Bringing BusinessIN: A Regional Solution for Small Business Growth and Development

The Texas Gulf Coast region boasts a robust entrepreneurial culture, while leading the nation in self-employment earnings share. According to the region’s 2020-2024 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), small businesses constitute 93% of all firms, with medium-sized businesses at 6%, and large businesses at less than 1%. Approximately 7,000 entrepreneurs operate within the region, with an average annual payroll of $63,000. The region is home to numerous high-skilled occupations, reputable universities, technical schools, and assets like medical centers and transportation infrastructure crucial for fostering innovation. Notably, the region ranks 12th out of 384 economic development districts nationwide in terms of innovation potential, indicating fertile ground for entrepreneurial growth and economic advancement. Unfortunately, the people of the Texas Gulf Coast region have weathered at least two major calamities within seven years. These disasters came in the form of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey and 2020’s coronavirus pandemic, both of which collectively claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, resulted in billions of dollars in damages, and laid waste to businesses and enterprises that took years to build. In the immediate and long-term aftermath of both disruptions, businesses that managed to stay afloat were faced with a litany of challenges in addressing issues of stabilization, recovery, and retention. Many of these businesses needed capital to rebuild and recover. Luckily, programs like the Gulf Coast Economic Development District’s (GCEDD) Revolving Business Loan Fund, were poised to offer affordable financing options and technical assistance. This was made possible by major funding partners, like the Economic Development Administration, who recognized the urgent and growing need. Hence, nearly four years after the pandemic, new and existing businesses seek to grow, scale, and expand their services in sustainable ways. Gleamed from ongoing discourse between Business Services Organizations (BSOs) and the GCEDD, businesses have voiced that, in addition to capital infusions, they also need support in the following areas: marketing, financing, legal, accounting, procurement, business management, customer service, and workforce development. While BSOs can offer such support, due to various factors, many businesses are unaware and unable to connect to the help that is available through BSOs. Currently, there are very few centralized platforms upon which businesses and their owners can connect with BSOs and other forms of technical assistance. 

We are constructing a robust small business ecosystem across our expansive 13-county region, aiming to bolster support for small enterprises and seamlessly connect them with vital business service organizations. This innovative tool serves as a comprehensive resource hub, facilitating access to a myriad of essential services. From securing capital and tapping into procurement opportunities to receiving technical assistance, tax advisory, workforce development, marketing aid, and legal counsel, small businesses can leverage a wide array of support functions tailored to their needs.

Moreover, our platform is not just about linking small businesses with resources; it is also a conduit for enhancing collaboration among business service organizations. By facilitating seamless referrals, optimizing resource allocation, promoting events and opportunities, capturing valuable small business data, and striving for better outcomes, we are fostering a synergistic environment where every stakeholder benefits.

To ensure that our tool truly meets the needs of small businesses and service organizations alike, we are adopting a human-centered design approach. This means actively involving small businesses and service organizations in the design and testing phases, ensuring that the final product reflects their real-world experiences and preferences. Technology companies that have received support from our partner service organizations will also play a pivotal role in the development process, leveraging their expertise to create a platform that's not just functional but truly transformative for our region's small business community.

In essence, our endeavor is not just about building a tool; it is about laying the foundation for a thriving small business ecosystem—one that empowers entrepreneurs, fosters collaboration, and drives economic growth across our region. By harnessing the collective power of technology, innovation, and community engagement, we're paving the way for a brighter future where small businesses have the resources they need to succeed and flourish.

Our mission is to serve the vibrant small business community of the Greater Houston Area, which boasts a rich tapestry of business owners representing diverse backgrounds. With a population of 7.3 million people as of July 2022, the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) reflects the mosaic of America, with 66% of its residents identifying as belonging to a minority race or ethnicity, including Hispanic, African American/Black, Asian, and others. Notably, small businesses are the backbone of Houston's economy, with 82% of them employing fewer than 20 individuals, collectively constituting 44% of the region's workforce.

