Georgette Luna, with her husband, owns Sea Philly, a boat-touring company that operates on the Delaware and Schuylkill. Luna participated in the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Accelerate Business program for Latino and Hispanic entrepreneurs.Latino entrepreneurs are projected to make up 29% of the U.S. population by 2050, up from 17% today, according to alast year by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. And if Latino-owned businesses grow as fast as the U.S.
“It’s been like a ‘streetwise’ MBA,” she said. “For me the program filled a lot of gaps. It goes through all areas: from finances to marketing to tax. It’s really just an all-encompassing crash course of everything you need to know to run a business.”, which offers painting, cleaning, maintenance, and other property management services, said the program “was almost like going back to school.”
Both Santiago and Luna have not only used what they’ve learned from the Accelerate Business program to grow their businesses but have also leaned heavily on the additional resources provided by the chamber, which are specifically geared toward Latino business owners.