Library to assist Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs |
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| Written by Jessica Marshall | |||
| Wednesday, 24 June 2009 00:00 | |||
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Johnson County Library and the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation want to work together to provide bilingual business services to current and aspiring entrepreneurs. In an agreement library officials and HEDC leaders signed June 16 at Oak Park Library, 9500 Bluejacket, Overland Park, the corporation will have office hours two days per week at the library branch to assist clients. In August, HEDC will offer Primo Paso, a FastTrac class in Spanish, and a small business workshop in coordination with Global Entrepreneurship Week in November. County Librarian Donna Lauffer said the collaboration is a deepening of an already established relationship with HEDC and an opportunity for the library to fulfill its strategic goal of reaching out to the Hispanic community. "(Oak Park) is currently the site where the library is focusing its ability to provide services and collections to the growing Hispanic community, one of vital parts of the Johnson County landscape," Lauffer said. "This will be a great partnership and provide a wonderful service to the Hispanic community." David Hanson "They're providing bilingual services to the community and we're really trying to focus on providing services to the Latino community there at Oak Park," he said. "I think it's a really great partnership and a way of starting to build suites of service for a growing Latino community in Johnson County." Richard Zarate, HEDC business and economic growth director, said he values education, and partnering with the library furthers his goals. The corporation provides business entrepreneurship counseling services similar to the Small Business Development Center and some of the Kauffman Foundation programs, Hanson said. Since 2007, the corporation has served 25 businesses and 84 aspiring entrepreneurs through 369 individual sessions covering 447 hours of professional time in Johnson County alone. Bernardo Ramirez, HEDC executive director, said in some parts of the county the Hispanic population has realized triple-digit growth. The latest Mid-America Regional Council population estimate reports that about 8 percent of the Johnson County population under age 30 is Hispanic, signaling growth in the years to come. FAST FACTS For more information on the Johnson County Library/HEDC partnership, call 752-8700. , system-wide services manager for the library, said the partnership is a good fit.
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