Miami, Apr 27 (EFE).- The telephone company Verizon awarded $10,000 grants to 25 small Latino entrepreneurs to promote digital acceleration and opened a new round for applicants for this aid until May 12.
A company survey found a “significant” gap between the desire of Hispanic small business owners to obtain private loans and grants, and those owners who have been able to apply for them, the company said in a statement.
Grant recipients include entrepreneurs from Boston, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and San Diego.
The idea is to allow companies to invest in upgrading their technology, advancing their commercialization or covering operating costs such as employee salaries and rent.
Mia Thorn, co-founder of Cruz Kitchen & Taps, one of the recipients, welcomed the chance to improve her marketing and financial management skills with such help.
“Hispanic small business owners are continually reinventing themselves through technology and the data from our study demonstrates this,” said Aparna Khurjekar, director of Verizon Business.
Nearly three in four (74%) of Hispanic small businesses have taken advantage of digital tools and technologies to make money in the last three years, according to the survey titled “El Hispanic Small Business Report”.
The survey of 500 Hispanic small business owners across the country also showed that more than a third (41%) of them have implemented new technology to address worker shortages.