Despite their pivotal role, small business owners face an array of challenges that can hinder their success. According to the Small Business Administration, half of all small businesses shutter within their first five years of operation. Issues like limited access to capital, insufficient business expertise, lack of technical assistance, and struggles with scaling exacerbate these odds.

For minority-owned businesses, the risks are often amplified. Not only do they grapple with the same operational hurdles, but they also contend with systemic barriers that heighten their vulnerability. Culturally, these businesses serve as vital anchors within their communities, fostering relationships and providing essential services, particularly in low to moderate-income areas. However, statistics paint a grim reality, with approximately eight out of ten black-owned small businesses faltering within the initial 18 months, perpetuating cycles of inequality, debt, and diminished credit scores, which ultimately weaken the fabric of communities.

Our technology-driven solution aims to address these disparities by forging a path towards equity and access, particularly for historically underserved businesses, including those owned by minorities and women. Leveraging the expertise of our small business service organizations, we are translating their invaluable services into a virtual realm, ensuring easy access for any business in need. By bridging the gap between resources and entrepreneurs, our platform endeavors to level the playing field, empowering businesses of all backgrounds to thrive and contribute meaningfully to the region's economic prosperity.

Our team represents a diverse array of expertise and experiences, uniquely positioned to design and deliver a virtual platform tailored to the needs of small businesses in the Texas Gulf Coast region.

Isaac Perez, serving as Principal Program Coordinator at H-GAC, brings over a decade of experience managing small business financing programs. His role involves overseeing the day-to-day operations, ensuring efficient implementation, and maximizing the impact of these initiatives. Isaac's extensive background in federal grant management equips him with the skills necessary to navigate the complexities of funding programs and ensure they effectively support the growth of small businesses.

Gilbert, our passionate Business Development Coordinator, specializes in mission-based lending and is dedicated to fostering equitable opportunities for underserved communities. With a focus on strategy and program performance, Gilbert plays a pivotal role in strengthening our region's economic landscape. His commitment to empowering small businesses aligns perfectly with the goals of our initiative, ensuring that our platform provides meaningful support to entrepreneurs across the Gulf Coast region.

Emerald Dixon, our Senior Business Developer, brings a wealth of experience in project management, higher education, and small business advising to the table. Her role involves helping small businesses start, grow, and expand by providing technical assistance and access to capital. Emerald's extensive background in working with diverse organizations and her commitment to fostering economic growth make her a valuable asset to our team. She ensures that our platform addresses the unique needs of entrepreneurs from various sectors, providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed.

Darryl, serving as the Economic Development Planner at H-GAC, leads initiatives aimed at driving economic development and supporting small businesses across the region. With prior experience at LiftFund and a focus on community development, Darryl brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our team. His role involves overseeing the Gulf Coast Economic Development District and updating the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, ensuring that our initiatives are aligned with the broader economic goals of the region.

Omar Fortune, our Senior Manager of Business and Economic Development, brings over 15 years of experience in workforce development and economic empowerment to the table. His strategic leadership and extensive network enable him to spearhead impactful funding programs and initiatives benefiting individuals, businesses, and communities. With a focus on ensuring businesses meet loan requirements and promoting economic development, Omar's expertise ensures that our platform effectively supports the growth and prosperity of small businesses across the Gulf Coast region.

Together, our team's diverse expertise and deep-rooted connections within the region ensure that our virtual platform is thoughtfully designed and effectively meets the needs of our target population. We are committed to leveraging our collective knowledge and experience to empower small businesses and drive economic growth and prosperity in the Texas Gulf Coast region.

We selected the Concept stage for our small business virtual platform based on significant progress we've made in laying the groundwork and establishing key partnerships and initiatives.

To date, we've successfully networked with over 20 business service organizations to gain insights into the diverse needs of small businesses across the Texas Gulf Coast region. This collaboration has been instrumental in shaping our understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing entrepreneurs in our community.

