Business Development Services

Business Development Workshops*

The Economic Development Department provides workshops for entrepreneurs, for start-ups, businesses that need strengthening or that are looking to expand their goods and services. The focus is on helping businesses be successful. The workshops serve to strengthen our TA to immigrant entrepreneurs by formalizing some of the TA topics currently offered one-on-one into a structured workshop program. Language assistance is available as needed from the bilingual and multi-lingual staff in the Economic Development department.

Workshop topics:

• Record Keeping for Your Business: Understanding Business Financials in Everyday Language
• How to Start and Run a Business: Managing Cash Flow
• The Legal Side of Starting a Business
• Marketing Your Small Business: Tips and Ideas that Work
• Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses
• How Building Trust Leads to Business Growth
• Owning and Managing Residential Properties
• How to Develop Price Points
• What Are the Insurance Requirements for my Business

For more information on our business development workshops contact Amy Badiani, (314) 773-9090 Ext. 111, badiania@iistl.org

*Developed through a grant provided by MasterCard International.

Small Business Loans

Interested in starting, expanding or strengthening your business? The IICDC can help!

Our loan products have been designed with small business entrepreneurs in mind: We loan to restaurant owners, taxi drivers, small retail store owners, beauty salon operators, daycare providers, and more. We offer a variety of business loan products and provide the tools to help you successfully grow your business.

Business Specialists (Loan Officers) provide assistance to clients at every step of the lending process, from identifying potential immigrant entrepreneurs, to assisting them in the preparation of the loan package, to providing ongoing technical assistance once the loan has been made to assure the success of the new business.

We provide one-on-one business services support and offer business workshops and networking events. Staff services are augmented by a pool of professional volunteers used both for scheduled workshops and on an as needed basis for their skills and expertise in various areas of small business development. The program has active volunteers representing the fields of law, accounting, insurance, real estate, information technology, marketing and advertising, graphic design, and general business consulting.

We currently operate multiple loan funds*:

• Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and;
• Peer Lending;
• Community Development Corporation (CDC) loans.

Contact Information:
Diego Abente
314-773-9090, ext.104

Nha Nguyen
314-773-9090, ext.133

Nsengi Bertrand
314-773-9090, ext.136

St. Louis Related Links:
The Economic Impact of Immigration on St. Louis - a study by Jack Strauss Simon Chair of Economics, Director of the Simon Center for Regional Forecasting, Saint Louis University

National Related Links:
American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness
The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur
Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Creating Jobs and Strengthening the Economy -report by the US Chamber of Commerce and the Immigration Policy Center
Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Drivers of the Innovation Economy
The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent
Immigrant Small Business Owners: A Significant and Growing Part of the Economy - report from the Fiscal Policy Institute's Immigration Research Initiative
Investing in the Human Capital of Immigrants, Strengthening Regional Economies
On the rise: Immigrant entrepreneurs
Then and Now: America's New Immigrant Entrepeneurs -report by Kauffman, the Foundation of Entrepreneurship