Program Grows Businesses in Hispanic Community

March 18--Blanca Muoz was ready to convert the room into a mint-green paradise for 500 partygoers, but she confronted several obstacles: washing machines, assorted appliances, power tools.

She had to wait hours for all of it to be hauled away so she could drape and decorate.

"I'm tired. It's a lot of work," the Avondale businesswoman said in Spanish. "But that doesn't matter."

This is just what Muoz has long wanted, to turn her party-planning and craft-making talents into a business. On Friday, she prepared for her biggest job yet, a quinceaera -- 15th birthday party -- with hundreds expected to attend.

The guest of honor's family had rented an auction warehouse that doubles as a banquet hall. No one said this would be easy.

The preparations were another step on Muoz's path to mogul status that began when she stepped into a Kennett Square classroom for a program designed to encourage business development in the Latino community.

"How to Succeed as a Latino Entrepreneur" is a bilingual course offered by Kutztown University's Latino Business Resource Center. The eight-week seminar teaches aspiring business people the intricacies of business plans, marketing, finance, loans, insurance, and legal issues.

The program, which began in Chester County in the fall, is a partnership among the resource center; National Penn Bank; Chester County SCORE, an entrepreneurship counseling group; and La Comunidad Hispaa, a Kennett Square social-service agency where the classes are held.

Noting the growth in the Latino population in the region, "the second generation comes along, people have ambition and want to start businesses," said Horace Scherer, a project coordinator and bilingual business counselor for SCORE, who is helping to coordinate the program.

A new session scheduled to begin in Kennett Square on Thursday.

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Program Grows Businesses in Hispanic Community