In addition, we've made substantial strides in providing capital access to small businesses, disbursing approximately $8,634,710 million across roughly 100 loans. This injection of funds has enabled businesses to invest in growth opportunities, expand their operations, and weather economic challenges.

Furthermore, our technical assistance programming has been a cornerstone of our support efforts, reaching over 525 small businesses since Hurricane Ike. Through workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions, and resource referrals, we've equipped entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate various aspects of business management successfully.

By focusing on these foundational elements, we've laid a solid groundwork for the development of our virtual platform. Our interactions with business service organizations, coupled with our track record of providing capital access and technical assistance, demonstrate our commitment to supporting small businesses and driving economic growth in the region.

We are applying because we believe MIT-Solve will invest the time and resources it takes to make the small business communities within our 13-county region better. We believe that MIT-Solve will provide us with the tools necessary to improve our continuous work of serving as an instrument to small businesses within our region to help them grow, scale, thrive. 

A partnership with MIT-Solve can bring added value to our region in the following ways: 

1. Synergism of Expertise: The GCEDD possesses knowledge about local economies, workforce development, and community needs. A partnership with MIT-Solve can bring expertise in technology solutions, innovation, and digital transformation. Combining these strengths could lead to innovative strategies that can address economic challenges through technology-driven solutions. 
2. Enhanced Services for Small Businesses: The GCEDD and our small business collaborative can offer small businesses access to tech tools, resources, and training through partnership with MIT-Solve, which can include digital marketing assistance, e-commerce setup, and technology adoption to improve a business’ competitive advantage. 
3. Entrepreneurship and Innovation: With MIT-Solve’s focus on fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, and in partnership with the GCEDD and our small business collaborative, we can support the growth of startups and tech-based businesses, which in turn can lead to job creation and economic diversification.

Our solution stands out as truly innovative within our region due to its unique combination of technology and user experience. Unlike existing resources like SourceLink or Sparkyard, which primarily serve as repositories of information, our platform offers an interactive and dynamic environment for small businesses and business service organizations to connect and collaborate.

At its core, our technology solution integrates elements of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, database management, and social networking platforms to create a seamless user experience. One key feature is its capacity to gather data on tens of thousands of businesses and utilize machine learning to generate predictive analytics on business performance. This enables businesses to make informed decisions and adapt proactively to market trends.

What sets us apart is our vision for an artificially intelligent system that not only provides real-time responses and information to businesses but also enhances the ecosystem of business service organizations. Through interactive features such as trainings, classes, mentoring sessions, and pitch competitions—all conducted within the platform—we aim to meet businesses where they are, catering to their busy schedules and diverse needs.

By offering a comprehensive suite of services in one centralized platform, we eliminate the need for small business owners to navigate multiple disparate resources. Whether it's networking with other businesses, accessing mentoring sessions, or applying for capital, our platform streamlines these processes, providing a seamless and efficient experience.

In essence, our solution represents a significant leap forward in how small businesses access support and resources. By combining cutting-edge technology with a user-centric approach, we're not just creating a tool; we're revolutionizing the way small businesses thrive and grow in our region.

Our solution is designed to make a real difference by providing a comprehensive business service tool that supports thousands of small businesses as they progress from their early stages to maturity. This means offering continuous business support and technical assistance, from startup to growth and expansion.

Here's how it works: our tool acts as a central hub, bringing together various business support organizations in a coordinated effort. When a business owner engages with one of our partners, they'll be introduced to the tool as a valuable resource. From there, the tool becomes a one-stop-shop for tracking referrals, business plans, programs, capital gains, and a range of business opportunities such as pitch competitions, venture capital, and procurement chances. It also facilitates connections with business experts across different focus areas.

Business owners kickstart their journey by taking a simple business health assessment, which evaluates their current business status. Based on the results, they're directed to relevant resources offered by different organizations. As they progress through their engagement with each organization, the tool keeps track of their milestones and growth. This ensures that businesses receive tailored support aligned with their specific needs and goals.

