Section 1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of the Project

The Hispanic League launched the Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (PyMEs) program in the Fall of 2022 to address barriers that discourage Hispanic/Latinx residents from founding their businesses or reaching higher levels of business success in Forsyth County, North Carolina. A primary goal of this survey is to help fill gaps in knowledge about language and cultural barriers, access to financial support and resources, and/or a lack of networking opportunities for Hispanic/Latinx entrepreneurs/business owners.

1.2 Organizational Background

1.2.1 Background on Hispanic League and PyMEs Committee

Established in 1992 to foster diversity and raise awareness by serving as a liaison between the non-Hispanic and Hispanic communities, the Hispanic League improves the quality of life for the Hispanic/Latinx community through community inclusion, education, health, and fostering multicultural understanding with respect for diversity of all cultures. The Hispanic League serves the community through scholarships, role model programs, community service outreach, ID drives, cultural and health events, support of community programs, job postings, support of Hispanic-owned businesses, and direct involvement in public and private sector initiatives. Though its primary focus area is the Piedmont Triad, the Hispanic League provides services across North Carolina. For more information, visit HispanicLeague.org.

The PyMEs program created a committee of 40+ community stakeholders, which meets monthly to help direct efforts toward Hispanic/Latinx business owners’ challenges. The committee identified the following action areas:

  • Conduct due diligence needs assessment within the community, including gap analysis.
  • Determine activities, events, and programming most relevant to stakeholders and available in Spanish.
  • Identify and secure partners/funding opportunities that will advance needed supports and solutions.

A smaller group of Hispanic/Latinx business owners and community partners made up the PyMEs Advisory Committee. They were convened several times throughout the survey design and distribution stages to assist in finalizing the survey instrument.

1.2.2 Background on Forsyth Futures

Forsyth Futures believes an informed community is empowered to advocate for local, evidence-based policies and solutions that can improve the quality of life for everyone in our community. We aim to mobilize Forsyth County’s collective problem-solving and systems change capacities to achieve positive outcomes for people who live in Forsyth County through providing research, data analysis, and reporting services. Learn more about how we study our community to inform action at ForsythFutures.org.

1.2.3 Partners / Funder Disclosure

The Hispanic League was awarded a $37,750 grant through the Winston-Salem Foundation to address these activities. With these grant funds, the Hispanic League (in collaboration with Forsyth Futures) developed an assessment tool (a survey) to understand the needs of local PyMEs and if existing entrepreneurial/small business resources are accessible to all current and future entrepreneurs and business owners.

Bank of America, Truist, Twin City Development Foundation, and Truliant Federal Credit Union provided additional financial support for the survey.

1.3 How the Information will be Used

1.3.1 How will the Hispanic League Use Information from the Project at large?

During their 24th Annual Spanish Nite Gala on Saturday, April 15, 2023 the Hispanic League shared high-level survey results and outcomes of the PyMEs program focusing on learnings that will help better serve the specific needs of PyMEs and entrepreneurs and align with community efforts and goals.

The Hispanic League will continue to leverage the results of this survey in connection with a mapping of local relevant resources to bring community awareness to the needs expressed, dig further into understanding and addressing barriers elevated by the survey, and to curate, translate, and create supports as necessary to meet the needs.

To learn more about this program, visit HispanicLeague/PyMEs.org.

1.3.2 How will Forsyth Futures Use Information from the Project at large?

Forsyth Futures will use the information gathered from the survey to refine the survey instrument. After finalizing the PyMEs survey, they will make a version of the survey tool available to other organizations or community members interested in assessing the needs of other business owners/entrepreneurs.

1.4 About Data Privacy and Confidentiality

Only Forsyth Futures’ research team has access to the raw survey data, which is stored on a password-protected system. The only results presented in this report are summarized responses – no personally-identifiable information is used or reported.

In one analysis of respondents’ heritage, many individual countries selected by respondents had low responses and raised potential data privacy concerns. Analysts recoded countries with fewer than ten responses as ‘Other’ and listed the names of the countries represented in the sample. This step ensures respondents’ data privacy while still reporting which countries are represented in the sample.