Across New Hampshire the Community Navigator Program Helps Reach More Small Businesses in our Communities:
Q+A with the Hannah Grimes Center, Grafton Regional Development and Coös Economic Development Corp.
Alison Chisolm, a southwest Spoke coordinator for the Community Navigator Program out of the Hannah Grimes Center in Keene, NH, sums it up this way: "The Community Navigator Program, for us, has really been about the outreach efforts. We've had a specific goal of reaching particular sets of underserved entrepreneurs. I think the awareness raised will have its own spin-out. One of the ways that we know that people get to us all the time is word of mouth from their neighbors, fellow business owners, bankers, town officials, etc."
Speaking to folks throughout the north and southwest regions, we gain some insight into how the Community Navigator Program has and will continue to impact the community through extended outreach and upgraded language access tools.
Sara Powell, a southwest representative from the Hannah Grimes Center, echoes the same sentiments above, “the ability to go out into the community is something that most of our organizations haven’t had the fullest capacity to be able to do. We’ve had that opportunity to plant those seeds throughout the community that I think will have an impact beyond the Community Navigator Program. And even when the program ends, the services we have offered within our organizations will continue to be offered regardless of the Community Navigator Program.”
In its second year, the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) ‘s Community Navigator Program continues to find new ways to reduce barriers that underrepresented and underserved entrepreneurs often face when recovering, growing, or starting their businesses. The program serves anyone looking to start or is currently running a for-profit enterprise and looking for additional resources or guidance.
Q: What are some of the ways the Community Navigator Program has provided resources and helped entrepreneurs navigate some of the hurdles starting up a small business?
Powell: “Language barriers can be a huge hurdle. One of the really cool things that the Community Navigator Program has provided to us as a resource is a language access platform, allowing us to have on-demand translation or interpretation. The other part of the language access that we are able to take advantage of through the Community Navigator Program is gaining the funding to get supporting materials for one of our core programs, the business lab, translated into Spanish. We now have those materials, and we can use them continuously. And it gave us a relationship with a local woman who is willing to serve as a live interpreter if and when we need that in the classroom.”
Michelle Beaudin, from Grafton Regional Development, adds, “One of the biggest barriers is people not knowing where to go if they (entrepreneurs and small businesses) have needs they're unable to meet on their own. We've had time to get out and speak to people face to face, and just getting the word out that we exist, even if we don't have what they need, we can connect with them. That's been a huge lift."
Lise Howson, the Community Outreach Coordinator at Coös Economic Development Corporation, puts it this way, “One of the needs we have identified is for a software package that would aid in the billing capacity of childcare centers; we are working to assist them in acquiring this software. Many of these businesses are women owned and we are looking to aid in the sustainability of centers by providing support and assistance.”
Q: Have you seen your boots-on-the-ground approach manifest in the expansion of different enterprises? Is there one market in particular that has seen an uptick?
Beaudin: "The Northwest spoke has spent a lot of time working with the Childcare sector to really understand what their needs are. We've been learning that these entrepreneurs have particular business needs that they didn't even realize they had because they're so focused on what they do, which is providing excellent care for children. Through our relationships, I think we've reminded them they are a viable business and that resources are available to them. We're in the beginning stages of cultivating those relationships. Still, it will benefit this sector in the long term because they will know that we exist and can offer comprehensive support systems to help grow their business."
Chisolm: "We firmly believe a couple of things. One is that helping businesses thrive, local businesses thrive, makes the community thrive. And we understand that Childcare is a business and a necessary service to support other businesses, so Childcare is a business to an exponential degree. And the Coos Economic Development Corporation led the way by forming a partnership with the Directors Network of Coos County and has worked with those folks for almost the entirety of Navigators. Another thing that we learned along the way is that we want to emphasize a mixed delivery model for Childcare, which means that family-based care is the way that the language is in New Hampshire. Family-based care is necessary in rural environments because there's not a density of population to support large centers. And it is not an exaggeration to say that women are 100% owners of childcare businesses. It might be husband and wife-owned, but a woman is always in the leadership position. One of the persistently underserved communities inside entrepreneurship is women. We are a major resource for them."
Q: Can you share a success story from the Community Navigator Program?
Howson: Delta-G Disc Golf is a veteran-owned disc golf shop prioritizing stocking smaller/new manufacturer equipment and used discs. The owner serves as a creator of disc golf leagues and local courses to grow the sport through events and tournaments. Micah, the owner, came to CEDC because he needed assistance to start his business. This assistance included support from business planning to financing. Originally established as a three-person LLC, it soon dropped down to just Micah himself. CEDC worked with Micah to develop his business plan and identify some start-up funding for the shop. CEDC continued to work directly with him for six months to ensure he could build his brand and awareness in the community. Micah also worked directly with the City of Berlin to get the course approved to help support his business. In light of the success in getting the enterprise off the ground, CEDC was also able to assist him with the loan preparation to purchase the building across the street from his shop as well as provide a down payment assistance grant."
The Community Navigator Program is a mid-term statewide initiative to help coordinate efforts to reach out to small businesses that are owned or being started by historically vulnerable community members, specifically Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; immigrants and refugees; veterans; women; disabled, formerly incarcerated; and LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people. Through the Community Navigator Program, CFDA engages with resource partners and other organizations to support targeted outreach for small businesses in underserved communities - building a new network and connections.
The support to these communities is made possible through a network of established microenterprise technical assistance providers, New Hampshire's Small Business Administration office, statewide training and language-access partners, and on-the-ground community partners. Funding for the program is provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
If you want to know more about CDFA's Community Navigator Program, get involved or request support for your business, visit https://www.nhcommunitynavigator.org/.