By streamlining these processes, our tool aims to eliminate duplicated efforts and funds across various business support organizations. This not only creates a more efficient ecosystem but also maximizes the impact of available resources. Ultimately, our solution directly addresses key focus areas such as financial readiness, business development and procurement, scaling, internal financial health, and data tracking, empowering small businesses to thrive and succeed.

Our impact goals revolve around tangible outcomes such as job creation, business growth, increased income, successful procurement opportunities, and enhanced revenue and profit for small businesses. In the short term, our focus for the current year is on developing and launching the tool while also promoting collaboration within the Houston region.

Over the next five years, our aim is to track the progress of businesses utilizing our tool. We'll measure their advancement through different stages of the business lifecycle and provide comprehensive support and technical assistance as they navigate these stages. To assess our impact, we'll rely on data collected by the Gulf Coast Economic Development District and the Economic Development Administration, who will provide biannual reports.

We will rely on quantitative measurements such as number of referrals, new businesses created, business health and longevity, increase in small business revenue and profits, amount of business certifications achieved, average time between different business stages, business retention through the tool, new jobs created, higher incomes, and new business support organizations using the tool. 

The tool will have reporting elements to help us easily identify the quantitative measures described above. We will gather additional qualitative information, such as business owners' feedback, through surveys, testimonials, and polls. This will help us continue to improve the user experience and ensure better results.    

In November 2022, our small business collaborative won a $15,000 grant award through the National League of Cities. The award was to help our collaborative build the structure of the ecosystem and prepare ourselves for grant opportunities like the MIT-Solve in order to develop our technology tool. The National League of Cities has been impressed with the work of our collaborative thus far and we hope to leverage the MIT-Solve opportunity to truly scale our initiative and drive small business and economic impact across our region. 

Ultimately, our success will be reflected in the establishment of a robust foundation for small businesses to thrive and for new businesses to emerge. This will not only create job opportunities within communities but also drive economic empowerment and contribute to the region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the long term. Our technology tool serves as a catalyst for economic growth, facilitating stronger economic output and prosperity across the region.

Our solution is powered by a transformative technology tool developed by the Gulf Coast Economic Development District (GCEDD) in collaboration with 15 business service organizations across the 13-county Gulf Coast region of Texas. These partners include prominent entities such as the City of Houston’s Office of Business Opportunity, the US Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), and others, collectively offering a wide array of entrepreneurship, small business lending, and technical assistance services.

Recognizing the need to streamline and optimize our collective efforts, we formed a small business collaborative to create an innovative ecosystem that supports small businesses through a technology-based interface. This interface not only extends the reach and impact of our business service organizations but also provides small businesses with coordinated access to support and resources that were previously fragmented and inaccessible.

At the heart of our solution is a technology tool designed to seamlessly bridge data, information, and resources across multiple business service organizations. This online platform, with potential mobile application extensions, serves as a comprehensive one-stop shop for small businesses seeking assistance in starting, growing, and sustaining their ventures. Rather than struggling to navigate through a myriad of resources scattered across the internet, businesses can now access everything they need—from registering with the Secretary of State to scaling their operations—in one centralized location.

What sets our tool apart is its personalized approach to support. Small businesses have the opportunity to directly connect with mentors, coaches, and advisors tailored to their specific needs. Whether through self-paced learning, one-on-one coaching, or group sessions, our platform offers flexible engagement options to accommodate diverse business requirements.

Moreover, our technology tool facilitates virtual engagement, allowing small businesses to participate in shared learning, networking, and collaborative experiences with other entrepreneurs through virtual communities of practice. While traditional, in-person services remain available, our platform expands access to support through convenient online channels, empowering small businesses to thrive in today's dynamic business landscape.

Full-Time: 5

2 years

At the Gulf Coast Economic Development District (GCEDD), diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are central to our organizational ethos. Under the guidance of the Race, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Council established by our parent organization, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) in 2020, we are committed to fostering a workplace culture that embraces diversity and minimizes barriers to opportunity for all staff members.

