programs support small businesses to develop such assets as knowledge, know-how, and networks around contracting, financing, and strategic planning. Interise research has found that, through capacity building, minority-owned small businesses and businesses located in low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities increase revenues and create jobs at rates higher than other established small businesses.

Interise is proud to honor our nation's service men and women this Memorial Day! According to the US Small Business Administration, 9% of US firms are owned by veterans, employing around 5.8 million people. Many veterans have completed Interise's StreetWise 'MBA'^TM program in 73 cities across the country. To celebrate Memorial Day, Interise is highlighting a few alumni small business owners who have continued to serve their communities, even after finishing their military service.

On contracting with the National Football League to power Superbowl XLVI: “You have to embrace how hard running a small business is. Hard work pays off.” - Interise Alum Shane Conner; Owner of Atec Inc. in Lebanon, IN

“When you’ve done cool projects like the Watt Innovation Center, it starts to build your portfolio. Then, when you do come across a large project you can say, “Hey look, we did this. Look at the reviews.” - Interise Alum Greg Carpenter; Owner of Synergy Media Group in Pittsburgh, PA

“If you as a small business are smart enough to embrace the adversity that exists you will be a better business person. You will be a better human being for it.” - Interise Alum Michael Tipton; Owner of Integrity Communications Solutions in Colorado Springs, CO

“Winning contracts in the federal market takes a different approach from what served you well in the private sector. Every business process needs to be re-calibrated toward the needs of the federal customer.” - Interise Alum Dan Proulx; Owner of Monument Construction LLC in Nashua, NH

For more, check out Interise's StreetWise 'MBA'^TM, a game changing capacity-building program recognized by the World Bank and the US Federal Reserve.

Interise instructors are the reason the StreetWise 'MBA'^TM continues to prove its success, so it's only fitting to celebrate them during Teacher Appreciation Week! Each instructor brings their unique business knowledge and past experiences to their cohort, often creating relationships with participating business owners that last long after the program's completion. This week, Interise is featuring testimonials shared by business owners in appreciation for their StreetWise 'MBA'^TM teachers and instructors!

“Mary is a gifted teacher and instructor. She knew how to capture the interest of our class in an engaging, witty, direct and helpful way. Some of the concepts in class were entirely new to me and she really helped all of us understand how a concept could be applied to any one of our businesses. I also appreciated how she really took the time to listen, understand and customize the material for what our class needed to learn.” - Interise Alum on Mary Marshall; Seattle, WA instructor


“Our instructor was never dull. She made it exciting to come to class and learn how to become great CEOs. She used her only life's examples with a failing hair salon to teach us about businesses. Even though class is over. She continues to motivate us and provide additional opportunities for our businesses to excel.” - Interise Alum on Nicole Cober, Esquire; Baltimore, MD instructor


“Well to start I was not totally into being in this class , but my sister said it would be good for the family business if I was going to take the business into the future with a lot of grumbling I went to the first class and there was Bob Ross all excited and raring to push the class onward. Mind you I was not a fan of going to college and was about to find out I was going to be doing more homework and basic studying and learning our family business all over again. He took me from being defiant to participating to always the first one there in class excited to see Thursday come, he made it so I wanted and needed to be there or I would miss out and that has never happened in all the years of seminars, classes, webinars, etc. I even I had emergency gallbladder surgery and the day I left the hospital I went to class 2 hours later and so to me, that says a lot about Bob. He was valuable in our business landing a 1/4 million dollar a year account from what he had taught and his invaluable insight.” - Interise Alum on Robert BoB Ross; Columbus, OH instructor

Look out for more teacher appreciation features as the week goes on!

For more, check out Interise's StreetWise 'MBA'^TM, a game changing capacity-building program recognized by the World Bank and the US Federal Reserve.

2014 Winner of the Immigrant Entrepreneur Award and 2010 Interise graduate, Victoria Amador(left)
Three StreetWise 'MBA'^TM business owners (Daniel Perez; Yessy Feliz; and Jose de la Rosa) were nominated for the 2017 Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards, given each year by the Immigrant Learning Center for four categories (business growth, neighborhood business, high-tech business, and life-science business).

Daniel Perez, a 2017 Interise graduate from Colombia who owns DPV Transportation Worldwide in East Boston, was nominated in the Business Growth category; Yessy Feliz, a current Interise business from Dominican Republic who runs Tails, Inc. in Jamaica Plain, was nominated for Neighborhood Business; and Jose de la Rosa, a 2014 Emerging Leaders graduate from Dominican Republic who owns Guardian Healthcare in Jamaica Plain, won the 2017 Immigrant Entrepreneur Award for Business Growth.

In the past, many StreetWise 'MBA'^TM alumni have been nominated for these awards, and two have won in their respective categories. Below is a list of all that have been nominated, with winners in bold, along with the name of their small business, the location, and the year(s) they were nominated:

• Ruth Francis, P&R Ice Cream and Restaurant, Mattapan (2015)
• Alberto Calvo, Stop & Compare Supermarkets, Chelsea (2014, 2015)
• Herby Duverné, Taino Consulting Group, Boston (2016)
• Colette Phillips, Colette Phillips Communications, Boston (2016)
• Antonio Rodrigues, TNT Cleaning Services Inc., Assonet (2016)
• Marc Silva, Somerville Sustainable Cleaning, Cambridge (2014)
• Rosa and Nisaury Tejeda and Victoria Amador, Tremendous Maid LLC, Jamaica Plain (2014)
• Jose de la Rosa, Guardian Healthcare in Jamaica Plain (2017)
• Daniel Perez, DPV Transportation Worldwide in East Boston (2017)
• Yessy Feliz, Tails, Inc. in Jamaica Plain (2017)

The Immigrant Learning Center, situated in Malden, MA, provides research, business, and learning tools to recent immigrants while also educating the public on the benefits of immigrants in the community. Through ILC's English Learning Program and their Public Education and Research, they give immigrants a voice.

Interise's proven model for accelerating economic development through small business growth in lower-income communities has had impressive impact across the country, as illustrated in the 2016 Impact Report. Celebrate thriving small businesses #AllYearLong!