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What We are Thankful for

by | Dec 13, 2013 | News & Events

What We Are Thankful for

Al Lopez, December 16, 2013

Thanksgiving may have just passed, but I have not stopped being thankful for another great year here at EGBI!

Just before the holiday, we celebrated our last graduation for clients who completed our entrepreneurship training.  In all, this year we had 80 individuals complete at least 30 hours of business training and present their business plan to their class and the EGBI staff.  The graduation celebrated a wonderful blend of new and developing partnerships, including Las Comadres para las Americas, University of Texas Pan Am Veteran’s Center, El Buen Samaritano, and FuturoFund.

Even with our amazing staff, we couldn’t do all this alone.  In 2013, EGBI delivered over 550 class hours of training – a 44% increase over 2012!  Our dedicated volunteers facilitated over half of those class hours.  And while it is difficult to single one out, we are especially thankful for Manuel Alverdi of Taxes Impuestos y Mas who was named Volunteer of the Year at our third annual Celebrating Success event.

At our Celebrating Success event, we highlighted the fellowship and generosity of our supporters.  Most non-profit events yield about 50% of the gross proceeds. Keeping our costs very low enabled us to direct nearly 90% of the proceeds directly to our program needs.

Another key measure of our success is the way prior students have stayed in touch with the EGBI family. At our year-end event we heard from Jason and Michelle Villarreal, owners of Villarreal Insect and Pest Solutions, and Donie Torrance, owner of Nails Naturally. They shared moving personal testimonies of how their heart for entrepreneurship led them to realize a dream with great benefits to their families – and how EGBI played a key role in making those dreams come alive.

To date, EGBI has graduated 250 clients from our Building Success Program.  About one-third of our graduates have started their businesses and are generating revenue, paying taxes, and employing, on average, two and a half employees – with relatively young and growing businesses.  Last year, our clients reported over $6M of revenue and almost 150 jobs created or sustained. We’re looking forward to our annual client survey for 2013, and anticipate even more impressive results.

It’s great to be a part of an organization that is successfully equipping entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams.  We are grateful for the tremendous support we received this year from our partners at the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, the Chambers of Commerce, Las Comadres para las Americas, Walmart, Wells Fargo, AT&T, IBM, and BB&T just to name a few.  We couldn’t do the work we do without their support.

We’re looking forward to 2014, a year that will have plenty of opportunities. We recognize there will also be challenges, but we are confident that with hard work and the consistent collaboration and support from our partners, we will overcome whatever difficulties come our way. You can be a part of this opportunity – it’s never too late to invest in our efforts.  Won’t you consider a year-end, tax-deductible gift to EGBI to assist us in expanding our programs and services?

Happy holidays, all! We look forward to working with you in the New Year!

Mother&Daughter

by | Dec 13, 2013 | Success Stories

Mother & Daughter Business Kicks-Off at EGBI

By Nayeli Gallegos, December 13, 2013

Bea Baylor worked as a full time nurse for 20 years. At the same time, for the last seven years, she had been informally running her business from home… providing her services for free most of the time. As a 13 year cancer survivor, Bea has been an advocate for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, helping them create a journey to healing. She wrote the book “My Tribulations Made Me Fabulous” which will be published in 2014, and she was featured in the latest issue of Renewed Magazine.

Her daughter, Chamita Griffin had been helping other women doing research on how to start a business, and where to find funding sources. While researching Chamita found a product  that does exactly what they were looking for. So they partnered up with Credit Network Assistance and packaged it in a one-stop shop, which is what makes their business coaching style stand out.  In July 2013, Bea attended a women’s conference called Defy Impossible hosted by Dr. Venus Opal Reese in Dallas, Texas. That is where she realized that she was part of a great number of women who are used to taking care of others and giving her talents away and don’t monetize on what they are worth.

She was inspired and empowered to formalize her business and decided to partner with her daughter on what it is now Baylor’s Business Consulting Enterprise. They learned about EGBI and immediately saw a good fit and found a welcoming place to launch their business enterprise.

Baylor’s Business Consulting Enterprise specializes in working with small to medium businesses, to help them secure funding and build their business credit as well as providing one on one support. They have a network of over 2100 lenders, of which 400 are directly integrated in their Business Funding Suite.  Their business  credit  advisors  and  business coach walk business owners through each step very carefully to make sure  they  obtain the funding they need  to grow their business and be profitable in a short period of time.

“Our goal is to educate new and existing business owners on how to leverage their business credit and obtain the funding needed to take their business to the next level” said Ms. Baylor.

We love seeing entrepreneurial spirit run in families and we are proud of these mother and daughter entrepreneurs. To learn more about their business and services, please call 512-350-1747.