Our DEI efforts are multifaceted and ongoing. We recognize the importance of continuous improvement and are intentionally dedicated to evolving and maintaining a racially diverse and inclusive workforce. To achieve this, we prioritize mutual respect and understanding of everyone's unique experiences, assets, and talents.

Our DEI goals include:

1. Establishing an independent platform for staff to share experiences and grievances related to Race, Equity, and Inclusion.
2. Providing continuous professional development opportunities focused on Race, Equity, and Inclusion.
3. Developing and implementing policies, processes, and best practices to address Race, Equity, and Inclusion consistently.

Moreover, our commitment to DEI extends beyond our internal operations. We ensure that DEI best practices are integrated into our interactions with customers, partners, and stakeholders, including our small business collaborative and ecosystem. Additionally, these principles will be reflected in the virtual spaces within our technology platform, ensuring that all users feel welcomed and included.

By embedding DEI principles into our organizational culture, policies, and practices, we strive to create an environment where every team member feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their best work. Through these efforts, we aim to foster a workplace and ecosystem that celebrates diversity and promotes equity and inclusion for all.

Our business model at the Gulf Coast Economic Development District (GCEDD) is centered on fostering economic growth, sustainability, and improved living conditions throughout the Houston region. We offer a comprehensive range of programs, services, and initiatives aimed at attracting investments, supporting local businesses, creating job opportunities, and enhancing infrastructure across various sectors including retail, trade, energy, manufacturing, and technology.

In addressing risks to the community, we prioritize measures to mitigate potential challenges and promote equitable development:

Environmental Risks: We prioritize sustainable practices in all new projects to minimize ecological impacts, particularly in regions with vulnerable ecosystems.

Addressing Displacement and Inequality: Our initiatives focus on improving quality of life through job training programs, affordable housing, and small business support, ensuring that economic growth benefits all segments of the community and does not exacerbate inequality.

Industry Diversification: To reduce reliance on a single industry, we actively promote diversification by attracting businesses from a range of sectors, thereby enhancing economic resilience.

We provide value to the population through a variety of products and services:

Investment Opportunities: By attracting investors and businesses to the region, we create job opportunities and bolster the local economy.

Infrastructure Development: We invest in improving transportation, utilities, and other infrastructure to enhance the overall quality of life for residents.

Community Programs: Our community development projects and educational programs engage and empower local residents, fostering a sense of ownership and pride in their neighborhoods.

Business Support: We offer resources, mentorship, and incentives to help local businesses thrive, stimulating economic growth and fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Overall, our business model is geared towards driving inclusive economic development and creating sustainable, resilient communities throughout the Houston region.

To achieve financial sustainability and ensure continued financial support for our technology tool, the GCEDD will diversify its revenue streams to include: 

• Grant Funding: Actively pursue grants from governmental and private sources that align with the organization's mission. 
• Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Certification: Apply for CDFI certification to provide credit and financial services to underserved communities. This certification will help access funding from CDFI Fund programs and attract investments from institutions focused on community development. 
• US Small Business Administration (SBA) Partnerships: Actively partner with the SBA to provide access to government resources, loan programs, and technical assistance for small businesses. 

Partnerships: Forge strategic partnerships with local businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations. Seek collaborative projects that share costs and amplify the impact of the GCEDD and its partners. 

Capacity: Invest in building the capacity to effectively manage finances and services provided. This includes staff training, improved financial reporting, and upgraded technological infrastructure. 

Cost Efficiency: Continuously review operational expenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs without compromising the organization's mission and service quality. 

Advocacy: Use the GCEDD’s credibility to advocate for policy changes to attract government funding and support from mission-aligned organizations. 

By implementing this comprehensive financial sustainability strategy, the GCEDD aims to secure its long-term viability and make a lasting impact on businesses in our underserved communities. This strategy balances financial prudence with the GCEDD's commitment to its mission, fostering resilience and growth in the face of challenges.